I've done a tiny bit of work with polymer clay before but this is one of my first major adventures. I wanted a bright, colorful "artsy thingy" to hang from the arch over my garden pond until the vines took over. This is what I came up with.
I started out with a neat shaped stick and picked out my polymer clay colors. I then made a basic drawing of what I wanted it to end up looking like.
I rolled out my clay using a piece of pvc. I have a small pasta machine for clay but it rolls too thin for what I wanted. Cutting by hand, I started with my center piece, the fish, and cut all the pieces and put them in place. I used Sculpey Bake and Bond to hold the fins in place. Then cut out the rest of my pieces....frog, snakes, turtles and beads. I used a wooden skewer to make holes in all the pieces for stringing.
I baked all the pieces in my toaster oven for 20 minutes at 275 degrees. Using Scribblers 3D Paint, I added colorful details to all the pieces. Then started the stringing process.
The string that I used seemed to unravel easily so once all pieces were tied on, I trimmed all the loose ends and used my hot glue gun to seal all the knots.
Last step was to apply several coats of Krylon Indoor/Outdoor clear gloss. Once dry, I hung it up on the garden arch, sat back and admired my work. :)
Let me know if I was not clear on any points. This was a fun and easy project.
