How to Start with Clay Creation

Hi guys, my name is Amanda and I would love to share with you my hobby in miniatures and the ups and downs in playing with them.

I am considered a beginner in minis, but I really find it helpful whenever I found a video tutorial or blogs about how to make miniatures. So I am here to share my experience with the other beginners in clay making and hopefully we can help each other out :)

The specific theme I'd love to dig in is food (those yummy and mouth watering desserts, slurpsss...). And so in this blog I will write be about how to start creating with clay.

The first thing you need to do is of course buy the clay (he he). You will want to decide which type to buy. There are two types of clay: Polymer clay and Air dry Clay. I think they both have their own advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I prefer Polymer Clay.

Advantages of Polymer Clay over Air Dry clay:
1) It has a long shelf life, will not 'dry' unless you bake them
2) It is better for caning techniques (to make fruit canes, etc)
3) You can take your time and since it would not harden, it is easier to blend (air dry clay hardens quite fast so you need to work faster)
4) It can be easily colored with chalk pastels (which is an advantage over air dry if you don't like painting)

Disadvantages of Polymer Clay over Air Dry clay:
1) You need to bake polymer clay so more electricity needed
2) It has a more sticky texture than air dry clay so you need to ensure that your workspace are clean so to avoid staining the polymer clay. Whereas, I found air dry clay not as sticky as polymer clay.

I think that pretty much sums up the differences. In the next article, I will show you some of the clay brand I have tried out and my review on them. So see you in my next article ;)