First canes and beads

[Jolene Wrae]

Here are my first beads and canes, pics are in an album as I haven't enough posts to put a url up for flickr. I did a lot of browsing the web for tutorials and information whilst I was waiting for my clay to arrive and so jumped right in to the deep end a bit - they are far far from perfect but I am thrilled with how they came out for first beads - my daughter is happy too as they are now all on a great big chunky necklace for her to wear.

Jo x

[gemmaslittletreasures]

Wow, they are lovely. I did my first ones this weekend but are nowhere near as intricate and stunning as yours. If this is your first attempt, I cant wait to see what else you will come up with :):)

Gemma

[MornieG Jewellery]

Jo, those are fabulous, really looking forward to the 'perfect' ones LOL.

Mo.XX

[t0paz]

You have used lovely colours, they are really beautiful.

Beware - polymer clay is very addictive! :)


Rebecca

[Jolene Wrae]

Thank you for such lovely and encouraging comments - Rebecca, you are so right, I think that Lampwork will be my summer sport and Polymer Clay will be my winter one now that I have found it!

[t0paz]

I did a lampwork class a while ago and loved that too - the only downside is I don't have enough room for the equipment needed, blow torch / gas cylinder etc.

The good thing with PC is you don't need a lot of space, mind you my bookshelves have been overrun with tools and PC books (who needs ornaments to dust - LOL). As for the 'dining' table - there is a battle for space, turkey for the Xmas meal or PC.

[Jolene Wrae]

My bookshelves got emptied to make way for the childrens toys long ago! Luckily I hav a bricked up garage that I am able to use for as a lampwork studio - no insulation or heating down there though Brrrrrrrr

I do know of a few people who do lampwork indoors - I think that you have to be very organised and tidy or to have space/spare room to play in to make that work!

[celticmix]

Lovely canes, well done - hard to believe that they're your 1st.

[Jolene Wrae]

They are my first canes with polymer clay, but I have been making simple canes from glass for a couple of years - the skills and materials are very different but the principles behind them feel very familiar - I dare not go and google canes and sugarcraft - it would tempt me to try making handmade sweets in my kitchen by the new year! :)

[Jolene Wrae]

Oh nooo I knew I shouldn't have googled for that!

Definately do not do a google image search for *handmade gourmet rock sweets* it will make your teeth fall out just by looking!

[ladyluckjewellery]

Lovely canes & beads, the soft purple & lilac colours work really well!!

[sherrielinda]

what lovely work and love the gorgeous colours, great work.

[ejralph]

Great work Jolene!

If that is your first go, I think it is safe to say you will be a natural at polymer clay.

I can't wait to see what you come up with next.

[pepsi]

They are lovely ! I love the colours you have used.
I think your a natural darl, I cant wait to see more. xxx

[craftybeader]

Stunning polymer clay work..well done!
I am intending to spend most of the winter playing with clay :-)

[Hazer]

Hi Jo :D Great beads (and I can vouch for the canes being lovely!)

[mizgeorge]

I know I've already said it elsewhere, but I think these are fab Jo :)

[Jolene Wrae]

Thanks guys, what can I say, I've got the bug ;D I did a blog post about these beads - what went wrong, why it went wrong, how to do it better next time, but don't think I have been an active member long enough to be able to post the link?

[mizgeorge]

I'll happily post it for you Jo - it's a good read :)

http://kitzbitzartglass.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-first-fimo-beads.html

[ejralph]

That is a really interesting read - thanks for posting the link to it George.

Jo - you really have got a clayer's mind! You are spot on with your evaluations. Do treat yourself to some dedicated polymer clay cutting blades (the Fimo ones are great as the thin blade is really thin!). You will find cutting the cane slices soooo much easier with them. As also refridgerating the cane.

I put the cane in the fridge on a ceramic tile. That way, the tiles gets nice and cold too and provides a cold surface to keep the cane on. I also tend to hold the cane and sort of twist it onto the blade to make really wafer-thin cuts from trans clay canes. You need to be very safety-aware with this method, but I find it works better than cutting down onto the cane on a hard surface.

As for the baking - do be sure your oven is holding the right temp (very few mini ovens do, I have yet to find one that doesn't spike seriously over and under temp throughout the baking).

I am thrilled to hear you have the polymer clay bug! Of all the mediums I work in, I think polymer clay still gives me the greatest buzz.

Emma

[Jolene Wrae]

Top tips there Emma, thank you x

[ejralph]

You're very welcome Jo!

[Jolene Wrae]

I have had the chance to play a little bit more over christmas and popped some more pics on here in albums. It's funny but the more I play the more questions I have - off to do some reasearch on finishing and polishing - one thing I haven't managed to find out though is if it is possible to cook up a load of blank beads in advance to decorate later? Also I am wondering if anyone queches their FIMO beads in ice water - I am not sure if this is sound advice or not.........

[Pauline@weddingtreasures]

Those really are great and as the others have said, if this is your first go at making canes then can't wait to see whats next!!

Pauline :)

[ejralph]

I have had the chance to play a little bit more over christmas and popped some more pics on here in albums. It's funny but the more I play the more questions I have - off to do some reasearch on finishing and polishing - one thing I haven't managed to find out though is if it is possible to cook up a load of blank beads in advance to decorate later? Also I am wondering if anyone queches their FIMO beads in ice water - I am not sure if this is sound advice or not.........


Always more questions with polymer clay - I constantly approach claying from a state of semi-confusion. This is why clayers are such mad scientists, always experimenting with something or other!

As for baking up bead blanks. Yes, you can do it. The second layer of clay may not bond fully with the base layer however and you run the risk of it delaminating and coming away, depending on how you work things.

You can apply a smear of Fimo Deko Gel (http://www.ejrbeads.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17_32&products_id=151)to act as a bonding agent. But this has no adhesive qualities before baking, so anything you put on to a base bead smeared with Deko gel is liable to just slip and slide around as you try to apply it.

I have also had good experiences using a thin layer of PVA white crafting glue to use as a bonding agent. I smear it over, leave until just tacky and then apply the cane slices. However I haven't done anything using this techniques since all the polymer clays changed recipe a couple of years back.

But as with all things polymer clay - try it. You have nothing to lose by baking up a few test base beads and trying out different ways to apply cane slices to them.

As for dunking the beads into ice water. I do this all the time - although not icy water, just very cold from the tap.

I think the jury is out as to if this makes the translucent any clearer. I use Cernit these days mostly and the translucent is really very good anyway, as is the Fimo Soft one actually.

But it saves time waiting for them to cool down and it also helps to seal any fine little hairline cracks that sometimes occur. Polymer clay is a bit odd in that way. Most things, you would expect that plunging from hot straight to cold, it would make them crack. With polymer clay, it seems to do the reverse!

HTH

Emma

[Jolene Wrae]

Thank you so much Emma for such a detailled reply, I hadn't read any opinions on quenching making translucent clearer but if it does, then that is all good. I am glad that you quench your beads too - I'm just too impatient to wait for mine to cool down!

[ejralph]

Absolutely - life is too short. It's bad enough having to wait for lampwork and ceramic kilns to cool slowly. Ever so glad polymer clay isn't like that. It is so immediate, one of the many things I love about it.

Emma