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WELCOME BACK to more polymer clay ideas !

We are in the final part of our latest polymer clay ideas : turning the little heads on corks into standing figures.

It is my hope that you will see how fun it can be to take a simple head and make it work in many ways. This is just one of our simple polymer clay ideas that you can enjoy making and sharing with others.

This week we are making the “paws” and finishing our little characters.

Part one of this project can be found here : https://hellocreativesisters.com/polymer-clay-tutorial-bunny-and-kitty

You will need :

• Polymer clay prepared and conditioned. See a link on how to do this here : https://hellocreativesisters.com/how-to-condition-polymer-clay-the-beginning-students-guide

• Your sculpting tools

• Makeup and chalk pastels

Now we are ready to sculpt :

• Mix and condition your clay

• Make two thumb shapes

• Take a piece of clay and fashion it into a simple flattened shape and cut three fingers. Make them very short so they can be more like a paw than a finger.

• Round the cut lines into little finger shapes.

• Flatten the palms and figure out their length.

• Add the thumbs

• Stretch the wrist and arm of each paw then add a little spaghetti ring to allow you to attach them to the costume

• Colour the clay

• Cure the paws

Now to finish :

The second video shows how to sew up the cuffs to attach the paws and also the neck of the character.

Once you have finished sewing you can decorate with ribbon and think of a fun way to make a tail!

For the bunny I made a little pompom for the tail …

Some final thoughts for you:

Your choice of fabric can help make the personality of the piece. Keeping it neutral means you can focus the attention on the little headdresses and hands but an interesting fabric you love can bring things more alive for you and add a bit of fun in the making and the search for your fabrics.

I sometimes use second hand stores to find fabrics. Many things are brand new and the fabric has never been worn. On a lucky day I might find the perfect thing I am looking for but more often I find a great fabric and an idea comes from this. I also may buy something for my stash of choices. Over time I have a great collection which has proven itself useful time and again when I just want to find something I am putting spontaneously together and saves me going out on the hunt!

Let yourself play with fabric.

I can say that using fabrics that stretch can be very helpful especially if you are not an experienced sewer or new to this world. It will stretch and help compensate for things you are learning like how thick to make the wrist on the hands, getting the head through the opening of the neck …

Another after thought and additional polymer clay ideas

Enjoy the colouring and decorating part of the polymer clay. You can use the bright colours of polymer clay if you are drawn to them and make it very fun. Kids love colour and if you did this project with kids I would definitely suggest having some coloured clay for them to play with for their characters!

My recommended clay for learning as I mentioned in an earlier post is Premo by Scupley. You need to condition it to bring the properties alive to be its workable best, but it is very simple and easy to use for all levels of experience. Kids love to use the pasta machine and they will happily mix your clay and theirs if given the chance!