Making Your Own Clay Beads

Posted by adortalukdar on February 15th, 2014

If you want to try out a new and interesting project to supplement your jewelry making interests, you may want to consider trying your hand at making your own clay beads. Being able to make your own beads will give you a lot of flexibility as to the different shapes and sizes of beads which you can use in your jewelry making hobby. Once you understand the basics of this craft, it is easy to continue constructing beads for personal use.

When you are making clay beads, you can choose either polymer clay or a softer variety of clay. Whilst soft clay is much easier to use straight out of the packet, it can be more brittle and more likely to crack during or after the baking process. Harder polymer clay will be harder to manipulate before baking, but will be stronger afterwards. Try both to see which one you enjoy working with more.

When making clay bead, it is a good idea to have a wide range of clayworking tools, including a metal stylus, clay cutters, rubber tipped clay shapers, bead rolling tools, texturing tools and a bead baking rack. You should also buy some simple wooden cocktail sticks, which are the idea size and shape for creating the holes which will go through the middle of your pieces.

Once you have all of the tools necessary to make your beads, you can begin working with the clay. The best way to find out what works and what doesn’t work when you are creating your pieces is to use a process of trial and error. A little bit of experimentation when you are shaping your beads can lead to some interesting and effective designs. Remember that you can always reroll your clay if you notice a mistake before baking or if you are not happy with the shapes which you have created.

Once you have poked the holes through the centre of the beads with the cocktail sticks, it is advisable to leave them suspended on the sticks on the backing rack, so that you don’t end up with a flat side where they have been resting. If this is not possible try to sit them down very gently.

Before you bake your beads, check the cooking instructions for the specific sort of clay which you are using. Different types of clay have different cooking instructions and it is best to follow these guidelines. Once they have cooled down completely, paint the beads and coat them with a clay-friendly varnish, to help to protect them when they are in use.

If you do not fancy making your own clay beads, there are plenty of options available to purchase at wholesale prices from internet retailers. Buying these products in bulk is a great way to get discount prices on items, and it will enable you to get hold of a lot of perfectly formed beads in one go, which would take a long time to make if you were to make your own.

Whether you decided to buy clay beads or make your own, you will find that clay beads are a great item to work with. You can get more information from pandahall.

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adortalukdar

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adortalukdar
Joined: January 10th, 2014
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