Cooking Clay for Jewelry

      Joe and I were lined up to keep the grandchildren for 3 days while the parents went to a law firm retreat. I saw a big container of polyform clay in my studio, the pasta rollers on the edge of the table, books on the subject and thought it was time to go to a new level. I got out the "bead rollers." I read the directions, conditioned some Sculpey III in my hands and felt the girls would find making the beads magical as I did. Click on all the photos to enlarge.

      Hannah chose a package of blue Sculpey and Erika chose pink. They decided to share. I restrained my need for a green bead necklace until today. They strung theirs with Stretch Magic and tied two square knots. I put a bit of glue on the knots. They wore and slept in them for two days here and the beads held up. So I decided I must make my long-wished-for green choker for which I could never find beads. See below for how I made the beads.

      First I consulted Making Polyform Clay Beads by Carol Blackburn. I got out my bead rollers and soft green Sculpey which I conditioned by squeezing in my hands.  

        I have two types of bead rollers. One involves pressing a snake of clay into the top part and slicing off the sides and bottoms. After I mark every 3/4", I pull the clay out and cut the pieces. The secret of same size beads is careful measuring. You put the top on the bottom and roll back and forth a few times and VOILA! The other bead roller has you push pieces of clay through a hole, slice off the excess and extract the clay using a pencil. Again, you move a fitted top back and forth a couple of inches over and over.  These beads will also be the same size. Erika wanted the cone look from the latter.

       After  I gathered all the beads in a box lid, I pushed the thin metal wires through them. The ends of these rested on a tray in the little polyform clay oven I bought w a coupon at JoAnn's. The beads cook for about 30 minutes at 275. Magic. Then I strung them today and made earrings...not matching. I am looking forward to making more beads depending on what I need and sharing the technique with friends.

Leftover Clay: Bake some Beads

     Can entertaining children also be productive for the adult? When the grandchildren were here last week, we got out the "pasta" machine and the Sculpey III polymer clay. They loved conditioning the clay by rolling it through the Atlas pasta machine that I received for Christmas 30 years ago. I made pasta once, and now I have made beads twice! After the children went to bed, I took the leftover clay to try to make some beads. Of course, I needed more clay, but I was able to create enough for one pair of earrings and a necklace.

Baked polymer clay beads  (click to enlarge)

      I have a copy of the KLUTZ The Incredible Clay Book which is no longer available. Through Amazon, you can buy the book used, minus the clay, and purchase the Sculpey at a craft store. I recommend a variety package.  I have the pasta maker, a thin clay cutting tool and the package I bought. There are other useful tools, but these put you on your way.

      To see how I made the strained "millefiori" beads, there is this terrific YouTube video by Donna Kato.  Kato has also published some handsome instructive books.

      After creating the beads, I used a toothpick to make a hole. I strung them on a wire, made hooks on the end of the wire to hang from oven racks, and baked them for about 10 minutes in an unused oven. Use a vent and do not sniff! They become hard and lightweight. Then at my beading group, I made earrings, or added other beads to string a necklace. Maybe now I will get serious. There are firmer clays for more professional results. I have worn the earrings twice and the necklace once. Not bad for leftovers. I have wanted to do this for 40 years...now, finally!

Grandchildren motivate one to craft

      Hannah and I recently visited The City Quilter where she got involved with My New Sewing Book edited by Susan Akass and I bought Journey to Inspired Art Quilting by Jean Wells and Connecting Design to Stitch by Sandra Meech. To observe her interest to read to gather what she needed for her projects made this one of the happiest days of my life. But she was off to camp so we brought the other two grandchildren home here to Camp Hicks.

(Click on the photos to enlarge)

       Erika and David hit my studio coloring. In fact, Erika, after letting me draw her, wanted to draw me and her brother with a charcoal pencil. He accidentally turned into a monster, she said.

        In no time at all, I was pulling out all the projects I had played with 40 years ago or had never opened. The best projects were the Fancy Nancy quilt and pillow Erika designed; the Sculpey III, a polymer clay that stays soft until you cook it in the oven; and the wire jewelry created with telephone wire. I had an old pasta rolling machine that made the clay malleable and both children loved passing the clay through the rollers. Erika made several necklaces out of the recycled telephone wire which she wrapped around popcycle sticks and round dowels. She put the beads onto another wire and shaped the ends into hook and eyes to make necklaces.  Although we both worked on beads with the Sculpey III while David cut out the clay with cookie cutters, Erika wanted to make pinch pots and baskets. We had so much fun.

      Today their mother and father picked them up and Erika left with a Sashiko coaster project in hand to sew on the road, just as LinLin did on drive bringing her to visit!

       We had a few failures: the plaster animals that never dried in the rubber latex molds so we could paint them. However, I am so glad to finally have had an excuse and the time to make the polymer clay beads. I would never have gotten to them if not for the children. Ceramic mosaics are next! I also loved introducing Erika to the notion that you can learn a lot studying instructional photos...not just reading the instructions. She starts first grade in September.