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Valentine Heart Beads
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View:Materials List
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Materials:
- 2oz block of violet polymer clay
- 1/4oz of silver or pearl clay, Premo has the nicest metallics.
- Metallic mica powders in gold and red
- Clear tiny glass marbles (the large size)
- Your choice of varnish, I prefer Flecto Varathane Gloss
- Roller, brayer or pasta machine
- Heart shaped cutter, I made mine out of a soda can
- Various items for making impressions: stamps, buttons (my favorite!), etc
- Ball stylus (2mm diameter) or large, blunt needle
- Misc. items: Oven or toaster oven, skewers, work surface, needle tool
for making the hole, wax paper
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Making the Beads:
- Condition the clay, blending the colors together well.
- Roll through thickest setting of pasta machine, cut in half and stack on top of each
other to create a double thickness, or roll out to 1/4"(5-6mm)
- Dust cutter with cornstarch to prevent sticking. Alternatively lightly dust the surface of the clay sheet.
Cut out the heart shapes, set aside. Wad up the scrap clay and roll out again, keep cutting out hearts until
you have enough. Smooth the edges if you need to.
- Use a skewer or large needle to poke a hole through the bead. You can do this either lengthwise through the bead
or horizontally across the width of the heart.
- Keeping the bead on the skewer, sandwich the bead between two buttons or what ever
your texture surface is. Press evenly. You may want to lightly dust the clay
or the buttons with cornstarch first.
- Adding the little marbles: I found that the marbles stick better if you use a ball stylus
(or blunt needle end or even a glass head sewing pin) to make a slight impression in the clay.
Pick up one with your finger tip, and press into the clay. In the picture
I have added three on each side of the heart. The marbles will fall out sometimes,
either stick them back on or "glue" them in place with your varnish after baking.
- Highlight the raised areas of the impression by rubbing on a little metallic powder with your
fingertip. Avoid the sides if you will be addding the glass marbles.
- Baking: Place the skewers across a baking pan so that the beads are suspended.
Bake at the manufacture's temperature and time.
Some people like to make a foil tent to sit over the clay to trap
any fumes or residue when they bake in their home oven. Let the beads cool thoroughly before handling. The clay is more
flexible when hot and you can knock the glass marbles out. Apply varnish with a small brush.
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All Images and page content Copyright © 2002 Carly Seibel
Materials may be copied for personal, non-commercial use provided that all
authorship and copyright information, including this notice, is retained. Materials
may not be republished in any form without the express permission of the author.
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