Hello all. 
I have a question for those of you thet use polymer clay to make parts of the puppets. When you make the head, for example, do you make the shape, lets say a ball, with another material first and then cover it with the clay? I wonder what mateials can be used for this, that does not burn down in the oven when baking the polymer piece. Thanks so much for any hint.

I don't use polymer clay but I do know you can use foil as a base for your pieces and it well hold up in the oven.

Thanks for the advice! 
Right now I am empty for foil in my kitchen  , wondering if I can use paper to make the base for the piece... If not, it will be an express trip to the store to buy foil!

no stick to foil...I believe the measurement is to make your clay about a 1/4 inch thick when covering the foil. Make sure to get it nice and smooth and then bake it like usual. Obiviously you do not over bake.

Sincerely,


Spoon

Oh, thanks for the tip. No paper then. The bike is calling me to take a trip and buy the foil... Or maybe a good neighbor can help? Will try that one.

I have successfully covered styrofoam balls with foil to get nice round shapes, I got this from Fimo themselves, Without that I would have been worried that it would melt and collapse in the oven!
So Styrofoam ball, then foil then get the clay thick enough to spread the heat, I've made complex shapes from styrofoam blocks and covered those too, possibilities become endlesss!

So, even if you use other material like foam, it still MUST be covered with foil? Something to do with making the temp even in the oven, I supposed? Interesting... Tnaks for the advice.  Hobby shop for the foam too far to go biking... Just about to take my dog out for a tour, to the neighbor and ask for a piece of foil... )

  mmmmm The neighbor was not at home... I must have a pice of foil somewhere!!! 

I've worked with polymer clay a lot, and while I think it's too heavy and fragile for most of my puppet applications, I can confidently say that working with paper as a base is no problem.  Paper's ignition temperature is way above the temperature that polymer clay cures at.  In fact, I usually bake my sculpey figures on a sheet of paper so that they won't get shiny patches where they touch the pan.