Playing with Polymer Clay

*Note* This is my experience and I'm far from a polymer clay professional.

We all know I got started because of some polymer clay dragons a friend had posted.

I saw that post and thought, 'Challenge accepted.'

Over the past couple of years I've learned something...

Some clays are harder to work with then others. 

If the clay can't be conditioned or softened up it makes it harder to work with.

Sometimes harder clay doesn't have the same hold (when attaching other clay pieces) as a softer clay.   Sometimes soft clay becomes too soft therefore too sticky.

That's an easy fix.  Let it sit out and stiffen back up or get some more.  Mixing harder clay in never works for me.

But hard clay... 

You have a few options. 

- Translucent Liquid Sculpty (TLS).  A bit of a mess.
- Just play with it. 
- Add in a softer clay.
- Conditioning machine.  It looks like a manual pasta machine.

I love my machine.  I cut up the tough clay. Put it in the top. And start cranking and the widest setting.  I do keep my hand underneath because it'll start out crumbly.

I'll mix and press it together and repeat. 

Mix and repeat until it'll go through without breaking.  Then I'll tighten up the setting. 

Repeat.  Crank. Roll into a ball.  Flatten one end. Machine. Crank. Roll. Flatten. Narrow setting.

Over and over.

But it's nice watching the flat sheets or the clay blends.

If you don't use polymer clay often, use the other nethods. If you don't create often you might regret the purchase of a clay conditioning machine.

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