Polymer Clay Bear Charm Tutorial by UNA Punalun Studio
What you will need:
- Polymer clay
- Dotting tool
- Clay cutting blade / Craft knife
- Eye pin
- Superglue
- Pliers
- Gloss varnish
- Brush (to apply varnish)
Tips:
- If you cannot find a specific clay colour in the store, you can easily mix the colour you need.
- A smooth tile is a great surface to work on because the clay won’t stick to it, but you can also work on taped down wax paper.
- Be sure to condition the clay before sculpting by properly kneading the clay. This removes air that may be trapped in the clay and prevents the clay from cracking when baking.
- When baking the clay, ensure that you do not exceed the maximum time and temperature as stated on the packaging.
- To remove dust from your piece before baking, you can use acetone and a cotton bud and lightly rub the surface of the piece.
- Be sure to rinse your brush in water after applying the varnish.
- You can add your charm to a keychain using a jump ring or ribbon.
Steps:
- Condition the clay and mix the colours you will need. (For this charm, you will need dark brown for the bear’s head, a small amount of dark and light brown for the ears, a small amount of black for the eyes and nose and a small amount of pink and yellow for the flower.)
- Roll the dark brown clay into an even ball to form the bear’s head.
- Roll a small amount of dark brown clay into a ball and flatten it on your work surface.
- Roll an even smaller ball of light brown clay and flatten it on top of the dark brown clay.
- Use a cutting blade or craft knife and cut down the middle of the flattened clay to form two ears.
- Place the ears on the head and press down lightly.
- Cut and roll two small balls of black clay.
- Using a dotting tool, mark where the eyes will be on the bear’s head and place the black clay.
- Cut and roll a small oval of black clay to form the nose and place it between the eyes.
- Cut and roll 5 or 6 small balls of pink clay.
- Place the pink clay in a flower petal formation and shape the balls into petals using a dotting tool.
- Cut and roll a small ball of yellow clay and, using a dotting tool, place it in the middle of the petals.
- Cut an eye pin to the correct length and insert it at the top of the head.
- Bake the charm in the oven according to the instructions on the clay’s packaging.
- After the charm has cooled, use pliers to remove the eye pin and then adhere it with super glue.
- Using a brush, finish off the charm with 3 to 4 coats of gloss varnish. (You can make the process of applying the varnish easier by hanging the charm on a paperclip.)
- Hang the charm to dry and allow about 15 minutes between coats, or until touch dry.