Easy Polymer Clay Tutorial - Crackled Gold Leaf on Round Fimo Beads

Vid #75: How to Apply Already Crackled Strips of Metal Leaf To a Polymer Clay Base Bead:

Gold Leaf is a product used by polymer clay artists to create stunning effects on all kinds of beads and jewelry pieces. It comes in ultra thin flat sheets and can be applied directly to the clay. Here are 5 tips and techniques to keep in mind when using metallic leafs and foil products:

1) Gold leaf and imitation metal leaf crackles when stretched. To get a cool crackled sheet of clay, add leafing to a thick sheet of polymer clay and 'stretch' it by running it through your pasta machine at a thinner setting.

2) To get finer crackles, go even thinner with your pasta machine settings.

3) Cut thin strips of the crackled sheet and wrap them around round balls of clay to make beads. Re roll the beads to get the strips to meld with the base clay and to remove ridges.

4) Beads with imitation metal leaf or real gold and silver leaf, can not be sanded after baking or you will remove the leaf. Because of that, make sure your polymer clay beads have as few fingerprints and flaws as possible.

5) Always seal your metal leaf or foil bead after baking with a good polymer clay finish like Future Floor Finish or Varathane to keep it from rubbing off or discoloring.

If you would like to know a little more about the differences between gold leaf and foils, this is a great article to read: Gold Leaf Polymer Clay vs Gold Foil

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The full version of the "Crackled Gold Leaf Round Bead" preview video shown above, is available for purchase at the Members Library. It is listed in the Volume-005 Order Form as:

Vid-005-2 Wrap Round Beads With Crackled Gold Leaf

In this video tutorial I demonstrate how to layer pieces of crackled gold leaf polymer clay onto the outside of a round base bead to create a beautiful effect.