2. Sculpey III Sculpey III is soft and easy to work with. It is the easiest one to push through clay guns. This clay is available in 44 vibrant colors. The colors blend easily, which is good for color mixing, but is not so good for cane-work (millefiori). Being soft right out of the package, it is a good clay for kid's projects. However, this clay is more brittle than others after baking.

3. Premo! Sculpey Premo! Sculpey is softer than FIMO, but stiffer than Sculpey. It retains flexibility in thin areas, making small details less vulnerable to breakage. It has a rich color palette, with at least 32 colors, some of which have mica- shift particles. In my opinion, this is one of the best clays currently on the market, and a very good choice for a wide variety of techniques.

4. Fimo Classic Fimo Classic is stiffer than any of Sculpey clays, so it keeps the shapes and colors you want, making it a very good choice for cane-work. It comes in 24 bright colors. Fimo Soft Fimo Soft is very similar to Sculpey III in its properties.

5. Kato Kato is the stiffest of all of polymer clays, but it is also the strongest when baked. This is my clay of choice for all my jewelry projects. This clay comes in 21 colors, including translucent, metallic, and concentrates. The metallic and pearl colors have extra mica in them compared to other brands. The 8 basic colors are true complementaries, which makes them very easy to mix virtually any color. I especially like the color concentrates, because they are literally packed with pigments, and create very rich colors when mixed with other clays (they do need to be mixed with regular clay; they are too brittle to be used in sculpting on their own). Newer brands include Ultralight, Studio by Sculpey, Craft Smart (Michael's store brand), and Pardo.

6. IT IS OK TO MIX DIFFERENT BRANDS OF POLYMER CLAY. Mixing different brands gives you a wider range of polymer clay properties and colors. Just remember to mix the two brands thoroughly.