Rolling the Perfect Polymer Clay Bead
Is impossible. Seriously. But you can get it pretty damn close!
I was petrified of making beads when I started, I even offered to pay someone to make them for me but the universe had bigger plans for me and I had to make them myself! I only managed to split crack and ruin one huge tray of pretty pink oblong bead things... but the next tray was way way better!
Here are a couple of my favourite tips:
1. Buy FIMO to make your beads - not Sculpey. Sculpey is way too soft for this process and rolling the bead in your hands will only ever leave awful finger and palm marks. FIMO on the hand is always really nice and firm. Rolling a nice tight, round bead is a breeze and you should have no or very minimal fingers marks.
TIP: BUY FIMO NOT SCULPEY.
2. Depending on how many you are making and if money permits, buy a bulk pack of white FIMO as well as your smaller blocks of colours.
TIP: BUY BULK WHITE FIMO
3. When you get home - as I have recommended before, get NAKED. Clean up your work station with alcohol wipes, scrub your hands and either get naked or put very light, non-fluffing clothes on.
TIP: GET CLEAN.
4. Get out the old kitchen scales. If you don't have any buy some, I think I paid $2 for mine at Ikea.
TIP: BUY KITCHEN SCALES.
5. From a money perspective making clay beads is expensive especially when you account for the making time, plus FIMO is over $5.00 for just 57 grams! I think that's illegal. So I cheat where possible and add white clay to the beads that I can (obviously black I can't but light colours I can). This makes the coloured clay go further.
TIP: CHEAT AND ADD WHITE FIMO WHERE POSSIBLE.
6. Roll out your conditioned clay into the shape of a sausage and cut it into 12 gram pieces (which I weigh on my kitchen scales). If you've done some measuring before hand with the initial bits of clay you hopefully can divide the end product in a perfect amount of 12 gram portions.
TIP: 12 GRAMS WILL MAKE A NICE 25 mm BEAD.
8. Start with a really firm rolling motion in the palm of your hands to iron out the creases and end with a soft, tight circle motion to finish the bead off. Place on tray asap to avoid finger marks.
TIP: TIGHT SOFT ROLLING MAKES BEADS PERFECTLY ROUND.
9. Go to bed. Yep, I always let them sit over night before I put the hole in the centre as the temperature is much cooler in the morning meaning they are much less likely to deform when you make your holes!
TIP: GO TO BED AND FINISH THEM IN THE MORNING
10. Making the holes is EASY! Simply screw a wooden skewer into the centre of the bead slowly, so to not deform the bead. Once you've made it to the other side take the skewer out and pop it in the other side to neaten it up.
11. I find the cooking directions on the clay packets confusing PLUS I can't read German BUT cook your beads for 30 mins at 120 degrees. Done.
XOXO