If you’ve ever played around with polymer clay, you’ve probably discovered that those little two-ounce blocks can produce an almost limitless number of objects. If you’ve only thought about trying it, but are not sure where to start, there’s a lot of inspiration on the web. Here are 10 sites that are sure to get you thinking creatively about the possibilities of polymer clay.
Desired Creations
This site is named after its owner, Desiree McCrorey. There are many interesting projects here, including some ideas you might never think of trying with polymer clay. Desiree, who has many years of professional IT experience, has obviously made a conscious effort to keep her site user-friendly; the instructions are all broken down into steps and are very clear, as are the large color photos.
DIY Network
The Carol Duvall Show features instructions for many different kinds of craft projects. I’ve set up the link to display search results for only polymer clay projects. The instructions that display when a link is clicked include small photos that can be hard to see, but there are other options available – occasionally including videos. Many artists well known to the polymer clay community have appeared on this show, so if you’re curious to know what some of those famous book authors look like, here’s the place to find them.
Eberhard Faber
This is the home of the maker of Fimo clay. There are basic instructions for making different types of projects, including jewelry, small gifts, animals, and holiday items.
Glassattic
There are no frills here – no pretty colors or bright cheerful photos. But the information contained in this 1700-page site is truly impressive. From what I’ve heard, the site owner collected information from posts to polymer clay mailing lists, organized it, and made a page for each section. It must have really been a labor of love.
The owner hasn’t had a lot of time to make the site very user-friendly, so it can sometimes be hard to find what you’re looking for. The best suggestion I’ve come across is to use Google’s Advanced Search feature with “www.glassattic.com” (without the quotes) in the domain field. This will bring up a page of Google results for only Glassattic. I’ve used it to find information, and it works well.
Don’t let Glassattic’s “plain vanilla” appearance put you off. This site truly lives up to its title of “encyclopedia.” If you’re looking for something related to polymer clay, from making logs to the best varnish to use, you’ll probably find it here.
PC Polyzine
An online polymer clay magazine, with archives dating back to February 2001. (A few issues earlier than this were set up on GeoCities and may no longer be available.) The site also has a comprehensive events calendar and a directory of guilds organized by state, with links to the guilds’ sites. If you ever want to check out polymer clay in the “real world,” these guilds are a good place to start.
Polymer Clay Central
A mix of many things, including tutorials, artist and guild information, an event datebook, and message boards to ask questions and exchange ideas. This site also sponsors online group activities, like swaps. Oh, and there’s a store here too – just in case you want to buy something.
Polymer Clay Daily
A polymer clay blog, it has a clean, readable design with clear photos, many of which bring up screen shots of the sites they came from. Many polymer clay artists are featured here, and the photos of their work can be really inspiring. And yes, it does seem to be updated every day.
Polymer Clay Express
Mainly a store, and one of the best sources of all things polymer clay on the web. But it also has what it calls “mini-lessons,” in case you’re wondering what to do with its products. Even if you just want to know what’s available to buy, this is a great place to start.
Sculpey.com
This site is the home of all Sculpey products, including Sculpey III (basic “beginner’s” clay), Premo!, and many specialty clays. There’s information here about all their products. And there are projects listed both by category and by skill level, from beginner to advanced. There’s also a page with tips for using Sculpey clay products with special needs children.
The Polymer Clay Spot
This site has a lot of good basic instructions for working with polymer clay. I couldn’t find any photos, but the instructions are clear. If you find Glassattic overwhelming, this may be a better choice for you.
This is just a sampling of the many polymer clay sites available. But these, in my humble opinion, are among the best. Check out one or a few – or even all of them – and see what you think. Even if you disagree with me, you’ll probably find enough inspiration here to keep you working with polymer clay for a long time.
