Flower Beads for Jewelry Making, Created from Polymer Clay Canes

How to transform a single cane slice into a flower shaped bead… make jewelry that will attract buyers to your Etsy shop:

Yesterday I wrote about how polymer clay canework can make your handmade beads really get noticed for originality and unique creativity. Today's post will be about how you can mold a one-of-a-kind flower bead using a single slice from a polymer clay cane.

A lot of you have been writing and wanting to learn more about the cane making process. I've been listening and am currently working on some video courses to show you exactly how to make polymer clay canes, also known as millefiori canes.

These courses take time to put together. So in the meanwhile, I thought it would be helpful to discuss the versatility of poly clay canes in jewelery making, by showing you yet another bead shape that can be made with them.

As you may recall back in June, I created a variety of different Premo and Fimo polymer clay canes using a Spring color palette inspired by the flowers in my garden.

One of the larger canes on the right hand side of the photo in that June 14 post (it's the pink, green and brown one that looks like it has a bug shape in the center), is the cane I used to create the flower bead in the photo above on this page.  Actually, the photograph of the original raw cane was taken with it's back side up, showing the distorted end. That is why the pattern doesn't quite match up. No matter, you can still see the design.

From this spotted flower cane I took a fairly thick slice and rolled it out thin to stretch it a bit and make it more translucent. Then took a small ball of clay and covered it with a slice of the brown and cream lace cane I had used in the center of the flower cane.

This small, lace cane covered ball was then placed in the center of the rolled out slice and then the sides were pinched up to create the petals of the flower bead. A hole was pierced and the bead was baked.

This type of sculptural Fimo bead takes a little more care to avoiding fingerprints because it is more difficult to sand. Gloves will certainly help for that.

The more I work with polymer clay techniques, the more I love making polymer clay canes. And you will too. There are just so many ways to use them in bead making and jewlry making, that the possibilities seem endless.

If you have ever seen beautiful flower beads for jewelry making and have wondered how they were done, then you're really going to love learning how to create polymer clay canes. Make sure to stick around for the ride!