Fold Over Beads
Polymer Clay Filigree Bead Project
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Tools & Materials
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I saw these beads in silver in a bead catalog and immediately thought, "I can make those in clay!" I used a technique similar to Balinese Filigree to create the beads. The project is alot easier if you have a clay gun but you could roll out the clay strings by hand if you wanted to. I used several colors of metallic Premo and the instructions below are for variegated beads, but you could use just a single color if you want. |
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Step 1: Assemble your materials and condition your clay. Roll the clay into logs which are just narrower than your clay gun barrel and cut a few slices of each color. |
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Step 2: Take the clay slices and put them together in a random fashion to form a log. Put this into your clay gun barrel and choose a disc with holes the size you want your clay strings. |
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Step 3: Extrude the clay from the clay gun. (A caulking-gun clay gun pusher can make this much easier. See the Lesson Links page for instructions on how to make one.) Since the clay in the barrel was multicolored, the extruded strings will blend from one color to the next. |
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Step 4: On the plastic wrap, form a flat coil from the clay string, carefully wrapping it around itself. If one string isn't long enough for the size coil you want, press the the ends of two strings together to join them and continue wrapping. |
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Step 5: Take the knitting needle or skewer and lay it across the center of the polymer clay coil. Using the plastic wrap, start to fold the coil together around the skewer. The plastic wrap keeps the coil from falling apart as you fold it together. |
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Step 6: Make sure the edges of both sides of the coil line up, then gently press the sides together, up to the skewer. The skewer will form the hole for stringing. |
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Step 7: Leave the fold over bead on the skewer for baking. Make as many fold over beads as you want. Bake the beads, following the instructions for your brand of clay. Once the beads are finished baking, but still warm, carefully pull the beads off the skewers. You should use potholders for this, especially if you used a metal skewer. You can antique the beads or glaze them with Future or another compatible glaze at this point. I liked the matte look with these beads and left them as they were. |
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