Because Creativity - Exploring the Art of Polymer Clay with Hannah Ashe
How simple curiosity led to a creative rediscovery through polymer clay
Dear Creatives, welcome to another Because Creativity guest letter, with
Hannah is a passionate advocate for creative career change and embracing the multi-hyphenate life. From her desk in London, Hannah writes about interior design, creativity, and her travels in France, all from the perspective of a left-handed introvert.
Sometimes the simplest moments spark the most creative journeys. For Hannah, it was the everyday decision of which earrings to wear that set her on a path back to hands-on crafting. From casual curiosity about polymer clay to opening her own Etsy shop, Hannah reflects on how this creative outlet helped her reconnect with the joy of making.
Hannah and I have been drawn to each other’s writing through our shared love of many different creative pursuits and our creative career path shifts, and I am so pleased to be able to share Hannah’s letter with you.
As a child I was always making something: perfume from my dad’s roses, a fantasy bedroom design via a perspective drawing, a coaster from those plastic beads that you iron to melt together. Thinking back to those now, they must have been absolutely terrible for the environment.
Back then I was free to play, to experiment, to try without a worry about the outcome. Later, self-consciousness crept in to my life; I went to university, became a teacher and that creative part of me was somehow buried. That was until last year.
After some big life realisations, I left my stressful full-time teaching job and re-trained as an interior designer, later launching my own business. All of that is a story in itself, which you can read about on my Substack page, linked below.
During that time of change, my creative mojo came whizzing back to me and suddenly the urge to want to experiment and make things returned. I can’t quite explain it; it just happened.
I’ve always loved funky, bright earrings. I’d look out for interesting pairs wherever I went, and my sister would often buy me a pair for my birthday or Christmas.
One morning as I was deciding which pair to wear that day, a thought entered my mind – how difficult would it be to make my own pair of earrings?
I quickly moved onto something else, but for the next few days my brain was processing that thought without me realising and the next thing I knew I was looking up YouTube videos on How to make polymer clay earrings.
Many of the pairs I had were made from polymer clay (often known as Fimo) and I realised that when I was a child, I had experimented with this stuff to make models. Fast-forward to a few days later and I’d been to my local craft shop and picked up a pack of assorted colours and had plans to play around with it.
On my Substack – Chez Hanny, I host a monthly online session called Create Ensemble. The idea is that we meet via zoom and spend an hour creating something – anything – in the virtual company of each other. After a few minutes of initial chat, we mute ourselves and get on with some sewing or drawing or writing or…polymer clay experimenting!
During the Create Ensemble session in early March, I decided I would spend the hour playing with the clay, mixing colours and creating shapes that might eventually turn into earrings. The collective hour flew by and afterwards I carried on. I’d found the ‘flow state’ that people often talk about, and I’d been working with this material for over 3 hours!
The polymer clay must be baked in the oven to fully harden and after that it can be sanded, polished and varnished.
After this initial session, I knew I needed more. I had that feeling where I was mentally plotting when I could next carve out a block of time to work on some more. It excited me. The next session was more focused and this time I concentrated on creating shapes that could be turned into earrings.
The work continued until I was at the point where I had 30 or so pairs of earrings. I couldn’t believe I had made them! I wore some of the pairs myself and people would occasionally comment on them. When they discovered I’d made them myself, they would tell me to sell them online.
I wasn’t sure at first, but after several people said this to me, I went ahead and set up an Etsy shop. I imagined it would be quick and easy, but I was wrong. It took me days to take good-enough photos for my listings and I found working out the cost of postage and packaging to be complex. It made me feel a little weary, but I managed to list around 20 pairs.
Whilst it’s easy for others to suggest selling something, it’s much more difficult to actually get sales. I was grateful to a few people who did buy them, but Etsy is just a sales platform, and it requires a lot of hard work to drive traffic to your page. What I had inadvertently done is set up another business!
I stuck at it for a few weeks but after a while I realised that the ‘business’ side of all of this had removed some of the joy I’d initially felt about making something in the first place. I didn’t want that.
And so, whilst there are still a few pairs for sale on my Etsy site, I now only make earrings for myself and as gifts for my family and friends. I experimented with some leaf shapes a few months back as I wanted to create a pair of leaf earrings for my sister’s birthday. I enjoyed the making process again and I didn’t have to worry about photographing them in the best light or figure out how to package them well.
I’m open to a commission if someone had a very specific idea of what they wanted, but otherwise I’m here to play and return to the joyful, child-like mindset I once had in abundance.
Thank you so much for sharing your inspiring journey of rediscovery and creativity with us, Hannah. Your story of exploring polymer clay and embracing the joy of making is a wonderful reminder of the power of play.
You can find more of Hannah's work on her Substack, where she writes about positive and creative career changes, slower living, and her multi-hyphenate life in London.
Don’t miss her podcast, Creative Career Change, featuring interviews with women who have taken bold steps to change their careers, including an episode Where Hannah and I chat about my own meandering creative journey.
It’s the perfect listen for anyone feeling the call for transformation. You can also explore her website and Etsy shop through the links below. Be sure to check them out for more of her creative insights and beautiful creations.
https://chezhannydesign.etsy.com
Fimo has always had a special place in my creative memories. My sister and I spent hours as children moulding and shaping our imaginations into little creations that still live in my mum’s house, over 30 years later.
I think my most ambitious creation was the full chess set that I made; penguins for the black pieces and seagulls for the white. The bishops wore night caps and the rooks stood on little towers. There were golden crowns for the kings and queens, but I have no memory of what the rooks looked like! I spent hours carving out pockets in a polystyrene block and covering it in silky fabric to store the set, and then gave it away to a friend. I do not have any photographs to share, but here are some of my other creations!
It’s been years since I made anything from polymer clay, but my sister never really stopped. She still picks up it up from time to time, turning her ideas into intricate, vibrant sculptures. Here are some of her amazing creations….
Reading Hannah’s letter brought me right back to those playful moments of experimentation, where creativity had no boundaries and the joy was simply in making something with your hands. It’s a feeling that’s worth holding onto, no matter where life takes you.
Bye for now,
 | A guest post by
|
Oh this Brough back such lovely memories... I remember my baby sister receiving a gift of Fimo for Christmas one year, it must have been in its infancy back then because when I suddenly remembered the joy she had in modelling tiny animals - mostly horses, she was horse mad - I bought some for my daughter and I couldn't believe the range of colours that were available. She loved to create with it and even now, at age 27 she will still sit and model something on occasion - she always has some in her art box! I still have the tiny creatures she made and maybe even a pair of earrings somewhere too!
Thank you so much Hannah and Emily, I wish I could say I enjoyed creating with Fimo too, sadly I have zero patience for anything fiddly - give me a huge patch of wild garden and ask me to transform it into something beautiful though and I am in heaven! 💛x
I am a very proud owner of a pair of Hannah's earrings. I still can't believe she sent me some as gift.
A great read and so interesting to note the difference between creating for joy and flow vs creating products.
P.S Going to message you now Emily about the deadline which has disappeared into the abyss! <3