In the Studio With Katie: Sculpey III

I'm going to talk a little bit about different kinds of clay again today.  We are going to discuss how to use Sculpey with professional looking results.  In speaking of Sculpey today, I am speaking of Sculpey III.  Premo Sculpey is an entirely different class of clay.


As a general rule of thumb, I never use Original Sculpey or Super Sculpey.  Super Sculpey has a wide variety of uses for modeling and pottery like results.  Original sculpey only comes in beige or white and are extraordinarily fragile.  While Sculpey III is a good alternative to Super Sculpey and Original Sculpey, it is truly not the best use of clay for artists or professional clayers.


That being said, I have two rules about using Sculpey III...which you will read about below.  The below write up is from PolymerClayWeb...

Sculpey III

Sculpey III comes in a wide range of colors (44 at the moment), including a handful of mica-infused colors (gold, silver, pearl, light pink pearl, and light blue pearl), translucent, and a few glow-in-the-dark colors. Though it is very soft and easily conditioned, it is also one of the weaker clays available.

When cured, Sculpey III is more rigid and brittle than most other brands of clay. This means it is more likely to break-- especially if it is used to make thin sheets or narrow extensions. However, for covering objects or making beads with a more-or-less round, solid shape, Sculpey III should be fine. On the positive side, its softness makes it easy to use with an extruder. It's also easier on those with weakened hands (such as the elderly) or limited patience (such as children). It is also an economically good choice for use with children.

Here's my experience with Sculpey.  Sculpey III tends to be extremely fragile after baking.  I have had one too many breakages and bad results in color bleeding using sculpey.  Because of this, I do not use Sculpey III as a main polymer clay brand, though it is about 1/2 the cost of the more expensive brands of clay and readily available at all major craft stores (Pat Catans, JoAnn Fabrics, & Michaels).


That being said, Sculpey III is the most economical brand of polymer clay.  It can be beneficial to use alone it several settings.  One of which is to use it as a base to cover polymer clay pens.  As longs as you are adding canes or other details to the pen (that are not made with entirely Sculpey), your pen should stand up to wear and tear very well.  However, it's use as a main clay for sculpting and caning, I do not recommend.


Sculpey III tends to be of two minds: either extremely easy to condition, or it takes forever to condition and can become very frustrating.  But what if you love the colors of Sculpey III and really want to work with it, that's great!  But here's my suggestions for doing so.

1. Never use Sculpey III by itself.  The reason you don't want to use it by itself are as described above.
2. Mix other brands of clay with the Sculpey III.  I use translucent or pearl clay when I want to use Sculpey.  The pearl Premo / Fimo Classic gives a soft and shimmery sheen and slight pearl color to the clay.  I mix one whole block 2oz. block of Sculpey III with 1/4 block of Premo / Fimo Classic pearl.  Another technique to strengthen clay without losing the color saturation is to mix 1 block of Sculpey III with 1/4 block of Kato Translucent.

As I have said in previous posts, Premo is my choice for 90% of my polymer clay designs, artwork, sculpting, and even caning.  Premo is not as readily available as Sculpey III or even Fimo Soft.  You can get the newer Premo Accent line at JoAnn Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels.  However, the full line of Premo is available only at Pat Catans (at least in my NE Ohio / NW Pennsylvania area.

Good luck choosing your choice brand of polymer clay.  Let us know in the comments what your preferred brand of polymer clay is and why it is your favorite.

HAPPY CLAYING!