Kawaii Resin and Clay Workshop

by Alex Lee

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Kawaii Resin and Clay Workshop is a super cute and useful tutorial and style guide for polymer clay and resin figures, charms, and miniatures written by Alex Lee. Released 3rd Nov 2020 by Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 144 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is more than just a collection of cute modeling clay tutorials. The author spends a fair bit of content on showing how to make molds for casting resin along with the tools, supplies, and techniques for getting the best finishes. The tutorials (25 by my count) are arranged thematically: nature, marine life, animals, electronics and everyday objects, and food items. All of the items are really cute (that's the angle - they're all kawaii (cute)). There are so many which appealed to me, especially the little ice cream sandwiches and the animals and sea creatures. I intend to make a bunch of knitting markers, scissors fobs, and needle minders. They're addictive little projects.

Each of the tutorials includes tools and supplies, a pic of the finished project, and step by step tutorial photos with instructions. The detailed process photos are clear and easy to follow. Almost all of them take a very small amount of materials and would be great for a family weekend project (with an adult or responsible older kid to help with baking and curing). The author has included a very short index along with a list of supplies links suitable for international sourcing (I didn't check all of them, but most ship worldwide).

There's so much good information here but the icing on top is the humor scattered throughout the book ("make a bunch of these tentacles. You can never have too many"). The tutorials are upbeat and fun and the finished products are just so happy and cute. Definitely a good selection for the crafter's home library as well as for maker's groups and crafting studios when we're allowed to assemble together again.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.