Being the crafter that I am, I will try just about anything. I just love making things. But there are some things that I am just not very good at. Like beads made from polymer clay.
Some artist are VERY talented when it comes to working with polymer clay. But NOT me. I have seen some really beautiful beads made from polymer clay. So I thought that I would give it a try, how hard can it be. I wanted to make my own beautiful beads for my jewelry designs.
I went out and bought a couple of books, tools, pasta machine, and polymer clay. I went through the books and decided on what I would try first. So I went through the steps and made my first beads. That's when I found out it was a lot harder then you think. My first set of beads came out looking like a wad of already chewed gum. Not very pretty.
Polymer Clay Faux Amber
I love leaves, so not to give up I bought a package of leaf molds, set of three. Thought surely I can't mess those up. Well they came out pretty good. But the sanding is really hard on my hands, and one leaf at a time will take forever. I read that you could run polymer clay through your tumbler with river rocks or sandpaper and they would come out smooth. Well that didn't work.
Polymer Clay Ivy Leaves
I've tried sanding under water with different grits of sandpaper, but I still don't get the beautiful, smooth, glossy beads that I see made by other artist. It gets very frustrating, so I stop, and don't try again for a few months.
The leaves are still sitting in a bowl waiting to be sanded one leaf at a time )-; I have made one more attempt since then. I made jack-o-lantern earrings, and I must say I think they turned out pretty cute. I just ran them through my tumbler then put a clear coat sealer over them for some shine. But their far from the beautiful beads that I want to make.
Polymer Clay Jack-O-Lantern
If anyone has any tips that you would like to share on sanding, polishing (to get that beautiful glossy shine) , etc. It will be Greatly Appreciated.
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