Ever wanted to make your own miniature Fairy Teacups? In this tutorial I show you step by step how to make some using Polymer Clay. So, sit back, relax, and watch as the process unfolds. Then have some fun and make your own.
The music from the video is English Country Garden by Aaron Kenny and is available from the KZfaq Free Audio Library.
If you like my work, then please do have a look at my website, www.fionaabel-smith.co.uk/ 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/uk/shop/PolyOrig... and as a video tutorial here - polyoriginals.thinkific.com/co...
The Doll’s House Bowls Tutorial is available from my Etsy shop here - www.etsy.com/uk/listing/56855...
Here is the link to my conditioning Polymer Clay video - • Conditioning Polymer C...
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The Peacock Petal Cane is here - • Peacock Petal Cane in ...
The Speckled Petal Cane is here - • Speckled Petal Canes i...
The Fairy Furniture Tutorial is here - • Fairy Furniture and th...
I used FIMO Soft Polymer Clay, but all well-known brands of polymer clay will work well for this project.
I used 1/8 oz (3.5g) White and Lemon Yellow + 1/16 oz (1.75g) of Tangerine for the cups, then 1/8 oz (3.5g) White and Apple Green + 1/16 oz (1.75g) of Tropical Green for the saucers, with an additional 1/16 oz (1.75g) of White for the undersides.
I used about ½ oz (14g) of Scrap Polymer Clay at various stages in the project. (Scrap clay is simply left over, mixed up oddments of clay colours from other projects.) You could also make stands for the cups while they bake, by taping thick corrugated cardboard together to make a square about 2 inches (5cm) wide and 1 inch (2.5cm) high.
Polymer Clay is oven baked, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the brand of clay you are using.
Other equipment you need is:
A polymer Clay Blade
Craft Knife
4mm Cable Needle - or something similar
Cocktail Sticks
2 part moulding compound to make moulds - this is optional - I used Siligum from Pebeo but there are many different brands available. You could make your cup moulds using scrap polymer clay instead, adding it to the cocktail sticks in the same way. You would need to bake the moulds before using them for the first time - and use some Cornflour/Corn Starch rubbed on it, as a release agent, before adding the petals.
2 x real leaves to create a texture sheet - this is optional. (I show you how to make one in the video, or use what you may already have)
Small round cutters - the White one I use is 5mm (1/5 inch) diameter, the Black one is 7.5mm (1/4 inch)diameter, and I used a 15mm (1/2 inch) one to draw around for the saucer size.
Small sheet of Baking Parchment or something similar
Biodegradable wet wipes, or wet cloths to clean your hands as you work
Small Tile to bake on.
Aluminium foil to cover the clay while it bakes.
Pasta machine dedicated to polymer clay use.
If you do not have a pasta machine you can roll a sheet of clay between two even stacks of playing cards. Settings 8 and 9 on my machine are 1 playing card thickness, setting 7 and 6 are 2 cards thick, setting 5 is 3 cards, setting 4, 4 cards, setting 3 is 5 cards, setting 2 is 6 cards, setting 1 is 7 cards and setting 0 is 8 cards thickness.
For the saucer moulds, Sculpey have a hollow bead maker which is available from many outlets - Sculpey® Hollow Bead Maker | Sculpey.com . Asda have the measuring spoons which have a good dome on them. You can use the old fashioned round topped spent lightbulbs instead. Put a little scrap clay at the bottom to hold it upright and use the top of the spent lightbulb as your rounded mould. As an alternative, you can carefully cut off the bottom end of a used drinks can, and masking the cut edges, use either the inside or the outside as a gently domed mould, (if there is printing on the bottom, sand it off first). Finally, if you have none of these, then a nice rounded spoon can act as a good mould.
I drew up my own small template, due to the size it is easier to work in mm. The cup is 5mm wide at the bottom, 10 mm high and 10 mm wide at the top. The saucer is 15mm diameter, and I marked it into 6 equal segments. The line for the handle is 20mm long.
Hopefully that gives you everything you need to know to make some of your own. Have fun.
Thank you so much for watching.