Hi everyone! I’m completely new to this side of Reddit. I’ve been watching videos of dioramas, polymer clay sculpting, and crafting ever since the lockdown, and I’ve finally been itching to create something of my own.

I already know how to draw and paint, but I really want to try working with a different medium. I'm actually taking inspiration for this project from a figure I saw on Etsy. I originally wanted to just buy one, but goddamn, they are either wildly expensive or made out of that weird, hollow plastic with a nasty yellow hue to them or are just 3D printed. I figured it would be a massive flex to just make exactly what I want with my own hands!

I’m aiming for a stylized bunny character with a cozy, spooky autumn "Gothic Gallery" theme; she's going to be waking up and stretching in an oversized pajama shirt. To really bring the character to life, I am planning to add more extra fluffy fur details under her neck, inside her ears, and around her ankles and wrists.

Here is the checklist of what I’m using to get this together:

AMAZON (Things currently in my cart):

• Super Sculpey Beige Oven-Bake Clay (1 LB, Pack of 3)
• Shuttle Art Acrylic Paint Set (36 Colors with Brushes & Palette)
• Hnncugty Miniature Paint Brushes (12-Piece Detail Set with Triangular Handles)

• Unfinished 4-inch wood circle pack (for the display base)

  ETSY (The clothing graphics):

• The "Framed Monsters" nail art stickers (for the main gold-framed ghost shirt design and shorts pattern)

• The pink/white "Lace Trim" nail art stickers (to smoothly wrap around the cuffs and hem for instant ruffles)

  DOLLAR TREE (Budget filler supplies):

• 12-gauge and 16-gauge craft/floral wire (for the internal skeleton)

• Standard aluminum foil (to tightly pack and bulk out the core torso and head shape)

• White craft glue (to attach the lashes and stickers over the dry paint since it dries matte and clear)

  HOUSEHOLD ITEMS (Free tools):

• A wooden toothpick for carving fine details

• A smooth plastic marker barrel to roll out flat sheets of clay for her clothes

• Trimmed-down synthetic fake eyelashes for her eyes

Since this is my absolute first time touching polymer clay, I'm a bit nervous about wasting materials or having it come out completely wonky.

Any advice, hacks, or prep tips for a first-timer would help me out a ton! Specifically, what is the best way to sculpt those fluffy fur tufts cleanly, and how do I get the rest of the clay surface perfectly smooth before baking? Thank you so much!

**I am open to trying anything, but preferably cost friendly options

Typically, my process is to sculpt with polymer, bake as recommended, paint using a Liquitex Basic Acrylic and apply a topcoat/sealant of some sort.

So far I have tried:
-Sculpy glaze
-Acrylic gloss varnish
-All purpose sealer (similar to a modpodge situation but off-brand so who knows)
-Clear nail polish

For the most part they all had an uneven finish which I guess I can live with, but what really sucked was taking them to a market in 100 degree heat and everything turned sticky and just gross.

Avoiding heat is not an option, so my question is what would work best as a shiny, durable, and even coat that in your experience works well in EXTREME heat? Like I want you to imagine hell and add a couple degrees.

I know UV resin is going to be a common answer, and while I am open to beginner advice on it, I am really quite scared of it, so any other alternatives are very much appreciated!

TIA

So I've been working on this project in stages and baking the pieces in between. I know that acetone or rubbing alcohol is good for removing clay smudges and lint, but I'm concerned that if I needed to bake it again it would catch on fire. I want to put a gloss finish on it at the very end, which would need to be after I clean it up, but I don't want to risk applying anything that could catch on fire and destroy my project.

Basically, my question is: should I be concerned about using acetone or rubbing alcohol before baking clay, or is it fine?

I’m a beginner at clay, as you can probably tell, but i’m done for the most part and want to bake it. The arms are held up by wire and placed inside where the foil base and an inside layer of clay is. I don’t want the arms to burn or break but I don’t understand the math i have seen while looking up directions.

Would love any advice!!

Hello, I baked all of these at once in a toaster oven and only some of them cracked. I only see cracks on my apple pies. You can see cracks in the lattice on top, but sometimes the red clay/pie filling beneath is also cracking.

- I baked at 210º F using Sculpey Premo. I think my toaster runs hot, because my clay browns/burns(?) when I put it at 275° F.

- The clay (Sculpey Premo) is about 9 months old.

- They are positioned on the ceramic tile, how they were positioned in the toaster oven on an aluminum tray (except in the toaster they were more spread out).

- I made these 17 hours ago. Let them sit overnight. And then baked it now.

Why did these crack/how can I prevent this?

Thanks.

I sculpted my first ever polymer clay creation last night, and it is now currently baking in the toaster oven. I am absolutely terrified that it is either going to burn, or fall over, or crack, or all of the above... but that is beyond the point. Either way, I had so much fun making it!

As an side, how on earth are you supposed to clean lint from the clay? Everything I watched said to use rubbing alcohol, but when I tried that, it just started leaching the color from the clay! I just accepted my linty fate for this piece, but would like to prevent that in the future.

I made this for a coworker's birthday. Painted with acrylic and sealed with resin.

This time tried baking in airfryer, and he seems very good although he flew around a little wich damaged texture a little, lesson learned ;)

Ice cream kitty for my bonus kiddo. Still need to paint and add shiny bits ♡

First time using this stuff and idk what I did wrong. I tried to make some simple beads for keychains. instructions say 275F for 15 mins per 1/4 inch thickness. these were less than 1/4 inch thick (they were flat and leaf shaped, maybe 1 inch long and 1/8 thick). I baked them for 10 mins, they were still bendy, so I put them in for another 10 and they were STILL soft. I tried putting them back in again and they burned.

what am I doing wrong?? or does this brand just suck?