Polymer clay is a wonderfully versatile medium for making beads that can be assembled or worn alone as pendants. Here are a few tips to make the button making process easier and more creative.
Condition the clay before use
Polymer clay cannot be used straight from the package; “seasoned” should be first. The simplest way to do this is to cut a piece of wood and soak it with your hands. Certain clays are easier to soak than others; if you have any trouble, first heat the clay, put it in a bowl of hot water. Don’t sweat it, though; You don’t want to cure your clay before you even use it!
You can also try any machine with a round head to lower the dirt. And if you have a lot to condition, or you decide to seriously work with clay, in pasta machine. You can put the thin slices through the machine again and again until they are perfectly conditioned.
How do you know when your clay is used? Well, it will change its consistency; you will be able to stretch it without tearing it. When he arrived here, he was ready to be formed into reality.
How to form balls
Most beginners form balls by rolling them between the hands. Polymer clay is such a medium of touch that this process is usually very enjoyable. But it is difficult to obtain perfectly round grains in this way; find all your balls rather egg-shaped!
Experiment with different rolling techniques on different parts of your palm, or even rolling between your palm and the surface of the board. And if all else fails, pick up a button kit from your repository. These beads make uniformly shaped ornaments, and usually also include a measuring device so you know how much clay to use.
You can ensure that your balls are the same amount of clay by using each one. Roll out a thick but flat board of clay and carve a piece of equal size, then use each head individually. You can also make bed-sized beads in this way, using two, three, or more beads for each larger bead.
Pale shape suggestions
Here are a few ideas of different button shapes;
– around
– egg-shaped
– teardrop (through to one end, egg-shaped or pointed to the other, it makes nice that I insinuate simple attachments)
– tubular (log-shaped)
– square (if flat) or cube shaped
– a rectangle
– triangular (if flat) or pyramid-shaped
– flat squares, rectangles or triangles with two or more edges touching
Finish the beads
The beads have holes so they can be inserted, which is the easiest way to pierce them before they heal. Use a long and pointed needle or a thick one, such as a knitting needle, a bamboo skewer or a (thin) nail.
To drill, you insert the needle or pin very gently in the place where you want the hole to be, push slowly, then stop when you are about halfway there. Shake off the needle, then on the opposite side of the bed, and repeat this procedure. This will ensure that you don’t make too much clay and destroy the shape of the bread when you are just trying to put a hole in it. (If the head is too small, probably get away with transfixing all the way through).
Take care of your grains
Polymer clay is cured in a regular oven. Follow the directions on the package, which tell you the oven temperature and time to cook to thickness. For example, if the package says to cook at 275° F for 15 minutes per 1/4 inch, and your slice is 1/2 inch thick, it will need to cook for half an hour.
Don’t ever turn on the oven’s microwave to speed up the baking process. and traces of cooking time. Polymer clay is non-toxic when baked on, but if it burns, it can emit fumes (and destroy your creations in the process). You won’t smell much when your clay is baking unless you have a very sensitive nose.
Here’s a warning: Don’t cook the polymer clay in the microwave. You’ll never cure the clay evenly, and it’s dangerous to burn very, very deep.
Polymer clay softens when heated. If you’re worried about the balls flattening in the oven, you can cook them on a skewer, with the ends of the skewer resting on the edges of a baking dish. Or you can fall in the channels between the folds and place the beads in the channels between the folds.
A lot of these tips can be applied to anything you do with polymer clay. If you want to make a heavy ball, you can always move on to bigger ones, like carved figures. When it comes to polymer clay, you’re only limited by your imagination.
Report:
- Polymer Clay first by syndee holt – a useful and user-friendly book by an author with a nice sense of humor (for example, he doesn’t catch the first letter of his name) glassattic.com” for domain.
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