Create some fun and happy little ghosts with a tatty vibe from Glow in the Dark Polymer Clay. All the equipment/details you need are listed below, and you can add some battery tea lights under them to give them a spooky glow.
NB: Never use naked flames next to/under polymer clay, the polymer clay will burn and give off noxious fumes.
The music from the video is English Country Garden by Aaron Kenny and Waterfall by Aakash Gandhi, both available from the KZfaq Free Audio Library.
If you like my work, then please do have a look at my website, www.fionaabel-s... and follow me on Facebook / fiona.abelsmith and Instagram. / fionaabelsmith.artist
I also have a number of Polymer Clay PDF Tutorials to buy in my Etsy shop, PolyOriginals - www.etsy.com/u... and as a video tutorial here - polyoriginals.t...
The lady who made the Pumpkin tree I mentioned has an Instagram account here - / texnclayco and the posting was around 21 October 2023.
If you are unsure how to condition Polymer Clay, then here is a video that may help - • Conditioning Polymer C...
The Tutorial for my Magical Trees is here - • Magical Trees in Polym...
Polymer Clay is oven baked, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the brand of clay you are using.
I used Premo Translucent Polymer Clay for the cone, and Night Glow FIMO Soft Polymer Clay for the ghost, both about 1oz (28g) of clay. I used a tiny amount of black clay to add the eyes and mouth. All well-known brands of polymer clay will work well for this project so use whichever brand you have to hand.
I used a Pasta Machine dedicated to Polymer Clay use to condition the clay and create thin sheets. My Pasta Machine is an Atlas 180, and it has setting 0 as its thickest and 9 as its thinnest. For the under cone, I used setting 9. For everything else, including head, arms, face features, I used setting 7.
There is a standard way of calculating the thickness of clay required, by using stacked playing cards. On my machine the thicknesses are as follows: Setting 0 = 8 playing cards, setting 1 = 7, setting 2 = 6, setting 3 = 5, setting 4 = 4, setting 5 = 3, setting 6 and 7 = 2, setting 8 and 9 = 1 card.
If you do not have a pasta machine, simply stack the above number of playing cards on either side of your clay and roll it to that thickness.
I used an A4 sheet of card and of paper, a compass, pencil, scissors, and masking tape. The semi-circle is approx. 8.25 inches (21cm) in diameter. The arms are made from a piece of card 3 x 2 inches (7.5 x 5cm) cut in half.
The head clay is wrapped around a small tissue approx. 8 inches (20cm) square.
I bake on a small tile and always tent my clay in aluminium foil, wrapped over the clay and tile, so that it is not touching the clay. This protects the clay should the oven spike in temperature during the baking/curing process. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the brand of clay you are using when baking/curing your polymer clay.
I use a blunt ended cable (knitting) needle to smooth the clay, any similar tool will work. I also use a craft knife, a small roller, and a polymer clay blade to remove the clay from the tile surface.
I remove the tissue paper by soaking it in water and pulling it away from the head form with tweezers.
Liquid Polymer Clay (or Bake and Bond) helps unbaked clay bond with baked clay, but you can use PVA Glue for what we are doing here instead.
The mini cutters were small rounds xx inches (xxcm) wide, you can roll balls by hand and flatten them if you prefer. The mouth was made with a small heart cutter (xx inches (xxcm0)) and small oval cutter (xx inches (xx cm)). Cut a shape by hand if you don’t have any cutters. The mini cutter for the eye dots is 1mm wide.
The small round cutters can be bought in a set specifically used for polymer clay from many shops on Etsy, (I originally got mine from MyMandarinDucky on Etsy - www.etsy.com/u... but I have also bought them direct off eBay, where you can search under ‘Cord Pin End Crimp Terminal Wire Copper Connectors’, to find similar cutters, but you will get a huge amount all the same sizes.
I used Pebeo Studio Acrylic paint and a brush to add some darkness to the tatty clay ends after baking.
To keep my hands clean and wipe away excess paint I use biodegradable wet wipes. Wet cloths will also work of course.
I really hope you have fun with this one, and I cannot wait to see what you create.
Thank you so much for watching.