Watch the video here.

 

 

I got so much positive feedback part 1 of this series I decided to put up part 2 this week.

So this week we are talking about the 5 basic tools that I feel you need to have on hand to start working with polymer clay.

So let’s start at the bottom and talk about a clay friendly work surface. I personally use a ceramic floor tile that is 12” by 12”. I really think it is the best work surface for the clay and I actually do most of my crafting on my tile. I love that it is durable and easy to clean. It protects whatever surface it sits on and it is portable if I need to move a project in progress out of the way for whatever reason. The one I use cost less than $1 at the local Lowes. I recommend getting one in a neutral color (gray or beige) and a smooth surface. Remember what ever texture you work surface has will be imprinted on the bottom side of your clay.

Another option would be a sheet parchment paper or maybe a silicon mat.

Don’t work directly on a wood table because the clay can mar the surface. And plastic should be avoided since the raw clay can dissolve some plastics. Also, the dark colors of clay have a nasty habit of staining light color surfaces.

Next we need something to roll out our clay with. I use an acrylic roller that is made for use with polymer clay. You can see one like it here.

When I first started with polymer clay I used a well cleaned caper jar. It was perfect until I could get a real roller.

I would not recommend using a wood roller since they can leave a texture on the surface of your clay.

Okay now that we have our clay rolled out we might need to cut it. For this I use a clay blade like the one here.

These are the real clay tool I recommend you purchase first.

Some people like to use a razor blade but I find them limited in use because it is hard to cur thick pieces of clay or anything very wide.

The next piece of equipment we need to talk about is a baking surface. For the majority of my clay project I use a plain paper plate. These are great. Leave a mice mat finish on the bottom of the clay and can be thrown away when they get dirty.

 

 

And lastly I recommend you keep a package of wet wipes handy to clean up all your equipment and your hands while and after working with your clay.

These are just the basic tools, we will be talking about other tools in later videos in this series. There will also be dedicated posts to some of the types of tools where we talk about using tools to get effects on our clay.

As always I do want to sincerely thank all of you for watching my videos and reading my blog posts. It means so much to me that you are supporting me in this way. If I could ask you all to do just a bit more by subscribing to the channel and liking the videos and leaving comments. Those help more than you can imagine. Also if you could pass the links on to your friends I would appreciate it so much.