Polymer Clay
Does anyone use Polymer Clay in their felting or fibre arts? I know I’ve mentioned using Fimo buttons a few times, but I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I make my own. I first tried Fimo about 20 years ago, I managed to make a few marbley incense stick holders and snake type things 🙂 I just couldn’t get the stuff soft enough to use, my hands would ache, they’d be caked in Fimo and I’d give in! About 6 years ago, I started to get interested again and was happy to find that not only did the Fimo seem softer, but they also did a ‘soft’ version. I mostly made mosaic tiles back then, but after spending weeks making batches of different sizes to make a couple of mosaic mirrors, I hadn’t imagined just how hard it would be or how long it would take to laboriously lay out all the tiles and cut slices to fill gaps in, and that was before I then I had to glue them into place. And then my cooker broke. I didn’t realise it was so hard to find one with a very low heat setting these days. And by the time I did, I didn’t have the same enthusiasm for Fimo any more.
Then I discovered felting and never really went back to making Polymer clay…until one day I needed the perfect button for a textured felt bag I made. I realised my old stash of Fimo buttons and embellishments was practically non existent. I’d used a few pieces on felt pieces before and liked how it looked so I decided to get all my Fimo tools out again to make a few buttons and other embellishments. I kind of got a bit carried away…
It was nice to be working with polymer clay again, and good to find that it was all still workable after being left in a drawer for a few years.
I mostly made buttons in a variety of sizes in a few different colour schemes.
But I also made a few fancy ones, and larger/different ones for more unique projects that might crop up (such as covering a magnetic clasp!)
And I also made a few brooches, pendants and fridge magnets since I had all the stuff out anyway 🙂
I’d love to see your photos if you use polymer clay, it doesn’t necessarily have to be fibre related 🙂