Cute Clay Bear Tutorials

Here are some more great clay craft ideas that I have discovered over the years. This time I thought I would share some cute clay Teddy Bear tutorials that can be made from a variety of clays, including polymer clay and air dry clay.

These lovely little bears are a lot easier to make than you may think and with these easy to follow tutorials from some fantastic crafters you will be sculpting in no time. Any of these lovely little bears would be great as cake toppers or gift ideas to add to any teddy bear collection.

Simple Bears

Clay Flower Tutorials

Now that I have posted quite a few techniques about working with polymer and air dry clay I thought it was about time I shared some really useful and inspirational tutorials I have found over the years.
I will start my tutorials share with techniques for creating handmade polymer clay and air dry clay flowers. Some of these beautiful creations are so realistic it is hard to distinguish from the real thing. You will also notice that some of the tutorials are from cake decoration sites but the techniques for sugar craft are nearly all the same as clay crafts so is very easy to adapt the tutorials to clay.

• Iris Flower from Air Dry Clay

 

 

By The Flower Craft

 

Essesntial clay tools

If you are looking to start working with any type of clay you will need a few tools to start you on

the right track. Thanks to the web you can search for hours to find the right tools but will soon get overwhelmed by the huge range of products available. There are tools that cut, shape, roll, texture, mould, carve and so on, but how will you know which tools are essential and which you can cope without, to begin with.

I thought I would make it a bit easier for you, by listing a few tools that you will find invaluable during the early days of your clay crafting experience.

If you want to buy some dedicated tools then there are loads of great tools available . To start with I found a very reasonable pack of sculpting tools like the ones in the picture below, at Amazon. I only paid a few pounds for the pack but if you are going to get serious about clay then it is worth remembering that your tools will be used a lot and the cheaper versions don't last forever.

Pottery Tool Set

This 8 Piece Pottery Tool Set has traditionally been used for pottery projects, but it also has unique applications for oven-bake and air dry clay. The tools are perfect for cutting, shaping, sculpting and detailing both types of clay before curing.

CLICK TO SEE POTTERY TOOLS

Flower Sculpture with Clay

Creating flowers with clay can produce some amazing result that can add a permanent floral addition to your home or are perfect as a thank you gift that will last forever.

There is an endless list of flowers that can be created and the more practice and experimentation the better your skills will be. There are lots of different types of clay that are perfect for flower sculpting. This post offers a few examples of the types of flowers that can be made with cold porcelain clay and stone based air dry clay using, a variety of techniques and tools.

Colouring Clay

Many clay products such as polymer and foam clay can be purchased pre-coloured. Stone based air dry clay’s are usually white, grey or terracotta. If you want to colour your clay there are two main techniques; 

• Pre- cured - wet clay
• Post cured - dry clay

Colouring some stone based clay pre-cured doesn't always work well so it is important to experiment with a small piece of clay and colour pigments beforehand. 

There are an abundance of pigments that can be used to add colour and shimmer to your creations. In addition to using tempura and acrylic paints, air dry clay can be coloured with marker pens, inks, chalks and dyes. Glitter glue and metallic powders can also be added for extra sparkle and great effects. Remember that air dry clay is porous and the finished creation should be sealed with a varnish.

Before adding a colourant to uncured clay knead the clay to soften it making it easier to accept the colour. Gradually add the colourant a small drop at a time, making sure you work it in fully before adding more. Continue adding a few drops at a time until you are satisfied with the shade. Colouring clay can be very messy so be sure to work over a surface that can be easily cleaned or thrown away, such as plastic sheeting or newspaper.