Video #547: To size your beads perfectly every time, all you need is a small cutter and a sheet of clay rolled to a specific thickness.
Topics Covered In This Video:
- The other day someone asked me how to make an 8mm polymer clay bead.
- I show a strand of jade beads that are 8mm in diameter for reference.
- There is a simple way to measure the same sized beads.
- Using different sized cutters and/or different thickness’ of clay.
- The shape of cutter you use, really does not matter that much.
- Size of bead created can be adjusted by changing thickness of clay, the size of the cutter, or the number of cut pieces used to make each of your beads.
- Related Video: Rolling Round Polymer Clay Beads By Hand
- Related Video: How to Make a perfectly Round Bead By Hand
Do you have any suggestions for videos on tips, techniques or products you would like to learn more about? Let me know in the comments section below!
My goal is to help you to learn quicker and easier ways to bring up the professionalism in your polymer clay art.
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Looking forward to hearing from you!
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Hi Cindy – I have a question. We’ve just got back from S.France where I found some beautiful earrings with the dangle part made from a circle of metal with a sort of stencil effect of a rose with leaves. I immediately thought how great it would be if I could use this as a ‘mould’ to make a Sutton Slice. However, on watching videos on this topic I notice that the mould – which is usually rubber – has to be carefully folded back to check that the clay has been embedded and of course I can’t do this with metal. So I wondered if it’s possible to make a mould from the metal earring and if so what would be the best way of achieving this?
Many thanks – Marion
Hi Marion, being in the South of France sounds lovely! Wish I could go there right now!
Any way, you can make a mold of your earring if you like (see the search box to find info on making molds.) You would probably have to make a double mold though, in order to do the Sutton slice technique you are referring to.
What I mean by that is first you’d have to make a mold of the earring, then make another mold of the mold, otherwise the indents would be where the raised areas should be and vice versa. You may lose a fair amount of the detail, making a mold of a mold, but the concept should work.
Let us know if you attempt it and how it turns out! Good luck!
Thank you so much Cindy, yes I will definitely try this and let you know how it goes. The metal disc has quite tiny cut areas so the ‘rose and leaf’ is made of many tiny holes. But I will try to make a mold of a mold, as you say, perhaps with thin polyclay first as I think the moldmaker stuff might be too thick and less ‘sensitive’ to the tiny holes. Thanks again – I’ll keep you posted!
Grateful thanks for this and EVERYTHING you do! Marion
PS – S.France is always fabulous, food esp., if you haven’t been there yet you should make a point of doing so. Cannes is our fave. Fabulous beaches, two of them free, plus if you want to go further a day’s ‘Rover’ train ticket is 12 Euros pp and you can tour all the coastal resorts and up into the mountains all day. The kids would love it. M
Hi, Cindy! Love your videos and they are really helpful. I saw you were using a tin box with cutters, where can I buy one of those? Thanks. Great work!
Katiamar
Hi Katiamar, I bought two tins with small cutters in them from Makins some time ago. They had some extra room in them, so I put more cutters from other sets in them by putting the larger ones in first, and graduating down until I could fit anymore in. A shallow cookie tin or lid would work just as well. I’ll have to do a video on that so people can see better what I did. Thanks for noticing!
You make these beads so easily! All your tips and tricks are so helpful, especially to newbies. Thanks for taking the time to teach a very good way to make beads. Happy claying……………
Love your necklace in this one!
Thank you Harriet. That is from the Reptile Hollow Lentil Bead Neckwire Tutorial if you want to make it yourself!
Wow, great…thanks!
Hi Cindy,
I’m Emma, from the UK and firstly I want to say a big thank you! In the past 6 months I have discovered polymer clay and your you tube videos have been a god send!
I am having some trouble with a project of mine and I was really hoping you could help.
I’m trying to make some cutlery for my sons, maybe to sell if they’re good enough. Basically I cover the handle and add extra pieces of clay to the pc base.
The thing is, as its cutlery and therefore, it will come into contact with water fairly often, can I glaze thematic? But the water will ruin the glaze surely? As there are raised pieces on the handles it would be a nightmare to sand.
I am totally stuck! Can you help me please Cindy?
Many thanks,
Emma
Thanks for your kind words Emma! Well I’m afraid your cracking issue is mostly due to the fact that you are using SculpeyIII. It is notorious for breaking. Switching to Premo Clay will make all the difference in the world. As far as glaze that can handle water, maybe the Minwax Polyurethane (oil based) would be a good choice? or perhaps nothing? Polymer clay doesn’t need to be sealed. It is plastic and is waterproof by nature. Hopefully that helps!
Ooops disregard the Sculpey III cracking part of my answer. Must have read your question and someone else’s and got the two mixed up. The last part is right though…
That’s great, thanks for replying x
Yes, I’ve heard about just leaving it but I don’t know if the finish would be as nice – as there are lots of raised parts on the handle, sanding isn’t an option . I may have a go with polyurethane.
Thanks again,
Emma x
Hi Cindy
I am so new to making my own beads with Sculpey that the clay is still in the packets! I watched your great video on getting beads the same size and would like to know more about your machine. I live in Australia. Generally, kitchen products here are made in China and have high prices for poor quality. But the one you used looked such a nice, compact machine that was easy to use. I would love some pointers on how to buy one – amazon is often a go-to place for US products (thank goodness!).
Thank you for your tutorials … were you a teacher in a past life, as you really
have the knack for it!
Cheers
Lin
P.S. Belated Merry Christmas to you and Doug, and my very best to the two of you, plus all your family, pets and even the local wildlife! Good luck in 2024!
Hi Lin,
If you are talking about the Gold Atlas 150, here is a link to that product in a few different colors on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vj1jTa (affiliate link)
There is also another version of the Atlas 150 pasta machine that is cheaper, but still has the anodized aluminum rollers, which is an important feature: https://amzn.to/3HjThMF (affiliate link)
And just so you know, there has been a recent update to both the Atlas 150 and the larger Atlas 180 models. They have been made with removable scraper blades which makes them really easy to clean. They also changed the size of the hole where the handle goes in, so unfortunately, the original motor designs will no longer work. I am telling you this because the marketing materials don’t make it clear which model will be shipped. So it’s worth asking some questions before placing your order, to make sure you are actually going to get what you want.
Either way, both the old machine and the new even better machines are better than most other brands on the market, so if you plan to do polymer clay for a long time, they are definitely worth the money.
Btw, please don’t wait to open those packages of clay though. There are tons of things you can do with your clay without having a pasta machine :) Have fun and hope to see more of you!
PS: Happy New Year to you and your family!
Thank you so much Cindy! As I’m overseas I’ll look around here and see if I can find something suitable in the Boxing Day sales! Your advice on buying tips is invaluable!
Happy 2024 and I hope your business continues to thrive and your creativity keeps zinging along!
Lin
I love what you’re doing with the book and everything. And it’s fantastic but please take a little bit of time to do you and Monica. I enjoy that too, especially seeing what you do. It gives me.
A creative feeling. When I see what you’ve done I know that’s silly but I really enjoy Monica and me. So so please make sure you take time each week. And I don’t get to see you on Wednesday. Because for some reason I watch It. Like 1 to 2 days later. And I usually watch It at night.
Hi Kathay, I apologize for missing the ‘Me and Monica’ segment this week. I got a little too in-depth with the book discussion and lost track of time. I, too, enjoy sharing the jewelry that we are wearing. :) It’s especially fun to dig up some older pieces and have the chance to talk about them with you. Thank you so much for your continued support after all these years. So happy to have you as part of our clay family, even though you aren’t there with the group when we are live, it’s still lovely knowing that you’re there watching. Take Care. <3