Before we dive into new techniques, let’s take just a minute to discuss the basics for working with polymer clay.
Polymer clay cannot be used straight from the package. It must be blended, or conditioned, so the molecules are exposed to friction to get them moving.
The best way to condition clay is with a pasta machine. To start, unwrap your clay and use your blade to cut it into thin sections. Never try to jamb a brick of cold clay through your pasta machine. The machine will break.
Your clay may start to crumble if it is very hard, but just keep gathering up the pieces, folding them together, and running them through the machine on the thickest setting. After each pass through the machine, fold the clay in half and put the fold against the sidewall of the machine rollers, with the “open” side of clay facing toward the center. This assists in keeping air bubbles out of the sheet of clay.
Once you get a consistent sheet of clay that is pliable, no longer crumbling and has no bubbles, you are ready to begin working with it.
Anything that can withstand the baking temperature can be embedded into clay before baking. This includes glass, crystals, stones, metal, tiles and beads. Know your materials, however; many beads are acrylic and can melt in a hot oven. You also don’t want to put anything in the oven that can create toxic fumes, such as Styrofoam.
If you decide to embed something in your clay, be sure to push it in far enough that some of the clay comes up over the edges; this will hold the item in place after the clay is baked. Many of our designs feature decorative designs around a crystal or button; this is a way to disguise the fact that you’re pushing clay around the object to hold it in.
Alternatively, if you are embedding something that has a hole or shank, such as a button, you can wrap some wire around it and embed the wire in the clay to assist in securing it in the design. You can also push the object into the clay and bake, then remove it after baking and glue it back in with a cyanoacrylate glue.
Always read the package and bake your clay at the recommended time and temperature. Do not mess around with this. The manufacturer of the clay knows its chemical properties and what the clay actually needs in order to cure properly, so please follow the directions. If you have mixed brands of clay, check the packages and bake for the longest time and the lowest temperature recommended for both brands.
You may want to invest in an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is baking at the correct temperature. Set a timer, too. In many projects we say to bake for 30 minutes. That is because most of our projects are thin and will require the minimum baking time.
You can bake your clay on a ceramic tile or a piece of cardstock paper. A glazed tile will produce a shiny side on the clay at the point of contact. Baking on an unglazed tile or on paper will avoid that.
If you are making a lot of beads, a baking rack, like that sold by Amaco, is a good investment. Or you can make one yourself from skewers.
When the baking time is up, turn off the oven, but leave your piece inside to allow the clay to cool slowly and avoid stress on the piece.