Foundational Polymer Clay Techniques

Video tutorials on all of the foundational polymer clay techniques, such as Skinner Blends, Mica Shifts and Mokume Gane, that form essential starting points to the more complex techniques and tutorials covered in other sections of this website.

A good grasp of these basic polymer clay techniques will make life easier, as you continue on your polymer clay journey.

I will be adding to this section regularly over the coming months. As always, if there is a specific technique you would like covered, please let me know in the comments at the end of the page.

how to make a polymer clay mica shift

Learning this technique can be frustrating at first, but practice makes perfect. Don’t expect to get it perfect first time. You’ll need to try a few times before you start to see results. But once you’ve got it under your belt there’s no telling where this technique will take you. It's such a wonderful, beautiful way to work with polymer clay.

In this tutorial I’ll be showing you all the tips and tricks I know to help you conquer the mica shift technique.

how to make a two part polymer clay skinner blend

The polymer clay Skinner Blend is one of the most basic polymer clay techniques. It's an essential foundation technique that can be added to almost any aspect of polymer clay art, from canes to mica shifts. It's easy to do once you understand the process and will add depth and interest to all of your projects.

In this tutorial I’ll be showing the basic two color Skinner Blend.

How to make a three part polymer clay skinner blend

In this tutorial I'll show you how to take the basic Skinner Blend up a notch by adding more colors.

In this particular case I will be showing you how to make a three part Skinner Blend, but you can use the same technique to add as many colors to your blend as you want to.

Basic Mokume Gane Polymer Clay Technique

Basic Mokume Gane is a very well-known and much loved technique for polymer clay. It's easy to do and lots of fun and can be adapted to produce many interesting results. In this basic Mokume Gane tutorial I’ll be showing you tips and tricks to make sure that your Mokume Gane comes out beautifully.

Once you've mastered the basic technique check out the other Mokume Gane tutorials on this site for more ideas.

Basic polymer clay canes

Skinner Blend Plug Cane

In this polymer clay Skinner Blend Plug tutorial I'll show you two different ways to make this base cane.

The first example uses the traditional fan-fold method, while the second example uses the compression method. This is the method I prefer to use, but both produce beautiful results.

Basic Bulls Eye cane tutorial

When you first start learning how to make polymer clay canes, it's best to start with what I call the building block canes. The most basic of those canes is the Bulls Eye Cane. Building block canes are used in many techniques and are essential in your polymer clay journey.

In this tutorial I'll be showing you how to make a basic Bulls Eye Cane.

Making a skinner blend bulls eye cane

In this tutorial I’ll be demonstrating a polymer clay Skinner Blend Bulls Eye Cane.

This cane is similar to the Basic Bulls Eye Cane above, but incorporates a Skinner Blend to add more depth.

Complex Bulls Eye Petal Cane Tutorial

This polymer clay tutorial will cover the complex bulls eye petal cane. It's made up of basic bulls eye canes, shaped and put together to form a triangle.

This cane is often used in kaleidoscopes, as part of flower canes or as butterfly wings. This version is a simple black and white, but you can incorporate any colors you want.

How to make a Jellyroll Cane

The Jellyroll Cane is another basic building block cane that is used as a foundation technique in many polymer clay canes.

In this tutorial I'll be showing you how to make a basic Jellyroll Cane, as well as some of the other polymer clay techniques you can use it for.

Polymer clay striped cane tutorial

The striped cane is a basic polymer clay cane that is often used in combination with other techniques. You will often see it in more complex caning projects, as well as Mokume Gane. It's a simple cane to learn and a great place to start before progressing to more complex polymer clay designs.

In this tutorial I’ll be showing a basic striped cane with black and white stripes.

How to make a checkerboard Cane

The checkerboard cane is another important basic polymer clay technique. It is very versatile and can be switched up to achieve many interesting effects. It is often used in combination with other techniques in more complex projects and canes, so it's a good cane to have under your belt early on your polymer clay journey.

In this tutorial I’ll be showing a basic black and white checkerboard cane.

This page will be expanding over the next few months, as I add more foundational polymer clay techniques to help make your polymer clay journey easier and more rewarding.

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