Beginner Polymer Clay Tutorial - Make a cloud with Papa's Clay

Hi everyone, today I’m going to show you how to make cloud using your leftover polymer clay. This is a great polymer clay tutorial for beginners and for using some of your scrap clay that might be sitting around.

Here's what you will need to get started:

1. White Papa's Clay
2. Scrap pieces of Papa's Clay in any color
3. Pasta machine, hand roller, or a baker's roller to roll out your clay
4. Paint brush
5. Conditioning oil
6. Rubbing alcohol

Step 1 - Condition the Clay

Papa's Clay conditions differently than other types of clay. It just needs some gentle rolling and heat from your hands. Make sure to condition your clay before you start working with it. Small pieces take just a few seconds to condition and big pieces can take up to a minute or two. You can use a hair dryer to condition it even quicker. Your scrap pieces should be pretty quick to condition, but you might need a bit longer depending on how much white clay you need.

Step 2 - Make a bunch of cloud "puffs" out of your scrap clay

Take your scrap clay and just roll them into a bunch of little balls of all different shapes. It's important to make some bigger and smaller balls so that the cloud looks like it has some nice volume. Then, arrange the balls into something that looks like a cloud.

Step 3 - Roll your white polymer clay into a thin sheet

A pasta machine is not required to roll out your clay, all you need is some type of roller. But, a pasta machine will make this step much easier. Use your roller to flatten your polymer clay and get it into a thin sheet. The thinner you can make your slab of polymer clay, the better.

Step 4 - Lay your white clay over your cloud

Lay your white slab of polymer clay on top of your scrap clay and gently press it in. It probably already looks like a cloud. Gently press the white clay into the depths and grooves of your cloud to give it a nice, smooth, and uniform look.

Cut off any excesses and trim the edges so that your cloud looks like nice and compact.

Step 5 - Smooth out and clean your cloud

Take your brush and and add some conditioning oil - you can start with just a drop or too. Gently brush your cloud to help smooth out any bumps or imperfections.

Papa's Clay is dust and dirt resistant, and white Papa's Clay stays really clean. But, white clay can still get other colors on it if you're not careful. So, you can take a q-tip and some rubbing alcohol to clean off any color imperfections.

Your cloud should like a nice, puffy cloud now!

Step 6 - Add some shimmer mica powders (optional)

If you want to go for a shiny look, you can add some mica powder to your cloud to make it look shiny and magical.

So, there you have it, a really simple and fun polymer clay tutorial to make a cloud.