There are many types of effects that you can create with Polymer Clay.  Our blog this evening will offer you information on the techniques that are used in order to achieve the following effects:

Wood, Leather, Veined Marble and Bone.

Lets start with: Wood

Materials that you will need to create this effect will be Gold Mica and Dark Brown Polymer Clay.  A roller or Pasta Machine, Tissue Blades, Needle Tool, 400 to 800 grit wet and dry sandpaper and pieces of denim.
 
Our first step will be to roll the clay sheets. Using a tissue blade cut the gold clay into a strip and place on top of the dark brown sheet. Make sure to trim the edges of the clay so that both sheets are the same size.
The second step is to make sure that all the air pockets are removed.  You can do this with a roller. 
Our third step would be to create a jelly roll.  Make sure that the gold clay is facing up when you roll the jelly roll. 
Our fourth step will be to turn the jelly roll into a square cane by using a roller to slightly flatten the sides of the full length of the cane. 
Our  fifth step is to slice the cane.  Stand the cane on one end and use a tissue blade to slice down the length of the cane.  Cut several slices.
We will then roll each slice lengthwise with a roller it will now be time to add backing.  For this you will use scrap brown clay.  Lay the slices next to each other on top of the backing sheet.  Make sure that these sections are touching. Now roll this through the thickest setting on the pasta machine.
We are now ready for step six and cutting out your beads. To accomplish this use a cutter.
You can leave your beads as they are and bake them or you can  create a domed shaped by using an escargot tray. To keep the domed shape place a ball of scrap clay ball  inside the baked domed clay to prevent it form sagging during the next baking.    Your front will be domed and your back will be flat.  Make a tread hole with a needle tool and rebake.  Buff with a piece of denim. 

Our next technique is Leather

Materials that you will need to create this effect will be several brown shades of polymer clay.  Burnt umber acrylic paint, black acrylic paint. A pasta machine, a piece of aluminum foil, a tissue blade, a wooden dowel, and a stiff paintbrush.

Our first step will be to roll out several different sheets of brown clay. 
Our second step will be to scrunch up a piece of aluminum foil and press it into the clay to create texture. 
Our third step would be to place a template of the shape you would like the bead to be on the top of the sheet of clay.  You will then cut out the shape using a tissue blade. 
Our fourth step is to bake the bead.  When it has cooled you will need to apply amix of burnt umber and black acrylic paint with a stiff paintbrush.  Wipe off you paint immediately with a paper towel, leaving some on the edges for definition.

Our next technique will be Veined Marble:

Materials that you will need to create this effect will be white, ecru or beige and translucent polymer clay, sparkling pearl powder  with a built in resin, polymer clay softener, raw umber acrylic paint, tissue blades, a smooth wooden block, a needle tool, a tile, a stiff paintbrush, 240- 800 grit wet and dry sandpaper and denim cloth. 

Our first step is to cut the clay.  Make sure that you chop equal amounts of white and translucent clay. We will then be adding some sparkle by sprinkling some pearl powder over the chopped clay.  You will need to remoisten your clay as the powder tends to dry it out. 
Our second step will be to color the clay by mixing the raw umber and black acrylic paint and applying with a paintbrush to cover all the clay pieces.  Let the painted pieces of clay dry on your clean piece of paper for a minimum of 20 minutes.  Then divide into several bead sized portions.
Our third step would be to create whatever shaped bead you would like  you will then need to make the thread hole in your bead with a needle tool.  Bake the beads on a tile.
Our fourth step is to wet sand with a 240 -800 grit sandpaper after the bead has cooled from the baking process. Finish by hand polishing with a piece of denim.

Our final technique this evening will be Bone:

Materials that you will need to create this effect will be white, ecru or beige and translucent polymer clay, dark brown acrylic paint, a roller or pasta machine, a tissue blade, a sheet of paper, a wooden dowel, a needle towel, 800 grit wet and dry sandpaper, a stiff paintbrush, a paper towel and a cotton cloth for buffing.

Our first step will be to roll the clay sheets.  You will need to mix equal parts of white and ecru polymer clay.  Carefully lay one sheet on top of the other.  Roll your stacked clay using a roller or the pasta machine. 
Our second step is to build up the layers.  With a tissue blade cut the sheet in half and stack one sheet on top of the other so the clay is four layers thick.  Have the stack two more times being careful to expel any air pockets.  Your stack will be a total of 16 layers when you finish this process.
Our third step would be to create a paper sleeve.  Wrap a rectangular sheet of paper around a wooden dowel and glue in place.  The paper sleeve should be wider then the bead for ease of handling. 
We will now use a tissue blade and cut a 3mm thick slice through the layers of the stack. 
Step four is to press the caly slice around the paper sleeve and neatly butt the edges together.  Roll the tube across a clean work surface this will help to smooth out the joint.  To give the bead impact you will need to now take your needle tool and draw lines to mimic cracks and scratches. In order to simulate pores you can make marks with a ball stylus or point of a small knitting needle.  Bake your beads then soak in water to remove the paper sleeve. 
Our fifth step would be to color the bead.  First wet sand with 800 grit sandpaper then using a paintbrush paint the bead with the dark brown acrylic.  Immediately wipe off most of the paint with a paper towel make sure to leave some of the paint in the crevices to give it an antiqued look.  Finish the bead by buffing with a cotton cloth to give a soft sheen. 

Join us next time for Polymer Clay Faux Techniques Coral and Abalone.  Until then, Happy Beading.

Our last blog was an introduction to making polymer clay beads.  Tonight’s blog will be on the unique shapes that you can make with polymer clay we will merely be skimming the surface.  So let us begin…

First let’s discuss our basic shapes.  A basic disk which can be used as a spacer bead is simply crafted by cutting slices with a tissue blade or craft knife and then simply pressing down on the slice to flatten it. Use a tapestry needle to make a hole in the middle of the disk. 

An oval takes a little more practice in order to consistently get the same shape. Measure out portions of the clay and roll them in your palm to make the ball.  Rotate the ball in the same direction until an oval shape forms. You can also flatten it in to a bun shape.  Make your thread hole with a needle tool.

A teardrop is a variation of a simple round bead.  They look incredible when polished or varnished.  Roll the clay into round balls. Place the ball into the palm of one hand and place the edge of your other hand across the top of the ball.  Slide your hand backward and forward across the bead to form a point.  Make a thread hole with a needle across the point of the teardrop or through the base of the teardrop exiting through the point. 

Bicones and Lentils are made by rolling a ball of clay in your hands and placing it on a smooth surface.  Place a small piece of glass on top of the ball parallel to the work surface and rotate it in one direction.  Gradually a bicone will form.  You can vary the shape of the bicone by varying your rotations.  This is the same process to create a lentil only you would want to make smaller rotations to create the lentil. 

Now let’s discuss how to create the heart, cookie cutter disk, saddle, coil and donut shaped bead. Hearts are always popular. They are created as a build out of the basic lentil shaped bead.  Roll the clay into 12mm balls. Place a ball onto a smooth work surface.  Firmly hold a piece of glass or a tumble base over the ball and rotate in one direction to form the ball into a lentil shape.  Using a stiff piece of card stock, push into the edge of the lentil to indent it and form a rough heart shape.  Shape the bottom of the heart with your fingers to make a slight point.  Make a thread hole across the widest part of the bead with a needle. For earrings make a hole at the top of the heart for an eye pin. 

Cookie cutter disks are great spacers between more rounded fancy beads.  They are an easy way to create identical beads.  Most are cut out of sheets rolled on the thickest setting of the past machine.  Saddle beads are created from cookie cutter disks. You can make the bead by gently bending the disk forward and backward at the same time.  This will curve the disk in the center so the edges curl up.  Make a thread hole through the center of the bead with a needle.

Coil and Donut Beads are fairly simple beads to create.  To make a coil bead you need to make a snake 6mm in diameter to 150mm long.  Shape your ends to a point and wrap around a piece of bamboo skewer.  These can be baked in the oven directly on the skewer.  To create a donut bead start by making a coil bead.  Using a tissue blade, cut along the length of wrapped clay.  Remove the cut pieces from the skewer and separate them.  Make them into round donut shapes by putting the ends together and smoothing the joints. 

Other popular shapes are the Corkscrew, the Twist stick and my favorite shape the Tube. Corkscrew beads are simple to make and are much lighter then the Coil bead previously mentioned. Roll a snake as previously instructed.  Roll the ends of the snake to make them pointed.  Wrap the whole snake  around the dowel or knitting needle, leaving gaps between each rotation of the snake. Make a hole through the end of the clay with a needle that a cord can be threaded through. I recommend baking in the oven on a dowel. 

For a Twist stick you will need to roll the clay on the thickest setting of a pasta machine.  Stack the sheets to make a 25 x 50mm wide block that is 10mm high.  Using your tissue blade cut your slices the same width as the height of the stack.  Pierce your block the entire length all the way through with your needle tool.  Hold one end and with the hand gently twist the clay 90 degrees. To craft rolled Tube beads roll a ball of clay in your hands.  Pierce the ball through the center with straight wire, running it through the ball.  Toll the clay backward and forward into a log using your hands to spread the clay along the wire.  To make all the beads the same thickness put a dowel at each end of the wire and place the piece of glass on top of the log.  Holding the glass with both hands, move the glass backwards and forwards until the clay extends. While the clay is still on the wire measure and mark the log into equal portions the cut with a tissue blade.

Our next blog will be on Polymer Clay Faux Techniques: A discussion of various faux techniques used to craft polymer clay beads. Until then, Love and Light

The following is a small list of the types of beads that I personally enjoy working with and using to create my one of a kind designs. 

 

*Cloisonné Beads – are made from an ancient metalworking technique, first developed in the Near East. It spread to the Byzantine Empire and from there along the Silk Road to China.

 

    * First, the artist forms metal (such as copper or brass) into the shape of the finished object.

 

    * A paper pattern and a pencil are used to transfer a design to the metal object.

 

    * Partitions (French: cloisons) that act as color-separators are applied according to the transferred pattern and are held in place by a soldering paste (this is finely divided metal of low melting temperature in a flux paste). The partitions are bent and cut to length from flat wire stock (usually by hand using simple pliers) while the paste is applied with a small brush.

 

    * Heating the piece in an oven permanently affixes the partitions to the base metal by melting the solder. The piece is then allowed to cool.

 

    * Frit (glass crushed to a powder) in a water-based paste is painted into the partitions using an annotated pattern similar to the "paint by numbers" craft technique. After the frit has dried, firing in an oven melts it onto the metal. Several repetitions of the process may ensue to build up the coatings to the height of the partitions. Various colors and transparencies may be used in combination within a single partition to obtain the desired artistic effect.

 

    * The glass and a portion of the cloisons are ground and polished to form an even and smooth surface.

 

    * The exposed metal is electroplated with a thin film of gold to prevent corrosion and to give a pleasing appearance.

 

 

*Millefiori - is a glasswork technique which produces distinctive decorative patterns on glassware.

The term millefiori is a combination of the Italian words "mille" (thousand) and "fiori" (flowers). A. Pellatt (in his book "Curiosities of Glass Making") was the first to use the term "millefiori", which did not appear in the Oxford Dictionary until 1849. The beads were called mosaic beads before that time. While the use of this technique long precedes the term millefiori, it is now frequently associated with Venetian glassware. Millifiori will always contain flowers and has a very distinct pattern to it which is easy to recognize.

More recently, the millefiori technique has been applied to polymer clays and other materials. Because polymer clay is quite pliable and does not need to be heated and reheated in order to fuse it, it is much easier to produce millefiori patterns than with glass.

The making of Millefiori beads involves two glass making techniques. Until the 15th century, Murano glassmakers were only producing drawn Rosetta beads made from mould-made Rosetta canes. Rosetta beads are made by the layering of a variable number of layers of glass of various colors in a mould, and by pulling the soft glass from both ends until the cane has reached the desired thickness. It is then cut into short segments for further processing. The murrine used for decorative purposes were manufactured by applying the same technique, and sold to the lamp workers who made Millefiori beads by weight.

The Millefiori technique is a labour intensive process. Each Millefiori item is inividually and painstakingly handmade.

  *Chevron beads - are special glass beads, the first specimens of this type were created by glass bead makers in Venice and Murano, Italy,.

Venetian chevron beads are drawn beads, made from glass canes which are created in specifically constructed star moulds. The first chevron beads were made towards the end of the 15th century, consisting of 7 layers of alternating colours. They usually have 6 facets. Unlike their later counterparts they were not always made with the standard 12-point star mould. Chevron beads are still being made in Venice today only in  very small quantities.

   

 

*Dichroic Beads  - The brilliant dichroic optical properties of dichroic glass are the result of multiple micro-layers of metal oxides. These thin layers of oxides have a total thickness of three to five millionths of an inch.

 

NASA developed dichroic glass for use in satellite mirrors. Multiple ultra-thin layers of different metals (gold, silver, titanium, chromium, aluminium, zirconium, magnesium, silicon) are applied to the surface of the glass in a vacuum chamber.

 

The resulting plate of dichroic glass can then be fused with other glass in multiple firings. Certain wavelengths of light will either pass through or be reflected, causing an array of colour to be visible. Due to variations in the firing process, individual results can never be exactly reproduced; each piece of fused dichroic glass is unique and no two pieces are ever the same.

 

*Lampwork Beads – Are created using a labor intensive variant of the wound glass beadmaking technique. In the Venetian industry, where very large quantities of beads were produced in the 19th century for the African trade, the core of a decorated bead was produced from molten glass at furnace temperatures, a large-scale industrial process dominated by men. The delicate multicolored decoration was then added by people, mostly women, working at home using used an oil lamp or spirit lamp to re-heat the cores and the fine wisps of colored glass used to decorate them. These workers were paid on a piecework basis for the resulting lampwork beads. Modern lampwork beads are made by using a gas torch to heat a rod of glass and spinning the resulting thread around a metal rod covered in bead release. When the base bead has been formed, other colors of glass can be added to the surface to create many designs. After this initial stage of the beadmaking process, the bead can be further fired in a kiln to make it more durable.

 

Modern beadmakers use single or duel fuel torches, so `flameworked' is replacing the older term. Unlike a metalworking torch, or burner as some people in the trade prefer to call them, a flameworking torch is usually "surface mix"; that is, the oxygen and fuel (typically propane, though natural gas is also common) is mixed after it comes out of the torch, resulting in a quieter tool and less dirty flame. Also unlike metalworking, the torch is fixed, and the bead and glass move in the flame. American torches are usually mounted at about a 45 degree angle, a result of scientific glassblowing heritage; Japanese torches are recessed, and have flames coming straight up, like a large bunsen burner; Czech production torches tend to be positioned nearly horizontally.

 

*Furnace Glass Beads are made from using adaptations of the  Italian glass blowing techniques of latticinio and zanfirico.  Furnace glass uses large decorated canes built up out of smaller canes, encased in clear glass and then extruded to form the beads with liner and twisting stripe patterns. No air is blown into the glass. These beads require a large scale glass furnace and annealing kiln for manufacture.

 

Now lets talk about Swarovski® crystal and other lead crystal beads.

 

Swarovski crystal beads are also prized by jewelers and hobbyists. They are a content high-lead crystal although today production of lead-free crystal is common. Crystals have an incredible sparkle and clarity, and are often multi-faceted to resemble gemstones. Styles and colors go in and out of production, so vintage cuts and colors are often prized with a similarly associated price tag. Swarovski bicones are the most popular crystal beads in sizes 4mm and 6mm with crystal and crystal ab as the most common colors. Czech companies such as Preciosa® and others make similar styles of crystal beads.

 

 

*Lead crystal - Lead crystal beads are machine cut and polished. Their high lead content makes them sparkle more than other glass, but also makes them inherently fragile.

Since these early times, patterns were known to be used in architecture and construction and were likely to be used in making jewelry. In 1914 the US Patent and Trademark Organization issued a patent for a metal bending jig with movable pegs to be used in bending rebar in the construction industry. In the middle 1930's some textbooks for making jewelry with wire showed how to make a fixed peg jig by simply hammering nails into a board.

Prior to 1990, artists making jewelry were constrained to making their own jig or patterns for making their jewelry. In 1995, a patent was issued to Gary Helwig for a wire bending jig that contained a fixed pattern to be used for making jewelry wire components. As that time the WigJig Company was founded to make and sell those fixed peg jigs. The use of a fixed peg pattern was recognized as having limitations and during the late 1990s a vendor developed a metal jig with removable pegs. At about the same time, the WigJig company developed a transparent jewelry making jig with removable pegs.

In July of 2001 a patent was issued for this "Transparent jewelry wire bender" (US Patent 6,253,798). At this point, the jewelry making community had a choice of a metal jig or the transparent WigJig Olympus both available options had a square peg pattern with approximately .25 inch spacing between the peg holes. This is my personal favorite.

A key element in wire wrapped jewelry is a loop made in a segment of wire. In general, loops in wire are connected to one another to make the mechanical connections between components. A loop can be something as simple as bending the end of a piece of wire until the very end of the wire is bent far enough that it touches the wire itself. This simple form of a loop is called a “P” loop. A “P” loop is a loop in the wire in the shape of the letter “P”. Another form of a loop is an eye loop. An eye loop is a more complex loop with a full circle of wire centered over the stem of wire just like a lollipop.

In their basic form, P loops and eye loops are “open” loops. This means that the loop can be opened mechanically to allow it to connect to another component. The opposite of an open loop is a closed loop. In a closed loop, the end of the wire is wrapped around the stem of the loop so that the loop is permanent and can’t be opened. A closed loop is also called a wrapped loop and it is this technique that resulted in this approach to making jewelry being called wire wrapping.

Frequently when making a wire wrapped bracelet or necklace, one would use wrapped loops to connect the components into a chain. For bracelets and necklaces, wrapped loops are recommended because open loops could be pulled apart if the chain were to snag.

History of Wire Wrap

Examples of wire and beaded jewelry made using wire wrapping techniques date back to thousands of years BC. The British Museum has samples of jewelry from the Sumerian Dynasty, found in the cemetery of Ur that contain spiraled wire components. This jewelry is dated at approximately 2000 BC. Other samples of jewelry from Ancient Rome show wire wrapped loops (one of the important techniques in making wire wrapped jewelry). This Roman jewelry is dated to approximately zero AD. In the manufacture of this early jewelry the techniques for soldering did not exist. Later, as the technique for soldering developed, the wire wrapping approach continued because it was an economical and quick way to make jewelry components out of wire.

Currently, wire wrapping techniques are not frequently used for mass produced jewelry because of simple economics. Machines can cast jewelry components much faster and cheaper. Artisans or craftsmen are required to make jewelry by hand and in the current mass marketplace machines are less expensive and perhaps more precise. At this time, using the wire wrapping approach to making jewelry is something that is primarily employed by individual craftsmen and women.

Handmade jewelry is that which is crafted by hand, just as jewelry has been since it was very first created by humans. Unlike modern machine-made jewelry, no two pieces of handmade jewelry - even of the same design - will be identical.

Many artists who hand make jewelry use no pre-made or fabricated parts at all, even creating their own findings, such as ear hoops and hooks, brooch pins, clasps and more.

Much handmade jewelry is created using age-old metal smithing techniques such as forging, raising, chasing, soldering and more to create complex forms in various types of precious and other metals. Metals may also be etched, engraved or colored using a wide variety of techniques.

However, a great deal of handmade jewelry is created without utilizing even these techniques. Instead many jewelry makers create pieces entirely by hand with the assistance of basic hand tools, for instance wrapping gemstones and beads in wire or creating simple strands of beads for necklaces or bracelets.

Handmade jewelry makers utilize many types of metals and gemstones in their work, from gold to bronze, diamonds to cubic zirconia. Many contemporary jewelry artists make use of even more diverse materials such as paper, textiles, plastics and much more. In fact this type of jewelry, gains more and more in popularity. At the high end, where jewelry is made by the world's most renowned independent goldsmiths, designers and gem carvers -- not necessarily working at the typical jewelry brands -- handmade jewelry competes with the A-brands as a way to distinguish oneself. At the low end, originality and the fact it was made and sold locally, as opposed to mass-produced jewelry made abroad, and sold at the large retailers, is one of the more important reasons for its momentum.

I wanted to share this with all my friends. It was really funny and I like how it brought all sorts of information together.   http://www.squidoo.com/bejeweledjewelry/

I have been crafting jewelry for the past 10 years.  My youngest daughter got me started by asking me to help her make some cheap bracelets she could wear to school.  I took to it like a duck to water.  I have been trying to build this business in my spare time and with 4 kids there isn't much of that.

The website is my latest growing achievement towards making this dream a reality and I want to share it with everyone. I haven't had time to add a large enough selection of inventory yet but my photo shoots are getting better.

Little did I know that I would have to learn how to take a decent picture as well.  Practice makes perfect.