Carving and cutting tools

Because air-dry clays are so easy to carve and sand, you must use this quality to your advantage. With right tools, you'll be able to carve out eye sockets for eye sculpting, shave off excessive clay or cut parts for joints if you're making a ball jointed doll.

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Sharp Scalpel

I like scalpels with changeable blades so when it starts to dull, I can change the blade without a hassle. Mostly I use a scalpel for my ball jointed dolls because the process requires a lot of cutting and shaving off the clay out of the joint sockets. Pointy scalpel is very useful for detailing when the clay is completely dry. I use it to smooth out hard to get areas like eyes, lips, fingers by shaving off the excess clay.

Where to buy:

• Amazon
• Arteza Art Supplies
• Blick Art Materials
• Consumers Crafts

Carving tools

Usually used for wood, they are perfect for doll making as well. Carving is a routine for me when making dolls. Sometimes when you sculpt the basic form of the doll and start detailing the body, it's very easy to carve out ribs, collar bone area and so on. Some artists even carve out intricate ornaments on their dolls!

Where to buy:

•  Amazon
• Consumer crafts
• Blick Art Materials