How To Make Beads | No More Bubbles In Your Polymer Clay Pendants

Disappointed with How Your Flat Pendants Look After Coming Out of the Oven?

It can be very frustrating to put a perfect looking unbaked pendant into the oven, only to have it come out covered in bubbles on the front and weird gaps and shiny spots on the back! Figuring out what went wrong, or who to turn to for help, has been a challenge for many beginners… up until now that it is!

I had a terrible experiences with trapped air in my clay projects for the longest time. It took so much trial and error, searching through forums, asking questions and just plain old guessing until I finally figured it out!

Here are a few tips for keeping your flat polymer clay pendants, flat and bubble free:

• Avoid trapping air in your clay in the first place. Lots of people condition their clay wrong, and are actually adding air to the clay as they feed it through the pasta machine. Click on the following link for some instructions and tips on how to condition polymer clay properly.
• Pop any bubbles you see in your clay before it goes into the oven.
• Bake your pieces upside down. Warm air rises so if there are any air bubbles in the clay when you bake it face down, at least they will "surface" on the backside.
• Don't bake on metal. Metal cookie sheets conduct heat and leave shiny spots and gaps on the backs of your flat pieces of polymer clay. Instead bake on a smooth ceramic tile.
• Bake flat pieces of polymer clay in a ceramic tile sandwich. If you have no idea what I am talking about, read this article: Baking Polymer Clay Pendants

Follow these tips and you will definitely experience fewer frustrations when baking flat pieces of polymer clay for pendants or other jewelry projects.