Hands On Klay offers workshops that allow participants to create their own earrings, necklaces & wearable art with clay
Samantha Chua had always loved working for Singapore Airlines, but she never once expected that a work trip could define her next chapter.
In early 2018, during a Singapore Airlines flight assignment to Sydney, she visited a local crafters’ market—and stumbled upon “one of the prettiest polymer clay earrings” she had ever seen. With an abstract design, the earrings immediately captivated her.
That moment in Australia became the catalyst for Hands On Klay, her future creative venture. The business today offers hands-on polymer clay workshops for adults and children, DIY kits, and customisable jewellery pieces, allowing participants to craft earrings, necklaces, and other wearable art.
We spoke to Samantha, 33, to find out what made her quit her job, take a leap into entrepreneurship, and turn a casual fascination with clay into a creative studio that now draws thousands of participants every year.
It claims to be the first polymer clay workshop in Singapore
Clay, to Samantha, had always belonged to crockery—not jewellery. So imagine her surprise when the artist at the Sydney crafters’ market told her that every piece of their jewellery was fully handmade from polymer clay.
“Something dormant in me woke up,” she said. Previously, Samantha would get into paper crafts in her free time, and at 18, ran a home-based business selling cakes for a while.
With her creative spark reignited, Samantha immediately bought polymer clay and basic tools once returning to Singapore, and immersed herself in YouTube tutorials and Pinterest references—not to copy the designs, but to understand the mechanics behind them before creating her own earrings and necklaces.
As she carved and moulded every piece of clay, she fell in love even more with how therapeutic the process was as she immersed herself deeper into the craft. By Oct 2018, after months of experimentation, she tested her first workshop with 10 friends.
“The first workshop lasted five to six hours because I didn’t know how to structure anything yet!” she said with a laugh, but it turned out to be a success.
Immediately after the workshop, her friends tagged her while posting their finished pieces online, and by the next morning, many strangers were inquiring about when her next workshops would be open to the public.
This cemented her desire to do more of what she enjoyed rather than not having time to pursue travel and her hobbies, which was difficult when flying with an airline. Hence, in Nov 2018, she made the decision to leave Singapore Airlines after five years to pursue her passion project.
Samantha saw real potential for it to grow. At the time, Singapore had very few hands-on creative activities, and she and her then-boyfriend (now husband) often found themselves struggling to find therapeutic and engaging ways to spend time outside of movies and shopping.
Moreover, wearable polymer clay art was almost unheard of in the country, Samantha added. “I think I was the first to run polymer clay workshops in Singapore back in 2018,” she said.
Small beginnings
Samantha started small initially, hosting two sessions a day during weekends in a small, cozy co-working space at Duxton before moving to Middle Road for another temporary space.
On Valentine’s Day 2019, her boyfriend officially incorporated Hands On Klay as a gift to Samantha. This cemented her desire to continue the business officially.
However, being young and curious, Samantha felt that she could take on a corporate job while running Hands On Klay, as she wanted to gain professional experience while testing the potential for her passion project. As such, she joined international analytics company Dun & Bradstreet as a full-time Business Development Manager, while teaching workshops on weekends.
But demand continued growing, and juggling corporate life with frequent workshops soon became unsustainable for the founder. As such, she left Dun & Bradstreet shortly after in Sep 2019 to focus fully on Hands On Klay, and managed to grow a strong following online.
This quickly drew the attention of major brands such as Laneige, as well as government organisations including the Singapore Tourism Board and the Singapore Economic Development Board, leading to large-scale collaborations and mobile corporate workshops with up to 40 participants at the time.
“I remember running here and there on weekends, carrying my luggage full of craft tools and clay. It was super hectic,” she said.
This phase taught her not just craft techniques, but the logistics of running a small creative business—managing supplies, coordinating team members, and learning how to scale without compromising quality while giving her best.
Expanding the business
Two years on, the business was growing steadily, giving Samantha the confidence to make a bold move. In Mar 2021, she opened a permanent studio along Orchard Road—right at the height of the pandemic. However, with constantly changing restrictions, Samantha had to adjust class sizes and formats.
“At first, it was quite sad as we could only hold workshops of two clients each due to social distancing, then slowly it went up to three then five. Imagine that in our large 620 sqft space.”
In addition to physical classes, she also held regular Zoom workshops and sold DIY kits to sustain the business. These initiatives ultimately proved successful in helping the business weather the pandemic.
Today, her Orchard Gateway space can hold up to 25 clients per class and she’s even held a 100-pax class at Hotel Jen before, just above her retail space.
Her curriculum has also grown into structured tiers for beginners, regular learners, and advanced crafters, from basic marbling to abstract and kaleidoscopic techniques, turning these jewellery pieces into masterpieces.
Each session typically begins with selecting from up to 36 colours of clay and clay preparation, with Samantha and her team offering design recommendations based on clients’ face shapes and preferences, before they can pour their creativity freely into their art pieces.
Then, the jewellery will be sent to the oven for baking for about 20 minutes. Once cooled, the final step is assembling the pieces using clay needle tools to complete the design.
Workshops start at S$83 per pax, with Hands on Klay being well-known for its marbling swirls and floral design workshops, Samantha shared. To get customers to return for more classes, she created multi-session bundles for returning students at discounted rates.
For children, she introduced themed Sanrio alongside floral workshops, inspired by repeated requests for characters like Kuromi and Cinnamoroll by kids who are brought to the workshops. She also expanded her class offerings into silver clay jewellery and UV resin workshops, while catering to specific themes like private hens’ parties and children’s birthday parties.
As the COVID-19 restrictions had eased, Hands On Klay began seeing more tourists. Many didn’t have time for a full workshop, but Samantha did not see that as a loss but an opportunity—she began offering ready-made pieces they could customise, a deliberate move that helped sustain footfall.
Running the studio is challenging
Samantha became a mother around the same time she opened her Orchard studio, making her long days even more demanding. Hands On Klay’s Workshops run daily—until 8PM—all 365 days of the year.
While grateful for her seven-person team who run her daily workshops while she handles bigger weekly corporate ones, the founder acknowledged that manpower has remained a constant challenge, with Samantha cycling through full-timers, part-timers, freelancers, and now interns she hopes will stay on long-term.
Despite the exhaustion, she has continued pushing boundaries. Her first two-day overseas pop-up in Jakarta in 2025 received such a strong response that it convinced her Hands On Klay held regional potential. Arranged through a friend, she managed to reach out to tourists, locals and children in Indonesia, in various foreign settings like a hotel and school, beyond Singapore.
Through the years, Samantha has witnessed countless touching moments—customers crafting a clay bracelet of their dog to carry with them while travelling, three generations sitting together at the same table, children creating gifts for their parents, and families using her workshops as surprise celebrations. These moments only reinforced her determination to continue her journey.
“When this small girl came with her dad to our workshop, I asked her for whom she making the earrings for? She replied it’s for her mother and I was so shocked but heartened that came out from an eight-year-old,” Samantha reminisced.
Bringing her workshops to bigger communities
In 2025 alone, Samantha shared that Hands On Klay had served over 8,000 clients, building on steady growth over the years. She sees “thousands” of customers every year, and was even fully booked last month, with back-to-back workshops every day.
Looking ahead, she hopes to bring her workshops to elderly communities and people with special needs, while exploring more international pop-ups—possibly in the UAE or Japan—combining her love for travel with her passion for teaching and meeting new people.
Her advice for new founders is grounded in her lived experience: “Remind yourself of your initial purpose when times get tough. The beginning is always the hardest—that’s why a good support system is so important. And don’t compare yourself to big brands. Be present and appreciative while growing in your own space.”
- Learn more about Hands On Klay here.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Hands On Klay