Making large oval beads

Beads like these:

I am pretty sure there is a lot easier way to do oval beads, but the more complicated the process is, the more interesting it is for me :))) And I think my way is very economic, uses mostly scrap clay.
The working area:
A two-layered square of clay. A layer of scrap clay at the bottom, the layer of nice ochre clay on the top. Lots of canes.

Filling area with canes' slices:
If you are interested in the process of filling are with cane slices go to see a slide show :) (I didn't out it in a blog, as it's a bit heavy)

Rolling out a flowery clay sheet:

Now it is smooth, except for the edges of the sheet.

Wrap a knitting needle in scrap clay:

Then wrap it into a slice of a flower sheet, adjust and smooth a joint line:

Cut a cylinder into segments (1.5 cm in my case)

Gently shape segments into ovals. My knitting needle is quite thick, so the hole in a bead will be quite wide, for the thick rope (as the one used on the photo above).
Bake the beads (I made a few pillow beads from flower sheet leftovers)

Here is the result

Covering Altoid tin with polymer clay sheet

I made a tartan cane following Dora's tutorial (Thank you, Dora!). I didn't reduce it too well, the pattern have got deformed. But the colours are still nice :)))
Roll a sheet out of scrap clay. Place cane slices in a row, trying to match lines and colours. When all slices are in place, roll them until smooth surface.

It is important to clean the box just before covering it with clay. Wash it with a soap, or wipe it with alcohol and let dry.
Place a sheet of clay on to the bottom half of the box. Make sure there are no air bubbles are trapped between clay and metal.
At the corners of the box press the clay gently toward the box. While soft clay takes a shape of the box corners.
Very carefully cut off the excess of clay. The best way will be cutting it off bit by bit, say, first cut away 5 millimeters all around the box. then another 5 millimeters all around the box again. Then 2 millimeters and so on. This way you are not going to cut off too much clay. Smooth the edge of the clay sheet with your fingers, hiding scrap clay.
Bake the resulting half-covered box.

Cool down the box and cover the other half of it with the second sheet.

Decorate the box as you wish. Bake the box.

Two tutorials in one post - flower canes and daisy buttons

We are going to make two kinds of flowers from this lot:


Making a skinner blend using pasta-machine:




Making a shaded plug. Cut the plug into 4 segments.


Place 2 thin sheets of dark clay on sides of 2 segments.


Making a "stamen" :) I mixed light part of leftover clay into one colour and rolled it into a snake. Place a snake in the middle of one segment, cover with another one. Press and shape resulting cane into roundish cane.


Join the two remaining segments of shaded plug, so the white sides face each other. Roll them to get the right length, and to fix two segments together. Wrap the resulting piece around the first cane, and wrap the whole thing with a thin sheet of dark clay.


Here you can do whatever you want with you petal cane. You can reduce it and cut it into 5-6 parts, form them into a flower and fill the background with translucent clay.
I prefer keeping petal canes as they are, as you can use them just for petals as well you can make flowers out of them any time.


Making a flower. Cut a small piece of petal cane, give it a shape of a drop. Slice this cane into small single petals. Place petals on a rolled sheet of clay and press them gently onto a base.


For the flower center I took some yellow clay, placed it in the middle of the flower and pressed it with an embossing tool.


A second flower will be a quick daisy, a very basic cane.

Making a cane for the center of a flower. Make a yeloow and orange cane out of many smaller yellow and orange bull's canes.


Making a petal. I used Fimo "Sahara" for contours and lines inside petal.




I tried two colours for the base of a flower. In the final creation you don't see a base att all, so the colour of it doesn't matter. In one of the daisies I've bent the petal slightly down, which makes a future button less fragile. Buttons of a last photo are still unbaked.


These are some of my fresh petal canes.


For these yellow and red flowers I used the same petal cane.


An Altoids box, covered with my new canes.

Making polymer clay cakes

Making a cake base:
I mixed white, translucent and ochre Fimo to get the right colour. Roll out the clay to a required thickness, then cut out the shape. While the cutter is still in clay, press out a hollow in a cake base. Remove a cutter and give a cake base right texture with a tooth brush and shape it with a knitting needle.

For giving a cake the baked look I mixed two pastels into a colour slightly darker than the clay itself. Then applied it just to the top of the base.

Making whipped cream. Mix some white clay and liquid clay to a smooth uniform condition. Fill a syringe with the paste and sqeeze it out onto the cake.

Decorate a cake as you wish. I used my strawberry cane and made a few whole strawberries.

I made a second cake from leftovers of the first one.

Slicing a cake. Give a rough texture on a slice's cut :)

That's it :) Bake a cake in the oven and then cool it down. Glaze the strawberries.

Then take lots of pictures :)))







Bon appetit!