Olha
What polymer clay is, and why we work with it
It's not cheap plastic, and it's not ceramic. It's the only material that lets you sculpt a half-millimetre petal that actually survives being worn.
Polymer clay contains no clay at all. It's a PVC compound with plasticisers that stays soft indefinitely at room temperature and hardens when baked at around 130 degrees. That's the whole trick, and it explains almost everything else.
Because it doesn't air-dry, I can spend four hours on a bouquet without the first petal cracking while I finish the last one. With ceramics that's impossible: cold porcelain starts to stiffen after twenty minutes.
Because it hardens with heat rather than by evaporation, the piece doesn't shrink. What you sculpt is exactly what comes out of the oven, and that matters when you're fitting twelve flowers together.
And it's light. A whole statement necklace weighs less than a metal pendant of the same size, and you notice that after three hours of wearing it.
What it isn't: indestructible. A sharp knock against a corner can snap a thin petal. It's jewellery, not a tool.
