Polymer clay

[ccjewellery]

Hello
I've seen some really pretty jewellery pieces made using polymer & metal clay. i mainly use glass & crystal beads in my jewellery. The pieces i've seen look really nice- but i wonder if it's practical & durable (only seen pics). has any one tried it?
How easy is it to blend- the pieces i've seen have beautiful colours, which is what attracts me.
Thanks
Cally

[glowingsunsets]

Many years ago I used Fimo and I found it easy to blend. A friend recently sent me 3 bracelets done in UV fimo and she's blended the colours in her beads, they look fantastic so I'd say go for it

[mjbelkin]

Here's a polymer clay artist's gallery of sold beads (she also makes lampwork beads too) - they're stunning works of art, with amazing amounts of detail, and yet surprising light.

There is a knack to working with polymer clay - one I haven't had time to develop just yet - and a selection of helpful 'how to' books out there.

Give it a try

[JBJB]

I don't make fimo beads but I have bought them and used them in some of my pieces.

They are durable and easy to work with, but I have to say when I've used lighter colours (such as small pink or white flowers) they do tend to get a bit grubby after a while if you use them in bracelets.

I've used some larger fimo beads as pendants and you can get striking results.

[ccjewellery]

Wow had a look at those beads. They are amazing! Very talented lady. I think i will have an experiment & see what happens. Cheers.

[JBJB]

WOW! Just had a look - she is one talented lady!

Absolutely gorgeous beads (out of my price bracket - but stunning!)

[purplerhian]

I find the easiest way is with a pasta machine (as opposed to hand blending). In fact I have not been making pc jewellery all that long but pretty ,uch everything I have made used blended colours, rather than the colours straight out of the packet!

[ccjewellery]

Pasta machine? how does that work then? If you don't mind sharing.

[sand]

To stop the light coloured beads getting grubby, I would suggest varnishing them, I like to use byzantia paints on my fimo for a lovely shimmering effect, you can also get Translucent Liquid sculpey, or liquid fimo, it's clear and is like rubber after baking, you can add acrylic paints and glitters to it, try and experiment with different things from the fimo/sculpey range, you will get some beautiful effects
Fimo/polymer clay/sculpey is very durable
you can have great fun with it, it's worth a go.
A pasta machine is great to mix the colours together quicker and easier than by hand, it also blends colours together which is difficult to do by any other means.

[nuky1982]

I have just got into polymer clay. I make mainly miniatures but if you would like to try beads with it, I STRONGLY recommend:
“How to make polymer clay beads” by Carol Blackburn
It is invaluable and covers everything about making beads, colour blending, faux effects, etc.. I love it.

[RenataHarris]

VEry nice. Love neat and unifrom fimo
madesome beads lastnight and theyre oddly shaped and look ***
might try painting them with coloured nailvarnish and see, qould quite like to get some shimmer powder- makes it look like dichronic glass. Or maybe try drawing onto them in pen

Do any of you bin more fimo than that you keep?
Bake n bin!!

[ladyluckjewellery]

might try painting them with coloured nail varnish and see

Nooooo please don't paint your beads with nail varnish!! I tried that once and the nail varnish never dried properly and I ended up with a sticky mess

Apparently solvent based paints like nail varnish react in some way to something in the ploymer clay.

I've found acrylic paints to be good, and also the shimmer powders (just don't sneeze near them )

None of my beads are very uniform in shape, I try to kid myself that that's part of the charm of them being handmade

Claire

[LC's Beads]

If you want uniform size and shape beads the best thing to do is to make "blanks" with scrap clay. Roll out some clay (I use the thinnest setting on the pasta machine) and then use a cutter to cut as many pieces of clay as the number of beads you require. I use a round cutter but it could be any shape. Hand roll these into balls then cover with your patterned clay or cane. The resulting beads will be uniform size and, more or less, uniform shape.

You can use a bead roller but this is not practical if you use canes or patterns as the roller will distort the pattern.