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“Great fun! It was nice being able to go back to previous posts… saw some that I need to work on.” ~Jeanne-C
One of the greatest things about polymer clay is that you can make it look like almost any material you want. It is especially good at mimicking natural materials such as turquoise, beach pebbles, leather, raku, stone, marble, ivory, bone, jade, coral, opals, malachite, amber, granite, pearls, abalone, shell, agate, lapis lazuli and the list goes on.
I have already made tutorials on Faux Turquoise, Faux Fossil Shell, Faux Raku and Faux Pebbles. But eventually I will want to show you how to make all of them.
Here are some past posts featuring polymer clay faux techniques, if you haven’t already checked them out… or if you simply want to review:
- Polymer Clay Tutorial | How To Make Faux Turquoise Beads: Vid #89: A Messy And Fun Technique For Creating Authentic Looking Turquoise Beads.
- Badge Lanyard Project Using Polymer Clay Faux Turquoise Beads: With Polymer Clay You Can Make Faux Stone That Looks Very Genuine.
- Polymer Clay Tutorial | Faux Pebble Beads | Beach Jewelry Projects: Vid #105: A Case Where Fake Is Better Than The Real Thing.
- Polymer Clay Projects | Faux Leather Jewelry Key Chain + Rose Bead: “Cindy I would love to see more photographs of your work.” ~Tereasa
- Learning About Faux Raku Polymer Clay Beads and Kaleidoscope Canes: Spotlight: “I couldn’t wait any longer before sending you some pics… so here they are with no sanding.” ~Polyanya
- Dog Tags Jewelry for Boys | Personalized Names Set in Faux Stone: They Look Real Rocks But Are Actually Handmade Using Polymer Clay.
- Faux Fossil Shell Beads – Perfect For Polymer Clay Beaded Pendants: Looking for a Unique Bead Shape To Add To Your Handmade Jewelry Designs?
- Using Polymer Clay Faux Wood To Fix a Broken Kids Pocket Knife: When the Decorative Skin On Your Old Pocket Knife Cracks And Falls Off.
What faux techniques would you like me to teach next? Please share your opinion in the comments section below!
All of them but these are near the top of my list:Lapis,Opals,Malachite,Abalone
SALE ON FIMO, PREMO AND SCULPY III
AT MICHAEL”S $1.25 EACH
Nice list, agree, Ken. Add some banded agate, moss agate, and blue chaledony and technique for veined pegmatite granite, and I walk away to bliss in a studio this winter, LOL!
Thanks, Cindy, for the way the topic is set up now, love all the links to check out all information available on the site from one source at the end of the article.
Amber is something I love so I would vote for that but love the suggestions from Ken and Jocelyn. The blue chaledony and abalone are high on my list too. Whichever comes first will be fun, Cindy. Welcome back, of course you were missed.
Joyce
Great suggestions guys! Some I’ll have to figure out since I haven’t tried them yet, but always happy to experiment!!
Thanks Joyce! It is going to take me awhile to recover from the time away! LOL Pretty huge pile of emails and comments to reply to. Will take a few days before I get to everything.
Had a great time though. Ended up being able to get away to Whistler (where a lot of the events of the 2010 Olympics will be). Doug took lots of Alpine and Wild Flower photos, so I will be able to do some color palettes with them. We hiked a lot, rode glass-bottom gondolas, had lake side picnics and absorbed the scenery. It was a beautiful peaceful place to spend time with my family. We all feel mentally restored. All and all a great escape!
BTW Thank you all for holding down the fort while we were away. Having you guys there to answer questions for new visitors was a tremendous help! It means a lot to me that you all care about this community so much. Thank you!
So glad you all had an excellent time, Cindy!!! Cannot wait to see the pics.
So glad you had a good time Cindy and got some much deserved R&R! I second Ken’s lapis request and would like to add jade.
For anyone that wants to be adventurous, there are some lessons for faux clay projects at Polymer Clay Central. The great thing about Cindy is she gets all the mistakes out of the technique before sharing with the group. i recently made some faux malachite. will send a picture when I find one.
Hi, Cindy so glad you had a nice break with your family.
Just to show you what I have been doing as its nothing but rain here in Wales, I don’t feel guilty playing in my work room. I always wanted to make Lazuli unpolished straight out of the oven and Malachite that are to blue, as yet uncooked another of my mistakes.
Would love comments and help please. Just finished my first sanding in my new Lortone Rock Polisher so exited can’t wait to buff them, I didn’t have river rock so I tumbled my own as we have lots of white stone in the garden. It worked well glad to say.
@ Anna Sabina
Something is up at least at the Michaels near me. First this is the second week in a row that the clay is on sale, and the other thing is that they pushed all the PC to way back in the store and there was no hooks for the clay by Donna Dewberry, but there was a “generic” PC for $1.29 a bar regular price on the shelve with the Fimo, Premo & S3. I have a feeling that they’re going to phase it out in favor of the premade beads beads and findings which now has an expanded section
Nice to have you back Cindy. I’d like opals please. I’ve made some amber and I must say they are the nicest beads I’ve ever made, everyone loves them.
I love your malachite Ritzs!
Ken: That does sound strange. PC on sale for 2 weeks, how did you contain yourself? Wonder what this generic PC is? Much too mysterious for me. My Michael’s does not carry the Studio/Donna Dewberry clay. You can only find it at JoAnn’s Crafts here. I wonder if you might be by a Michael’s were they are doing test marketing.
It’s on again for this week, and it was on last week. It is possible that they were testing the Studio line but they had two vertical rows of at least ten pegs in total. I am planning on going back sometime this week as I have a $25 gift card from my birthday. I’m going to clean them out of Premo Trans. for my jade projects. I brought the last 5 packs they had on Sat. as last weeks sale ended on the 29th and they said a new truck comes in on Tues.
“I’m going to clean them out of Premo Trans. for my jade projects.”
Ken, this is my kind of talk….ahahaha. Don’t get to stores anymore, just order online.
Thanks for the laugh and the visual image of you heading for that aisle. Cannot wait to see what you have come up with, and am dying for pics of that jade!
Well the picts and recipies would have been up weeks ago if my digital camera hadn’t of died on me, I’m in the process of learning how to use the new one and “hope” to get this done really soon.
Doing better than me, my digital camera hasn’t been in my hands yet, except over the bed, LOL! No clay on the bed. Sooooo…
It’ll be fabulous to see, especially next to your Mom’s real stones.
@Ritzs: Thank you for sending in your faux lapis and malachite beads. They look pretty good! Bet they will look even better sanded and polished. As far as advice, whenever trying to recreate the look of a stone, it helps if you take a look at some real stones. If you go to Google images you can find tons of example of real Lapis Lazuli and Malachite that will help with getting the look right. Eventually I will have some tutes on these faux stones, so until then just keep doing what you’re doing. You’re doing great!
@Ken, Anna and Jocelyn: I have not got my hands on any of the Michaels brand clay yet. It is a good sign when you see a company come up with a no-name product. It means there is money in it and they intend to stick with the material. As far as what it is like, I hear it’s like Bakeshop, the new clay for kids by Sculpey.
@Polyanya: I’d love to see photos of your Amber. They sound pretty!
Thank you everyone else for your great suggestions! I’ll add them to the list.
Thanks Cindy, I got a little concerned when I saw how far back in the store the PC had gotten pushed and by how much the “regular” beads had been expanded.
What is the “bakeshop” like, have you tried it yet? Is it more beginner friendly than S3?
How interesting that there would be three new product lines released so quickly. I am hoping that one of the three chains (Michael’s/JoAnn’s/ACMoore) will pick up the Pardo line so I can try it.
Thanks Cindy, took pics of all my beads made up into jewellery last night so will send you a mail real soon.
Thanks Cindy for the boost the Lapis i took from Desirees web site and yes now they are polished they look good not so gold looking but i will keep on trying
Ritz, so glad they turned out well for you. Love the pics! If the gold wears off in the sanding, you can also break up flakes very small and add them where you want them. Just use a tiny amount of poly “glue” pop them on, then seal them with a couple of coats of Future/Pledge, and buff. It’s worked for me a couple of times, LOL!
Thank you for the tip Jocelyn i will keep that in mind for the future
About Michael’s having pc on sale? I’ve been to Joanns for 2 weeks in a row and they’ve had clay on sale, too. Plus, they also put the clay along a back wall. Well, way off to the side wall, but so far from the door it feels like the back wall.
Sometimes that’s good if they move stuff to the back wall. That means they know you want it bad enough to walk by everything else to get it. They sell more other stuff that way. It’s the same reason they put the milk in the back of a grocery store!
Hi Cindy
At long last I am soooooo busy at the moment and I know you are too – but I am thrilled with my faux amber beads, the only time when I don’t mind seeing fingerprints as they add a bit more texture. Think I’m getting a hang on wire wrapping too! I sold all this jewellery.
Warmest regards
Iwona [Polyanya]
Very nice Iwona. Thanks for sending in the photo. I love the wire embellishments you placed on the surface of the beads.
OH thank you so much Cindy for taking the time to print this – I really enjoyed making them, I have another bracelet which was worked with sterling silver wire. I’d like to try a deeper reddish orange next time.
@ Polyanya
Wow, they’re great!!!! I’m a big fan of the fauxs.
Oh thank you Ken, have you made any?
Not amber (yet) I’ve done jade though.
Ooh nice – the technique was kindly supplied to me by Desiree and she’d been inspired by Tory Hughes (I’ve just ordered her book). I would like to find an easy turquoise that doesnt use an old food processor, mine is still very much in use!
You could try to find an additional bowl and blade at a flea market or even buy a second new set.
I could couldn’t I? I’m off to a large flea market tomorrow to hunt out an old transistor radio for when the power goes off, as it frequently does due to the winter storms – I’ll see if I can find anything.
I thought like you did, that I needed a dedicated whole food processor, when it is only the bowl and blade that actually touch the clay. A friend brought this to my attention. Man did I feel silly after he said that.
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About the Michaels “new” clay…yes it is manfactured by CraftSmart and distributed by Michaels. I tried some and it’s Ok. Very soft but bakes nice and hard and seems durable. Great for sculpting, molding or very detail work. I won’t use it for beads unless you mix it with premo or fimo. No, they are not replacing it for any of the current polymer clays, Sculptey III, Premo, and Fimo.
The Bead aisle has been UPGRADED and moved to the front of most stores for several reasons. One reason is for better visibility.
Ken, Wow, your Michaels tested the new clay! Here in Michigan we have not had it as of yet. Since you “wiped” them out it will give Corp. a good reason to make it available chain wide! Thanks!! (The 2 week clay sale was a first! I took advantage of it, as well!) Also, if Michaels runs out of clay when it is on sale, ask for a raincheck. Then you can still get the sale price when they get more in.
Polyanya, I came up with a type of “turquoise”. I call it my “Catalina Turquoise”. I don’t have any made right now but I’ll make some and send Cindy the photos. If you like them I’ll try to let you all know how I did it.
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Hey Ken, well i looked today but found nothing. Thing is I have a beautiful Kenwood major but the processor bowl is so small and awkward to use I still use my old Braun FP. Its so old you can’t get replacement bowls anymore. Tsk tsk. Didn’t find a transistor either!
Catalina – that would be great! I’m all for easy!
Keep trying, you neven know when you’ll come across one, you may even find an inexpensive processor at a Flea market/Yard sale, that would solve the problem completely.
Sorry bad typing today. (never know)
NEW PHOTOS ADDED:
Hi Guys,
Some new project pictures that relate to the topic of this page (faux malachite beads), have just been added in another post. The link by my name will take you to where you can see full size photos along with descriptions and stories about each one. Hopefully they will inspire you to achieve great things with your own polymer clay projects.
BTW: Thanks to everyone above who took the time to comment. Your feedback and support is always such a wonderful part of my day. ~Cindy
NEW PHOTOS ADDED:
Hello to Everyone,
Some new Spotlight project pictures that relate to the topic of this page (Faux Stones), have just been added in another post. They were submitted by Laurel-B. The link by my name will take you to where you can see them, along with a bit of a write up. Hopefully they will inspire you to achieve great things with your own polymer clay projects.
Cindy, to add to the wish list of future tuts…..please please some different types of amber (maybe with imbeds/) and copal. All I can think of is those early pics I’ve seen of the Russian palace’s Amber Room. Sadly it was dismantled and lost during WWII, though some gemologists think a lot of the amber circulating in Europe is based from this room. Such a loss!
As a matter of fact, anything that relates to prehistory would be great. The faux bone tut and the imbed tut are perfect, as is the faux turquoise. Amber was a biggie, because it floated up on the salt water shorelines. Maybe for the kids, you have a dinosaur bone or track idea? Hahahah, the image of a chicken wing sticking out of a piece of clay……