Lizards, geckos, textile hardener & polymer clay

A BIRDY HEYWOOD DESIGN

​I wish to share ways to combine Polymer Clay with Textile Hardener
Here is a short bit about Polymer Clay before I show you how to create  Lizards & Geckos out of Polymer Clay
 

​I have been using Polymer Clay for over 30 years and I love it. There are various different brands to choose from. I use mainly Fimo Professional or Cernit for my creations but there are many others to choose from.  The clay comes in a variety of colours. They can be used as they are to create figurines or mixed to create other colours. Creating canes (designs like in a stick of seaside rock) is not difficult. Here is an example of a simple daisy cane step by step. Once the cane has been created it can be reduced and thin slices removed to create wonderful jewellery. There are many examples on YouTube so check it out. Once finished the clay needs to be baked in an ordinary oven.  Follow manufacturers baking instructions.
 

​Besides creating canes for jewellery etc. Polymer Clay is an ideal medium to sculpt figurines with. The following is a step by step on how to create little lizards. I have used these a lot in conjunction with Textile Hardeners. Here are a few examples.
 

I will begin with the plain blue lizard.
 

​My favourite polymer clays are Fimo Professional and Cernit but there are many others to choose from.  I choose these 2 brands because of their strength and colour choice. 1. I formed a basic shape then used Tule (Ballet skirt netting) to create the scaly effect. 2. I formed 2 tiny balls of clay and placed them on each side of the head. 3. Using a cocktail stick I inserted 2 tiny glass beads at the base of the balls for the eyes.
 

​4. I created 2 tiny holes for the nostrils then formed a little mouth. 5. I placed the mouth underneath and gently blended it to join. 6. For the legs I rolled out a little sausage and divided it into 4 equal sections.
 

5. I pressed the Tule over the legs and also on the body where I had accidentally flattened it whilst creating the mouth. 8. Attach the legs. 9. Create 2 grooves using a knitting needle.
 

​10. Cocktail sticks are handy tools to use. 11. If you look at the photo you can see how I created the toes then added little balls at the end and on the joins. This is a little fiddly but practise makes perfect.
 

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12. I have many texture sheets made of rubber. These are great for creating patterns and textures. 13. Shows how I cut out sections using a nice sharp polymer clay cutting blade.  15. is a more delicate texture sheet you can order from
Rosehart Studios.
 

​16. My little lizard was ready for baking but he needed to see what was going on. I used some scrunched up foil to support his head.  Different clays need different baking temperatures so please refer to the manufacturer’s instructions. 17. It doesn't actually show up too well on the photo but I painted him all over with a dark blue acrylic paint after he had cooled down. 18. I used white acrylic paint to dry brush him all over. To do this dip your brush into the paint then remove nearly all of it on a kitchen towel and brush lightly over the surface.
 

​19. I brushed lightly over the surface with the white paint  to highlight his scales.
 

​21. Once the white had completely dried, I dry brushed some yellow over the raised bits. Instructions on how to create the patterned lizard is next. 22. Here is a polymer clay  lizard that I used on a  Plant Pot. He has been coated all over  with textile Hardener then painted.
 

​There is something about lizards, geckos and salamanders that reminds me of dragons and I love creating dragons.  For the patterned lizard you will need : Polymer Clay of your choice, a ceramic tile to work on and also  bake your creation on, a little tin foil, small glass beads, polymer clay blade, cocktail sticks and a knitting needle.  Having wet wipes handy is good because sometimes the colour transfers to your hands. A pasta machine  (not used for food preparation) is ideal for flattening the clay. You could also use a glass bottle or rolling pin. It is not recommended to use any of your tools on food preparation.
 

​1. I chose both Fimo Professional and Cernit to use for this project. The reason being is that they were both handy and were the colours I needed.  2. I softened the clay in my  hands then formed a small white sausage shape. This I laid on a flattened sheet of yellow clay. 3. I wrapped the sheet tightly around it a few times then trimmed off the ends.
 

​4. & 5. I repeated the procedure with the turquoise clay. 6. For the last layer I used white. This was a lot thinner and I wrapped it around just the once. 7. Finally I trimmed off the ends to neaten.
 

​8. If I am alone creating there is no one to take the photos apart from me. I actually used both hands to roll out the cane and to stretch and reduce it. 9. Roll it out until it is 4 times the length and cut in the centre. Do not worry if after slicing the end off it will be distorted, the design is in there, I promise!  This you will see when you trim off the ends.
 

​10. Place both halves side by side and cut in the centre. 11. Place them together and reduce them once more by evenly squashing, squeezing and pulling gently. 12. Again stack them evenly together and reduce once more.
 

​13. By now you should be good at this! 14. This is how it will look after reducing. 15. Just one more time. It is actually up to you how many times you reduce the cane.
 

​16. You can judge by the size of my fingers how big the sausage of white clay should be. 17. Form a tail at one end. 18. Place your finger over where the neck will be and roll gently.
 

​19. Remove very thin slices from the cane. You do need a Polymer Clay blade for this project. If the blade is blunt it will just squash the design. 20. Beginning at the head end lay the slices side by side but do not overlap. Press gently to blend the joins. Not too hard or you will smudge it. 21. Once you have covered the whole lizard roll it gently to ensure there are no seams. If it grows too long, push it back into shape.
 

​22. Gently form a snout then roll out a thin sausage of white for the legs. 23. Cover the sausage as you did the body. 24. Use a little of the cane to form the shape shown in the photo. This will be for the mouth.
 

​25. I find a knitting needle great to blend joins. Join the mouth.  26. Create an eye socket using the knitting needle.  27.  Create 2 tiny balls of white clay  and have 2 tiny black glass beads in readiness.
 

28. Insert the little white balls. 29. Using a cocktail stick insert the beads.
​30. Create support for the head out of aluminium foil.
 

​31. Cut the sausage for the legs into 4 equal parts and gently squeeze the ends to cover the white. 32. Form the legs as shown. 33. Create little tiny sausages out of the blue clay and pick up in the centre using the cocktail stick. Attach and bend so each creates 2 toes. Add another to create 4 toes.
 

​33. I added little yellow balls to the end of the toes using the knitting needle. 34. I also added little balls down the back for decoration. The lizard remained on the tile for baking. Follow the manufacturers baking instructions which will be on the packet. Have FUN
 

Here is a downloadable PDF with the full instructions. Please take time to leave a comment.

Lizards and Geckos
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