Tips For Doing The Teardrop Skinner Blend Properly - (Polymer Clay Ombre Tutorial)
Whether you call them Skinner Blends, Teardrop Blends or Gradient Blends, if you want to up your polymer clay game, you're probably going to want to master this color blending technique.
Skinner Blends are a polymer clay artist's way to shift one color to the next. Whether you use Premo, Fimo or Sculpey you can use these ombre blends for shading in canes, to create depth and interest to backgrounds and to make polymer clay pieces more beautiful.
There are some tricks that need to be mastered though. In this polymer clay tutorial video I will show you how you need to "stay in your lane" with your colors; and how to avoid bubbles and blur blends that are too stripey. You'll learn a lot of cool things about making a good Teardrop Blend/Skinner Blend/Gradient!
For more info and related resources about How-To Master the Skinner Blend please visit our PcT blog (Video #777)... www.beadsandbeading.com/blog/?...
Polymer Clay Tutor, Cindy Lietz & Doug Lietz
"Love What You make... Make what You make.
I’m new to polymer clay and your videos have been the most helpful so thank you for sharing everything. I’ll be watching more soon 🥰 xxx
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
Wonderful tutorial, thank you! I also love the Skinner blend earrings ☺️💕
Thank you Cindy! I love the Teardrop blend method and this will help me get better results! I understand the process much more now. Thank you!
Thank you for the clear explanation
Thank you Cindy, that was really useful information. Blessings
I was having trouble with my blends and this came at the perfect time. Thank you so much. I learn so much from your videos.
Wonderful tutorial!!
I’m very, very late to the party here but your videos helped me so much when I was starting out! I’m not sure if you backed away for personal or business reasons, but the polymer clay world is missing you for sure! Thank you again 🥰
Thank you so, so much for coming in here and sharing these kind words! It means a lot!
Glad I joined, learned a lot already, you are a good teacher, thank you.
Wonderful information! Several of those tips about how to straighten and control the blend in ways were just what I wished I knew how to do -- especially that pesky long tail in the middle! Thanks!
“Stay in your lane” is now going to stay in my brain! Thank you 😊
Thanks so much. Was having lots of trouble & I think this clears up the problems. Will try again 😊
Thank you! Nailed it first time
Thanks for this. Hopefully now my skinner blends will turn out correctly!
This is THE BEST. Thank you!!!!!
I've been claying for years and still learned somethings...Thank you thank you thank you 😘💜
Thank you Cindy, I will keep practicing at canes.. My first attempt was a Blob Cane!!
This is the 2nd video I have watched of hers. I learned so so much in 2 videos that watching 50 of others didn't teach me. Thank you!
very helpful Cinday, as I am starting to canes tomorrow! Got some premade pendants coloring today!!!!
Thanks for all the info.
Great tips for controlling things and getting a smooth blend! Thanks, Cindy!
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
OMGosh your videos are addictive!
"stay in your lane" LOL why this made me laugh, she is so adorable lol. God Bless.
I haven't worked with polymer clay in such a long time and just recently decided to pull out all my clay supplies out of the closet. I remembered how much I enjoyed watching your videos back when I first discovered polymer clay and have been rewatching and going back through the backlog of videos I hadn't watched. It resparked my love of clay and brought up a lot of memories of all the stuff I've made thanks to you. I hope to see you come back to KZhead soon.
Hello Cindy, I’ve just found your page and watched couple of your videos, their great clear and thorough. Thank you so much for sharing your super valuable experience with us. Best wishes. Arezoo
Thank you so much for this great video, it was very helpful!!
Wonderful tips. I always wondered how to take care of those wonky ends.
As always thanks soooo goood👍💜🖤
What an awesome and helpfull Tutorial
Thank you that's great information 💜👍
Thank you, Cindy! THE best tutorial about skinner blend I’ve seen. You answered exactly the questions I had and explained it perfectly!
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
Great video, you seem cover all the special tricks to get good results.
Ah, that was great, thank you
I very appreciate. Thank you so much
thank you! you've addressed some problems i've had doing this! :) very helpful!
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
This video was so helpful! It is great that your tutorials target clayers of all different levels!
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
Love this. I've never been able to get the tear drop blend to work but now I think I can. Thank you!
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
Perfect video. I love that it is in real time.
Glad you liked it! 💖
Thank you for this!
I JUST SAW YOUR VIDEOS THESE ALL ARE AMAZING I AM DEFINITELY SUBSCRIBING ♥️
Thanks! I've done skinner blends before, but your techniques for controlling width and sripe-iness were well worth watching.
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
great tips.
This video blew my brain away, this is amazingly simple in the best way. I've been working with plasticine all my life and for some reason this never occurred to me. I've recently started working with polymer Clay and will definitely try this.
Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful comment! I do hope that it helps you with your further exploration of color and polymer clay. Have fun!
You are so awesome!
Best Blending video I have watched. No one gave more information in such a short time and most never gave this much in their tutorials at all. Thank you so much, from the bottom of the heart. I feel so empowered now.
Wow Marietta, thank you so much for the kind comments! I really appreciate it! 💖
I've been re-watching some of your videos to "brush up" on a few techniques. Thank you for so many wonderful tips! I hope everything is ok with you!
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
gorgeous blends as always, hoping i can master it soon as i want to make a sunset cane!
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
I’m just getting into crafting with clay and your channel really puts me at ease with how much I know I have to learn. I love it but definitely saw/see myself getting overwhelmed and your videos are really what are helping me so much right now! Thank you so so so much!!!!
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
I've just discovered your channel and I really love your tutorials! I just bought my first batch of polymer clay and I'm excited to play with it. :) Much love from PA, USA.
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
Hi Cindy i love your tutorials
Excellent tutorial for beginners, thank you so much for sharing this! I can't wait to try it out! :)
Thank you I appreciate the kind words!
Thank you so much for this tutorial. that's very helpful! Also, I would like to make a tiny plant and I would really love it if you were to show us how to make canes in order to make realistic leaves :)
Great video. I’ve been having trouble with blends. I think this will really help. ☺️
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
This is the first skinner blend ‘toot’ that has actually gone in my head and stayed. You’re the best!
Thank you soo soo much! I am happy to be stuck in your head! LOL 😊
PolymerClayTutor 🤣
Som much-needed it's a lot easier than skinner tanks a lot
Thank you for this! I have been working with clay for years and these are great tips for every skill level. I always feel like I have too much scrap clay from my blends, but the tip about reshaping will help so much!
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
Awesome, Cindy! You are sooooo easy to follow and that is very much appreciated! Thank you for sharing your wonderful knowledge with all,of us!!! God bless you! Oh, I love your haircut too!😘❤️
Do you have a hard time doing anything in clay?
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
very nice and creative😊😊
I've been bingeing on your videos because I am looking for a hobby and something to do when I retire in a few years. Thanks to your videos, your talent, your very clear instructions and information I think I have found what I will be doing before I retire. This will be my side job, side hustle, vacay fund. I will be going out starting this week to get the basics to start. Thank you so much!
You are so welcome Pansy! I wish you tons of success with your new Side Hustle! 💖💖💖
Honestly the best clay tutor. Name lives up to its standards.
Wow what a kind thing to say! Thank you!
I’m 8 years late but your videos are still appreciated by a newbie polymer clay artist. Took a painting break to do mirror mosaic and discovered I could make my own polymer clay tiles. And now, I’m loving your channel. Thank you. So much fun learning something new :)
Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the channel!
I specifically went looking for a quick and easy to understand skinner blend tutorial and after looking at several that were so-so, I found this one and it is exactly what I needed. I wanted someone who would show me hands on putting it into the pasta machine! Thank you so much! You answered my questions and I could see for myself and your analogy of "staying in the lanes" was spot on! I am now subscribed to you. I don't know if you're still doing videos, but I hope so. Thank you for this wonderful video.
Thank you so much Olivia for the kind and generous words! I appreciate it! 💖💖💖
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
Hi Cindy! I love watching your videos and they actually inspired me to start polymer claying! I miss watching your new videos and hope you're doing well and that this New Year rings in new polymer clay tutorials from you! I have a question though. I'm a beginner in polymer clay but I've worked with clays and sculpted little projects here and there before. I'm currently using sculpted and enjoying it a lot at the moment buy from what I've seen on KZhead and in comments, premo is a better clay. Do you recommend that I return the sculpey clays that I haven't used and switch to premo, try a mix of both side by side, or stay with sculpey all together?
Only one thing to say : thank you!
Hi, I love watching your channel you give lots of information that I didn't know about polymer clay. I would like to ask you where I can find jewelry making supplies as pendants, bracelets, and etc. Thank you!!
Hey!! I just became a fan about a month ago and can't stop watching your videos! Any chance you can show how to do some speckled clay like a speckled egg or something? Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for showing what to do when the clay gets too long and thin to fold!!
Please come back soon! I understand the other stuff has been taking up years but you are missed!♥️✨
That is very sweet! It is nice to be missed!
Makes me want to make some prosciutto out of polymer clay using this technique.
Saludos desde Puerto Rico.
Thanks!
You're very welcome!
I am having a great time watching your videos thank you. I bought a ceramic tile for baking however it is not glazed can I still use it
I found an awesome tutorial for a kaleidoscope which I'm going to use to make a gift for someone, but I was having trouble with the clay because it kept getting wider and wider and the fold was getting too small. I forgot about holding your fingers in there to restrict the width, so thank you for reminding me. I was smooshing it back together, and that worked, but it kept getting wider and wider and it wasn't blending anymore. So this helped. Thank you.
Glad I could help!
We miss you 🥺 you’re videos are super helpful tysm for making them btw...I hope all is okay at your end :)
Everything is OK... thank you so much for caring! 💖 We are just currently busy upgrading our website and business structure and it has taken us WAY longer than expected. We will be back as soon as we're done. Which hopefully isn't too long from now!
Thank you for choose my ch. ^^ I hope to watch your new video~
Imma go ahead and subscribe I feel like I going to be needing more tips and tricks.
Thank you fir this tutorial! I’m just getting started with polymer clay and I’ve seen people lay clay on-top of a piece of white rope to my ake snakes. Would I do this process twice for a 4” piece or is there a way to make the blend longer? Thank you!
Hi!! First I love ur videos Do I think u can make rings?? I had being trying to do it, but is hard for me to make them correctly, also that look more precessional, thank u
I see where I’m going wrong- I don’t use my fingers as guides and I ran it thru the wrong way in the pasta machine! Thanks for this video! I’m going to try again 😊
Thank you for doing this. I have a question. Is there a way to make it wider to make more items out of it, that can show all the colors. It seems like more lengthy than wide to try to make things to include the yellow and the bottom color.
I MISS YOU OML COME BACK
Thank you for the Love Aline!! We are trying to get back here as soon as possible. Hopefully it won't be too much longer!
TY TY
Hi Cindy(or whoever can answer this :P)! I have a question: when you do make a cane, and after you make beads and earrings etc., what do you do with the cane then?
Thank you so much for clarifying the situation. I guess there are no shortcuts in PC. 😙😗
I love the practical nature of your video clips. TFS. Could you perhaps also comment on the use of UV resin for polymer clay? And perhaps compare the various brands? It is quite an out lay of money and I don't know whether it will turn yellow, become brittle, change the colour or crack after some time.
In my experience UV resin hasn't yellowed (it says it's good for 10 years before yellowing), it hasn't cracked on me either. I buy a brand in a purple bottle on Amazon that ships from overseas to the US, so it takes a little bit of time to get here but worth it. It's also cheaper to get it that way VS buying a small tiny 5ml bottle you'll only get a few uses out of. I then pour some from my bigger bottle into my smaller one with the control tip if needed, but usually I can place some on an old silicone mat and use a toothpick for more control.
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
Thank you so mutch I know now how to do it. Can you do a how to use liquid clay? I can't figure out how to do it
Could u please do a tutorial on the 2 half flower earrings u have on the table when ur showing diff things to so with diff canes pretty please. They r red and the orange ones . Thank u
Awww where you been hun, miss your videos, I just return to KZhead recently and couldn't find you, then I went to look in my favourites list and didn't know you were gone too. I hope you return soon xoxo
You’ve been gone a long time! Hope everything is ok in your world.
I second this. Come back! We miss you!!
Thank you @Missi R and @Ruth Standring! I really appreciate the love! We are doing our best with the workload we are under right now building our website, but we do plan to get back to filming KZhead videos again soon!
We miss you! But understand the need.
Thanks Anita! Just so you know I am doing a LIVE Q&A Broadcast weekly on Wednesdays 11AM Pacific Time on our Facebook Page. Do join us, I think you'll get a lot of vale from it! facebook.com/polymerclay
@Buttered Lumps Thank you for saying that. We are trying hard to get back. There is only so much we can get done in a day. Hopefully soon... 💖
Love this video! Thank you!!!!!♥️ question.. Is it safe to bake polymer clay painted with acrylic paint?
Yes it is!
Hi Cindy! I have a question about baking. I know you've heard it all before but I thought I might give it a shot. so, what I would like to know is, if you recommend that we back for 1 hr, then at which temperature? would that be 1 hr at the manufacturer's recommended temperature? additionally, where does the 15 minutes for every 1/4 inch come from. that's such an arbitrary measurement, 1/4 inch of what, thickness, length, volume?
Could you do a review on super sculpey living doll clay??
Wow
Hi Cindy! I hope all is well with you. I just wanted to let you know that I miss you and your videos. I'm rewatching a lot of them to refresh my memory. I seem to always find something I missed or have forgotten from the first time around! Take care and I hope you can make it back when real life permits. :)
Thanks Jen... I will be back :)
Thank you so much for the great information! I enjoy all your videos! I do have a question - Planners and planner accessories are all the rage. I want to put paperclips into polymer charms to use as page markers. Just sticking a paperclip into the bottom of a charm and baking does not seem like the best technique to use. Do you have any ideas how to secure the paperclip so it will not fall out of the charm? Thanks!
Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?
Clay❤
Hi Cindy, As always, I enjoy your short videos with tips and tricks, but I have a question for you apart from the video I just watched. Have you done any 'strength' tests on the new 'clear translucent clay' that is new on the market? I have purchased some and I'm wondering just how strong it is in comparison to the other? Thanks in advance, but I'll bet you're already working on that test.
Hi Louise, the clear liquid is super strong. It is kind of rubbery and stretchy when it is baked properly.
PolymerClayTutor Thanks, just wondering also, if you use it for a final finish, does it scratch easily? Thanks again., Louise
Can you make frosting with white liquid polymer clay instead of translucent liquid clay? Also does bake and bond work to make the frosting but using a bit of polymer clay? Thanks
Miss You! I remember always watching you 4 years ago for 2 years! Hope you're doing well :)
We OK thanks for asking! We are currently working too hard on our new website that we are unable to film new content right now. We'll get back to it as soon as we can.
Your husband must be a polymer clay expert by now!He must have already learnt from all the tutorial filming 😂