40 Texture Ideas for Polymer Clay Projects and Sculpey Bead Making

Card making rubber stamps, wax seal stamps, dried lentils, starry pasta shapes, playdoh moulds, ridged plastic bottle lids, baby's toes, relief beads, kitchen foil etc…

Scrunched aluminium foil, coarse sandpaper, buttons (especially metallic ones with filigree or other textures), doilies, lace, metallic mesh, washers.

@Elsa: Great ideas! Smiled when I got to the baby toes… how sweet!

@Genevieve: Great additions! The filigree stuff is all the rage now!

Vases,glassware, door knobs & drawer pulls. DE

Those are great additions Darinda! Thank you!

crystal cut glasses,light switch covers with filigree,small chains,leather punch tools,lace doilies,fabrics,bark,rocks,zippers,screens,adding machine roll {aft. paper is all gone},game pieces,novelity clocks with designes,medicine bottle caps{arnd the edges}silverware handles,filigree earrings,look @ everything in your path, the textures that lurk everywhere arnd you, pocketbooks what makes up the outside components for closures,etc. I have alot of things I have collected from everywhere. I am called a packrat. I think I can use somethings with my polymer clay so I hardly throw anything away. I reuse alot.

Awesome additions Lynn! Yeah I can relate to the packrat thing. Not too many creative types that aren't collectors of some sort. Thanks for adding to the texture ideas list!

Just this morning I was thinking about the cut glass collection from my grandmother. I thought it was an original idea for adding texture … and here you had it on this list from 2008!

I'm glad you commented, Carolyn. I had overlooked it — you made me look again! It's a great idea for texture, plus, there are quite a few here I haven't thought of!

Press a sheet of slightly crinkled of aluminum foil into the clay for a slate/stone texture. Cool because you can vary the degree of crinkle, and make deep or shallow impressions.

@Heather Graef: Good tip! I like that you added what kind of texture the foil creates (it also looks makes a Faux Leather effect!) This is a good thread; I hope people see this & continue to add ideas.

All: I didn't see "tools" on this list—the classic Phillips screw driver, for instance. Other screwdrivers, too (star-shaped are great!) The jaws of pliers have cool texture. Then there's brass/copper tubing in various sizes & shapes, screw threads, nuts & bolts, rasps, golf tees, plastic table leg inserts, etc. Look in your toolbox or that "drawer" in the kitchen that's full of miscellaneous household "stuff." You'll find some texture there… Anyway, I'm sorry if I'm repeating certain items!

There are other kinds of tools, too. Just in general, there's sewing/embroidery tools (like plastic needlepoint canvas/mesh, pattern wheels, crochet hooks, knitting needles, eye of large needle, ball-tip pins, t-pins, etc.;) beads & beading tools/accessories (almost everything!;) nail-care & beauty tools (like pumice or feet smoothers, dental tools, brushes, cuticle trimmers–like little gouges, files, blackhead removers, hair clips, barrettes, bobby pins, etc.;) dremel accessories (check your accessory kit!;) office supplies (like punches, little binder clips, page connectors, paper clips–already mentioned, or pen parts–caps, springs, or the ends of empty/retracted pens/pencils, etc.;) scrapbooking supplies (like decorative rivets, grommets, stamps–already mentioned, metallic charms or embellishments, etc.;) kitchen supplies/tools (like slicers & graters, corn holders, forks or flatware patterns, cake decor. tips, popsicle sticks, etc.;) and food (like pasta & others–already mentioned, as well as sugar, salt, rock salt, cereal, dried rice, beans, corn, walnut shells, etc.)

Oh yeah, someone did put "leather punch tools"–which are great. (I want some of those! BTW, Carolyn has some cool ones!) There's also nature & the great outdoors: grass, seashells, tree bark, leaves, concrete, stucco, wood, sand, pebbles, birdseed—it's endless!

Add some of your faves:……. :D

@Phaedrakat: Awesome list. Upholstery tacks often have floral embellishments that make nice textures. I have an idea to create a set of texture stamps with pc handles. Will post when I have some pics to share!

Thank you all for terrific ideas! I've been racking my brain, trying to add to my collection of things to use for texture. I have the mesh bags from onions and the elastic stocking thing they have around hams.

One thing worries me. When I made a comment to my daughter, who's BIG into making all kinds of things by hand, about using store bought jewelry items and making molds out of them she said if it's copyrighted it can't be used. What are your thoughts?

@Tanya L: Copyrights are not to be copied. Now, I have some old jewelry (cameos mostly) and I do make molds of these items. But if I bought something new and saw a copyright on it, I would not copy it. That's the whole idea of a copyright. Glad you brought this up. One thing, though, you can use a copyrighted item as the basis if something if you make major changes to it. Then it is always good to give credit: inspired by … or based on the work of … You get the idea.

@Tanya L: Tanya L is right—its fair to say that its not a good idea to copy an item and purposely call it your own design. But I would add that this more or less applies to work you are selling. Its the same way with any type of art or design work. I think some exceptions are when artists use mixed-media/collage techniques in their work; if you use a pretty generic design for your mold, and add your own embellishments and textures to make it your own, you should be OK. Part of being an artist is to find inspiration from others, make your own creations, and have fun with it.

Thanks Carolyn & Heather!

Good topic, glad you brought it up!

This all sounds wonderful. I have only but started to work with polymer clay – Fimo to be exact. I've made some beads and I love it. Now I want to try textured ones. That's how I found this site. Can you tell me how to work with the clay to obtain the texture with some various objects? Do I first roll the clay into a ball (the plain round bead), and then press the object of choice onto the ball? How to get the bead back into round shape again?

@Amanda: Hi Amanda, you can press all kinds of things into your clay for texture. Be sure to use a release of some sort so that the texturing item doesn't stick in the clay. Water can be used; or something powdery, like corn starch; or even something oily, like Armor-all! This time of year, clay gets sticky, so you'll probably want to stick with powder or cool water as a release.

If you're careful, and keep your round bead cool (pop it in the fridge before texturing,) it will retain it's shape as you press the texture into the bead. Sometimes, depending on the type of texture and how large it is in relation to the bead, you might have to finagle it a bit, or gently coax it into a round shape again and "touch up" the texture in spots.

There are lots of other ways to add texture to beads. Cindy has a few videos that include adding texture—one of them uses Rubber Stamps for Textured Beads and Pendants.

Have fun with it, and since you are new to this, you should try Cindy's Polymer Clay Basics Course. It's the best way to get lots of information, as well as helpful tips and tricks for all aspects of getting started with polymer clay. It's even helpful for intermediate & advanced clayers—everyone can learn a few things from this set of 39 videos. You should also sign up for the Polymer Clay Newsletter. You get 3 free videos for signing up, as well as a couple of free color recipes from Cindy's custom palettes each week. If you like the looks of the videos (which you will–they're the best!) you will probably want to become a member. It costs $9.95 for 3 months of videos (12 videos — about 80 ¢ each, or $3.32 per month.) You also get additional color recipes from Cindy's A-series palettes. It's a fantastic bargain—you won't be sorry you joined! The links to all of the things I mentioned are at the top of this page…

One thing I forgot to mention—the search box at the top of each page. Just about every question has been answered at least once at this blog. Type "how to texture beads" or "textured beads" or something like that in the box & you'll get a list of articles where the topic was mentioned. You can find all kinds of cool info and tips by reading the article and the comments below it (sometimes there's even more info in the comments under the article than in the original post!) Good luck with your beads, and I hope to see you around as a new member!
~Kat  Riverside, CA, USA   –Where are you from?