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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Some recent work...





Hello again! Just thought I'd post some pictures of things I've finished lately...








Thanks for looking :)
Rachel
xxxxxx

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Polymer Clay Tutorial - Stripey lentil beads

Hey everyone!
I've done a little tutorial for stripey beads. It my first ever tutorial so if there is anything than I can improve on or do differently please let me know!


Stripey Beads


1. First take 8 diferent colours of clay. I have used 7 shades of pinks and purples and 1 near black.


2. Condition your clay so its soft then roll it through your pasta machine on the thickest setting.


3. Layer all 8 sheets on top of one another creating a stack. It doesn't matter what order you put them in.
4. Gently flatten your stack with your arylic roller until its about 1 inch thick.



5. Cut your stack in half and put the two halves together one on top of the other.




6. Again take your hand roller and go over your stack a couple of times but dont flatten it too much. Cut in half again and stack one on top of the other.


7. Gently roll over your stack with your hand roller to squish all your layers together. You don't want to flatter your stack just fill in any gaps. Mould the stack with your hands, aiming for a rough cube shape. Try to get any air bubles out.












8. Now you are read to slice your stack to make your beads. Take a tissue blade and and cut a 1/2 cm slice from your stack.



9. Gently roll your slice with your hand roller, careful not to distort the pattern.











10. Take a round cutter and cut two circles out from your strip. Set them aside and take a scrap piece of clay of roll into a ball. Flatten the ball to create a lentil shape. You can do this using a piece of glass. Moving it in a circular motion while pressing lightly on the ball of clay.



11. Once you have the correct shape. Take your two cirles and place them on either side of your lentil. Gently sqish together the edges to join them.













12. Reshape you bead and repeat for as many beads as you like!