About the Author.

Sue Heaser has worked professionally as a writer for over 20 years and is the author of 15 major craft books as well as a growing list of eBooks that are available world wide. She specialises in polymer clay, metal clay, jewellery making and miniatures.

 

Why this book?

My first encounter with polymer clay was through articles written by Sue Heaser for the Bead Society newsletter and this book, first published in 1997, was the first book I acquired for my polymer clay library. I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a look back at a book which still influences some of my work now.

 

In the beginning.

The book starts with an introduction to the clays available at the time (namely Fimo, Sculpey III and Cernit) and details of the basic equipment required. The book then goes on to basic techniques for conditioning and working with the clay, mixing and marbling colours and baking. This is followed by a detailed section on jewellery findings and jewellery assembly techniques.

 

The projects.

The projects are divided into seven sections: Beads, Flowers & Fruit, Animal Jewellery, Novelty Brooches, Metallic Effects, Appliqué and Mosaic and Buttons. All of the projects feature Sue’s step by step illustrations to ensure successful completion and include hints and tips for variations. My personal favourites of these are the animal jewellery section featuring cute designs for cats, pigs, owls, penguins and rabbits, and the Metallic Effects section which makes use of metallic powders to add a touch of bling to dragons, fairy tale castles, celtic knots and much more.

 

In conclusion.

With its’ achievable projects and detailed information on jewellery making techniques, I still feel that this book is an excellent introduction to the joy of creating jewellery from polymer clay. Indeed with the different clays that are now available it could be a good time to revisit some of the more delicate projects such as the fuchsia earrings or the rose corsage.

 

Where to purchase.

Although now out of print, second hand copies are available from Amazon and some of the projects are now included in an e-book Polymer Clay Jewellery for Beginners: Book 2 Simple Sculpting – Animals and Birds.

​

Reviewed by Ange Smith