Found ... Polymer Clay Part 3 (Post 17)

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Part 3

Ok, sorry this is in dribs and drabs but I think if I was to put it all in one blog it would be a bit lengthy - OK, for those of you who just like to look at pictures maybe that wouldn't be a problem?  I do like to waffle a bit as well to hopefully make it a little more interesting!

Apache Awakening

Change of Clay!  Not to my liking though ... this was so hard to condition.  This is created using Fimo Classic.  It was crumbly for ages and at one point I was ready to give up.  



But, then again, I'm not one to give up easily so I persevered whilst also promising myself that I would try something more pliable next time.

Now remembering that this is my 1st introduction to Polymer Clay, I wasn't sure of how much clay to use or what I was going to do with it.  I conditioned green and yellow clay and experimented with mixing the two.

For the green/yellow bicones I made two equal sized balls of yellow and green.  Cut them each in half, then gently rolled them together to bind them.  I have heard of beadmaking acrylic tools - but have not invested in them.  It dawned on me though that I had an acrylic square, that I had previously used for putting rubber stampers on and decided to roll the new yellow/green bead with this.

By applying enough pressure the bead shape changed into a bicone bead.  I was so excited that it worked, I took it one step further by mixing the third yellow/green bead more thoroughly.

Unfortunately I hadn't much more 'conditioned' clay left but was aware that you should ALWAYS keep any leftovers because they can be used as 'base' beads for any future cane work - great no waste!

Mmm ... still not knowing what to do with these 3 beads, I thought I should have made them smaller - as I didn't think that I would have enough for even a bracelet and perhaps they were just too big?

Undeterred ... I thought, maybe I could make some spacer beads.  I had bought a clay extruder which I wanted to try out.  So, I set it up and extruded a long triangular tube shape, cut it into small spacer sized beads and made a hole in them.


I find it easier to make holes in the beads as they're created, although you can drill them after.  Remember though, that this will be harder once their baked!

I have to admit, the sanding, and polishing took me ages, as the spacers are so small - my poor fingers were sore afterwards - but like I've said, you can't cut corners and expect good results!

This necklace is made up of my polymer clay bicones, and spacers strung on tiger tail wire and 3 czech crystal beads to emphasise the bicones with a thai silver clasp.

Still to come ... 'Opal Fruits'

'Keep Watching and I'll Keep Blogging'

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