Adding Round Polymer Cane Slices to Round Beads

Video #643: Making canes is very fun… but when you also know how to use them in creative ways… that makes it even more worthwhile.

Topics Covered In This Video:

• I’m going to show you how to add round polymer clay cane slices to round polymer clay beads.
• We get this question often… “I have made a polymer clay cane and what am I supposed to do with it?”
• And we also get, “How do I add cane slices to a polymer clay beads?”
• So in this video I am going to show you how to accomplish these things.
• I show some examples of some flower beads I made using the Vol-058 Easter Lily Cane Tutorial.
• I show examples of the Easter Lily Canes.
• When you go to add a cane to a bead, you have to think about a few things… sometimes the cane has a colored background… like the blue background on this cane.
• It is going to be important that your base beads have the same color as the background of your cane.
• That way you don’t have to stretch the slice too far to fill the background. Stretching the cane slice can distort the image in the cane.
• If you’re using a cane with a translucent background, then this doesn’t matter as much. You will just need to make sure your base bead is a color that compliments the cane. In other words, not just scrap clay.
• You can add the cane slices in whatever size that you want, to whatever sized bead that you want. It all depends on what you want to bead to look like in the end.
• I am going to make a large bead so you can see what I’m doing.
• Take your base bead (mine is the same blue as the background of my cane), and roll it into a round bead shape… making sure there are no creases or holes.
• Then you want to cut several thick slices from the cane you want to use.
• I like to use slices approximately 2mm thick. This gives me more flexibility when positing and manipulating the slices on the bead.
• Also, thick 2mm cane slices gives more more depth when it comes time to sand after baking.
• Some people make the mistake of slicing their canes too thin, and then they end up sanding right through the cane slice during the finishing process.
• I used my Polyslicer Combo for slicing the cane in this video, but you can also use a regular blade as well.
• I then demonstrate how to add each cane slice to the raw base bead, manipulating the slices and the bead as necessary, to get the cane slices to fit.
• Roll the edges of the slices with a knitting needle or Sculpey Pearl and Etch Tool, to join the slices and remove the crease lines.
• Then roll the whole bead in your palm to reshape and smooth out all of the remaining creases and seams.
• After all that, the bead can be pierced and baked on your bead rack.
• Side Note: Please forgive the random clicking sound in the video. It was my necklace rubbing on the mic… something that we did not notice until after the video was already filmed. I’ll make sure to not to let that happen again in the future.

• Related Video: Easter Lily Cane Vol-058 Polymer Clay Tutorial
• Related Video: Rolling Round Polymer Clay Beads By Hand
• Related Video: Polyslicer Combo Tool For Slicing Polymer Clay Canes
• Related Video: How To Make Same Sized and Graduated Round Beads

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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