{"id":910,"date":"2008-10-23T18:22:37","date_gmt":"2008-10-24T01:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beadsandbeading.com\/blog\/?p=910"},"modified":"2008-10-23T18:45:48","modified_gmt":"2008-10-24T01:45:48","slug":"bead-making-tips-to-build-your-confidence-as-a-polymer-clay-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beadsandbeading.com\/blog\/bead-making-tips-to-build-your-confidence-as-a-polymer-clay-artist\/910\/","title":{"rendered":"Bead Making Tips To Build Your Confidence as a Polymer Clay Artist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lack<\/p>\n

Is The Fear of Making Mistakes Holding You Back from Making Beautiful Beads?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday I made a commitment to discuss some of the challenges many of you are having with your polymer clay. A common one is lack of confidence or fear of<\/span> making mistakes. You gather information and tools but have a tough time getting started. Or perhaps your projects aren’t turning out as expected so you get discouraged.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a teacher, I see this lack of confidence issue come up all the time. So today I am going to give you 3 creative tips and techniques to help you conquer your fears and feelings of doubt.<\/span><\/p>\n

1) Hush Your Mind A Little.<\/strong><\/span> Stop saying you don’t have a creative bone in your body…. you’re bad at mixing colors… your stuff isn’t as good as everyone else’s. These negative words do not serve you well! A young child does not say, “I’m bad at walking, so I quit!”… or “I don’t think I will ever be able to color, so why start now?” They just do it the best they can and eventually they get better and better! There will always be people more skilled at polymer clay than you and there will always be people worse. You are here because you love it and your negative thoughts are holding you back. Let go and have fun with it!<\/span><\/p>\n

2) Play With Your Clay.<\/strong><\/span> Take two or three different colors of clay and sit down to play with it. It is important that you have no intention of making something great with the clay. You are just going to play with the material and get to know it. Roll it, twist it, fold it, mix it. Shape it into beads and smash them up. Polymer clay loses its intimidation factor when you know it doesn’t matter how ugly the thing might end up. You can always smash it up and start over. Even if you just end up with a big ball of mud colored clay in the end, just keep playing with it. The great thing about having a block of mud colored clay is it still can be used in lots of techniques. So don’t even worry about the waste. Besides, this ‘practice clay’ was set aside for playing with in the first place. There is no need to feel guilty about it!<\/span><\/p>\n

3) Start with something simple and learn it well. <\/strong><\/span>Try marbling polymer clay<\/a> and learn to roll round beads<\/a> with it. <\/span>Master the technique of properly baking beads<\/a>. <\/span>Put in the effort of sanding polymer clay beads<\/a><\/span> <\/span>through all the steps until they shine. Make some earrings or a bracelet and wear them! One simple set of well made beads will build your confidence much quicker than several sets of complicated poorly made beads that you hide away and never use.<\/span><\/p>\n

And remember, if you have confidence issues, there is no need to go at it alone. As you can see from yesterday’s “bead making challenges<\/a>” post, there are many others feeling the same way. Absolutely everything you need to learn to make beautiful polymer clay beads is right here on this web site… and the amount of information is growing daily. I am your Polymer Clay Tutor and I am here to help.<\/span><\/p>\n

So tell me… were these tips helpful? Are there any other confidence-building or fear-of-making-mistakes topics you would like me to address in more detail? What else do you think might be holding you back? I’d love nothing more than to help you become the confident clayer that I know you can be.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cindy\"Polymer<\/p>\n

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