Polymer Clay Journey: Bead-making - How I Use Veneers

The video that goes with this article can be viewed right here below:

Happy Friday everyone!  Hope you had a great week. What were you creating this week? Any extra special projects? Did you learn anything new about your favourite art making method? If you want to share any answers, we would LOVE to hear from you and even see your creations too! The best way to do that is head off to our Facebook group:  HeArtfully Creating Group (click here.)  

My cabochons and beads

The video that goes with this article can be viewed at the top of the page.
What have I been working on? As always, a variety of projects but this one in particular. I love the colour turquoise. Now we all know there are many variations of turquoise... greeny blue, bluey - green, tropical ocean blue, peacock blue....that is just how colours are. Well, I have been mixed varieties of colours trying to create a faux turquoise stone effect. Not the true stone look which is more chalky, opaque and basically one shade of a turquoise, but, Anita's version... multiple tints and tones of blues to blue greens. I just love creating depth and interest. The sample picture below of real turquoise is just one kind of blue. They are not all the same.

These are REAL TURQUOISE stones

This tutorial is about the basics of how to make beads using a polymer clay veneer. You can use the same technique using whatever veneer in polymer clay you want. Please watch the video to see how easy it is. As well see the other projects I used the veneers on.

My Top Veneer Bead Making Tips...
1. Make sure your bead core or foundation clay colour works with the veneer you are using. (see more about that in the video.) Also make sure the bead core clay type is strong enough to hold the shape you will want. Experiment by baking a bead or two first. I have learned lessons the hard way by NOT testing things out first!
2. If it matters to you that you can replicate the same look/colours by making other batches/blends in the future, be sure to record the exact brands of clay, portions/ratios and their colour names. Because I am a wing it, impulse person, I tend to make large blend mixes since I know I won't be replicating the exact same look again. That way I usually have more than enough to create what I want.
 3. Make your bead holes before baking and enter into the clay on both sides to avoid a pokey clay nub. 

See how I made my own bead baking rack CLICK HERE. 

Learn about Baking your own poly clay beads...See how I made my own bead baking rack CLICK HERE. To learn what I have about bead baking  CLICK HERE. And to learn about the Amaco bead baking rack that I talk about click HERE.

My next tutorial, with better "how to" footage, will be a faux turquoise tutorial. However, because I have enjoyed creating some great cabochons an jewellery pieces, I thought it would be fun to share how to use the veneers made with the turquoise blends first, hoping to stir interest in creating a faux stone blend/veneer. To learn how I made some of my turquoise blends, be sure to subscribe so you can receive notifications as they happen. 

Here is my first batch of faux turquoise (no two batches are the same)

Final note... It has been a productive few weeks. So much so, I even got to list a piece of jewellery created using one of my turquoise blends! Click here, if you want to see.

My cuff bracelet

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you are inspire to create.

HeArtfully Creating,

Anita

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Finally Friday! Polymer Clay Journey: Bead Making

Yay it is finally Friday! That may mean a lot to some of you, To others like myself, We work at home studio - We're creating Knows no holidays. That's because we love what we do. When you love what you do, It is at work. Not saying it isn't Actual physical work, In fact, Many artists work very hard at what they do. What I am trying to say, Is that no matter how much energy and effort goes in to creating, It sure doesn't feel like 'work' as the world knows it.

Recently I was working on some cane construction, After mixing a variety of colors using Primo translucent clay, along with bits of coloured solid clay. As often happens, As I sliced off the ends of the canes, I started smooshing up the scraps. And voila, as always, A delightful, colourful surprise. In fact I often like the colourful surprises produced from smashing up clay bits So much, thatI find myself making "purposeful," scrap clay just to turn into beads or something.

Click here to see how I tweaked my Amaco Bead baking rack, thanks to the Polymer Clay Tutor's idea.

Watch the video below 
if you want to dive right into How I made cylinder beads using scraps of polymer clay.

Bead Making Hints & Tips
#1 Bringing Out The Best:
Accent your beads or pendants by selecting a specific colour out out your surprise mixture.

#2 Can't Stand Up?:
I know many clay artists say t "stand up and look down to find the center of a bead before poking." If you can't stand up, like I can't, to look above, while poking a hole in your beads- just do your best to look above and down. Poke a little and hold up the bead to double check where you are.
Begin centering the piercing pin and gently twist it half way down. Then turn it around, eyeball the center again and begin to twist gently. Pick up the bead as you carefully maneuver the pin through, trying to make it travel gently through to the other side- if you go

Some of my very first cane  beads

slowly and carefully, you will feel it slide into the channel already made. Then out, it will come.

#3 Drills Or Needles? Raw Or Cured?
Many clay artists prefer drilling holes into beads and such after curing in the oven. One reason, because they don't know where exactly where the hole should be. I get that. But I have tried to do it after and for myself, it is much more difficult to try to hand turn a hand drill into any bead with thickness.
That being said, I have concluded that for me and anyone with hand pain, strength issues- poking holes and planning prior to curing is best. And if you want a larger hole after, it is easier to use that hand drill after a thin hole is already baked in.

#4 To Sand Or Not To Sand?
Well, again this is done a  lot by many clay artists. To sand and buff to a beautiful shine is rewarding for sure. But with limited hand strength, I can not achieve the same degree of shine as others do. So if you are like me or don't want to worry about all that - don't give up or be discouraged. My life is about improvisation - figuring out how to do what you want but in a different way than others, accomplishing the same or similar end result.

Smooth, smooth, smooth. The smoother your raw clay pieces are,

My Amaco Bead Baking Rack  with Sugru

the less sanding you'd have to do after. Or you just glaze it after if you want. You definitely want your pieces to be as professional as you can. 

Stir, stir, stir! I learned the hard way. If you do use polyurethane water based or even oil MINwax -is good, stir to the bottom or the glaze will be sticky and even peel off. Be gentle, bubbles are icky.


Question for you today is?
Do you like to?
A) Avoid sanding and buffing at all cost?
B) Keep your beads Au Naturelle?
C) Prefer to glaze to a glossy gloss?
D) Or Do you use a matte glaze?
E) Or does it totally depend on each bead making method? 

HeArtfully Creating,
Anita
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My first home Made Bead glazing rack

MY POLYMER CLAY JOURNEY: MY DIY BEAD BAKING RACK and The AMACO BEAD BAKING RACK with SUGRU

Back for the video that I just made talking some more about my DIY Bead baking rack made from an old cake pan, floral wire and scrap polymer clay. A great idea that baked up a lot of polymer clay beads. I would love to know if anyone out in poly clay land, has done the same thing.
As well this video features a tip on how to poke holes into a clay bead when you can't stand up to look down the centre.
Along with  how I added the Sugru - to my new favourite Amaco bead baking rack (thanks to Cindy Lietz's advice at the Polymer Clay Tutor - click here to see)

Watch Let's Talk About: My DIY Bead Baking Rack and More

POLYMER CLAY ADVENTURE: AMACO BEAD BAKING RACK and SUGRU...Thanks Cindy Lietz!

If you haven't read this blog or watched any videos on HeArtfully Creating you won't know that Cindy Lietz of the Polymer Clay Tutor YouTube Channel has been a great help to helping me with my Polymer Clay Adventure or Journey, whichever word you prefer. Below is a list of just a few of her many helpful videos here. (Yup just click this.) And lower down are more videos about bead baking racks.

Here is my Amaco rack with SUGRU- Thanks Cindy Leitz!

Baking Polymer Clay beads was one of the first problems I had to solve when I began my polymer clay adventure. Yes, I saw what was out there. In fact, I just posted the Y/T videos by one of my favourite Poly Clay Artist/Tutors, Cindy Lietz, and now see videos below about bead baking racks on the market. Cindy talks about three different brands of bead baking racks. When I started, I was inspired to not spend any more money on polymer clay supplies. Click this link to see!

Really cool product. Thanks for telling us Cindy Leitz!
https://sugru.com/buy?gclid=CPa96vDDtMwCFZCIaQod0eYLng

So I problem solve by working with what I have and made my own.

Here is my Amaco rack with SUGRU- Thanks Cindy Leitz!

Now that I know I love polymer clay, thanks to cindy's advice and reviews  I chose to purchase an AMACO bead rack. And also I took her advice on using SUGRU (click here to see how cool this stuff is) to improve the Amaco rack bead pin slots.
It works beautifully. I will share more on this in the future, but for now I couldn't wait and wanted to post this article as well as some more great Polymer Clay Tutor videos by Cindy Lietz on the subject of baking polymer clay and bead racks.







Click below to watch Cindy Lietz baking with a "lid" on polymer clay projects

Baking Your Polymer Clay

The bead baking racks that you can buy, that I know of are the one you will see here made by AMACO. And then there is one by Sculpey Polyform and a new one made by a company called LUCY CLAY. (I have posted the videos that one of my favourite YouTube Polymer Çlay Artists, Cindy Leitz features in her product review below.
Sugru Hack For Amaco Bead Baking Rack: by Cindy Leiz, Polymer Clay Tutor

Sculpey Bead Baking Rack: Review By Polymer Clay Tutor

Lucy Clay Baker: Lucy Clay Bead Baking Rack Review By Polymer Clay Tutor

Anita's version of the Sugrued-ed Amaco Bead Baking Rack

POLYMER CLAY ADVENTURE: HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN BEAD BAKING RACK

The clay nubs that the floral wire "bead pins"
sit in from one side of the cake pan to the other.

Baking Polymer Clay beads was one of the first problems I had to solve when I began my polymer clay adventure. Yes, I saw what was out there. In fact, I will post the Y/T videos by one of my favourite Poly Clay Artist/Tutors, Cindy Lietz, see videos in the next article I will be sharing after this one.  She talks about three different brands of bead baking racks. When I started, I was inspired to not spend any more money on polymer clay supplies. So I try to problem solve by working with what I have on hand.

A cake pan makes a large baking rack.
You can use the bottom to bake more items too,

But one dilemma was how to bake the raw beads without wrecking them.  Because I saw people like the Polymer Clay Tutor talking about bead baking  racks, I got ideas from seeing what they look like. Especially my now favourite, AMACO bead baking rack. Based on seeing them, it helped give me the idea of how to make my own baking rack. So, I do suggest starting out with making your own bead baking rack if you want to.
On Old Cake Pan & Scrap Clay:

If you look at the picture to the right, you  can see the cake pan that I placed nubs or small balls of polymer clay across from each other. Make sure to mould the little balls of clay snugly to the cake pan lip or edge. Most of my baked clay nubs, actually slide side to side now like a rail. It just worked out that way.

Floral Stem Wire For "Bead Pins:"
Then I cut up floral wire from 20 and 18 gauge floral wire, to the right length across the width of the cake pan. One long giant bead pin" I suppose. I do pre-pierce my beads with a needle tool first. Wire is too dull to make a neat hole. Then I  slide my beads on. The picture below that is the floral wire 18 gauge, curled at the end with round nose pliers. Bamboo skewers work too. I would recommend using them for beginners, but know that the clay can stick to the bamboo so twist them a bit before baking.

The curled end helps to hold the strung beaded wire onto the polymer clay blobs or nubs. Now make sure you make a little slot to rest each end of the wire on. If you just push your wire ends into the raw clay nubs that you bake,  it will bake, then harden and trap your wire and you won't get your wire free when your beads are done. You can see that my clay nubs were left with a wide indent. Make sure the indent is deep enough to hold your wire or skewer from rolling off.

The clay nubs that the floral wire "bead pins" sit in
from one side of the cake pan to the other.

I used this bead baking rack/cake pan a zillion times. Okay, A lot of times.  When clay is baked at the right temperature, it can't burn when cooked repeatedly. Bonus, you can string of rows and rows of beads BEFORE baking your bead nubs. Just mould them all on, lay down all your loaded up bead pins/wires and push them down into the clay. Making sure you are NOT leaving them in a way that they will bake right into the wire holders.
Problem solving and working with what you can, saves money!

HeArtfully Creating!

I would love to hear your ideas, comments and questions below :o)