Faux Glass Bead Supplies + Tools

Below you’ll find a list of places that I purchase my liquid polymer clay from, as well as links to some of the tools that I use to create my art.

Read my Tutorial FAQ

You can buy all of the colors of liquid clay here, as well as the large 8 FL OZ bottles of clear. Order online at: Van Aken web store

You can usually find small bottles of clear Kato PolyClay at Hobby Lobby if you have a local store. In the past, I’ve found bottles of colored liquid PolyClay, but I haven’t seen them for several years at the stores around me. You can also order it online: Liquid Kato PolyClay at Hobby Lobby

Amazon is a great place to buy bottles of clear Kato PolyClay, especially if you’re getting the larger bottle size like I do (I prefer to mix my own colors using clear and various coloring agents). You can often find some of the premixed colors here, as well. This is the listing that I use to buy the large 8 FL OZ bottles of clear: Kato PolyClay on Amazon

You can get small bottles of clear liquid Kato by ordering online from Fire Mountain Gems.

If you’re having a hard time finding liquid Kato PolyClay from a local store, or you can’t find an online retailer that ships to your country, try looking for individual sellers on Etsy. I’ve been able to find all of the colors, as well as bottles of the basic clear liquid clay. See what’s available currently: Liquid Kato PolyClay on Etsy

The heat gun that I personally use now is the Milwaukee 8988-20 Variable Digital Temperature Control Heat Gun. You don’t need one as expensive as mine, especially if you don’t have other projects to use a heat gun on! I use mine for multiple other hobbies, not just for making polymer clay beads. Just look for a heat gun that allows you to control both the temperature and the speed of the air. I’ve primarily included the Milwaukee one on this resources page so that people are able to take a look at the features mine has for comparison purposes.

I initially upgraded my embossing heat gun to a corded Ryobi variable temp heat gun back when I first started making faux glass beads – it had a small dial on the back that allowed me to adjust the temperature starting from 200℉. The listing that I used initially to buy it doesn’t look active anymore (you can see it here), but you’re still able to go to the manufacturer’s website to read the details about it and to look for places to purchase it: Ryobi Variable Temp Heat Gun

To avoid burnt clay, I highly recommend testing the output of your heat gun to make sure it isn’t running much hotter than you think it is (or cooler). Although your variable temperature heat gun will allow you to pick a temperature, this does not mean that the temperature produced will actually reflect the selection you made. You can test the output by holding a K-type thermocouple probe in the air stream (you cannot simply point an infrared thermometer at the air stream). This is the bundle that I purchased: Infrared Thermometer + Probe