Craft Test Dummies

Well, I cracked open my new packages of Studio by Sculpey. I’ve been picking up on some of the hype, and I was eager to try it out. So, I picked a pretty pink and went to it.

As I mentioned before, the packages are a little larger than the Femo and Sculpey packages - these have 2.8 ounces in each. So they are a little more, but you get more, too. (And today they were 25% off at JoAnn’s ETC, which puts them at about the same price.)

The clay is packaged as a long rectangle brick, with score marks breaking it up into small bricks of about 1/2 inch by 1 inch. Right off the bat, I thought that this would be handy for color mixing…. easy to get consistent amounts of clay without too much measuring. Thumbs up on that.

(Side note: I doubt that they intend on much color-mixing, though. This whole line is geared toward home dec, and the color palette reflects this.You won’t find shocking purple. Click here to see the colors they offer.)

Right out of the package, it had a smooth, semi-firm hand. Kind of like the outside of a marshmallow. It was easy to work in my fingers, and even after warming it kept that silky texture. Compared to other soft- and semi-soft clays, this one is much smoother in texture and really wasn’t sticky. I did use white, and waited for the dreaded “stickies” and the appearance of lint in the clay. Not so much! Yea!

Quick note on smell: I gave it my “sniff” test, and it had a mild, non-offensive odor. When I use Fimo soft, I find it kinda stinky- so smell matters to me. Maybe it’s just me.

I mixed two colors, to see how long it took to incorporate. About 15 passes through my pasta machine, I had a lovely light pink hue. I then made a bullseye and jellyroll canes and reduced them to test the integrity of the clay during reduction. Nice! The jelly roll got really small in the resulting “star” cane, but the stripes remained true without “smearing.” This I like!

I made up some pieces out of my canes and rolled clay, and it cut well…. I baked them at 275 and set my timer for 30 minutes (the recommended time.) Right on! With some of my other clays, I have to add 10 minutes to really make sure it was done- but the packages directions were accurate, and I didn’t need to add time. During baking, it did give off that traditional “polyclay” smell, no better or worse than other brands I’ve used.

The finish on the baked clay was really a lovely matte finish, and they really didn’t need to be glazed or buffed to have a nice finish. However, I’m a big fan of shine, so I applied 3 coats of Future floor wax…. and they looked great.

On the whole, I think it’s pretty craftastic. I wouldn’t toss out all of the polyclay I own and replace it with Studio by Sculpey, but I will buy some more in the future- especially when I’m looking for certain colors…. they’re just nicer than what the other companies are putting out.

To read my review of the Studio by Sculpey 5-in-1 Tool, click here.

To read by review of the Studio by Sculpey Super Slicer Blades, click here.

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