Vid #194: “Do you
have a video for making
colorful flower petal beads?
Most of the examples I have
seen on the net are black or
dark brown.” ~Sally-W
Most of the time when you make polymer clay beads, it is for the sheer beauty of the end result. But sometimes the meaning of your jewelry creations can go much deeper than that… as is often the case with Rose petal or dried flower beads.
Perhaps the flower petals came from your own beautiful garden… for capturing memories of a crisp Spring day, or a warm Summer night.
Or maybe you preserved some tree blossoms to save for a special occasion… such as a Wedding, Graduation, Birth of a New Baby, or the Memorial of a loved one.
In all of these instances, the flowers are a symbol of a person or event to be cherished and remembered forever. And making your own Rose Petal Beads from these flowers, is a wonderful way to hold onto those precious memories.
Without a doubt, I receive more emails and emotional (sometimes tearful) comments about this bead making topic, than any other…
Cindy, I’m so excited! I sold my first “Zuzu’s Petals” keepsake jewelry (necklace and earrings made with red rose petals) this week!! And I have you to thank for making it all possible!!! I can’t wait to see what’s to come with this line of my jewelry!! Thank you for all your hard work here and for sharing your knowledge and experience with all of us!
~Marsha-N
I have used all sorts of inclusions in the clay but never thought of using the scrunched up petals. Very nice effect! Thanks!
~Pat-F
Thanks a lot, Cindy! It’s a great new idea for me. I’ve heard about adding different things to clay but never thought of flowers. It could be very symbolic. ~Svetlana-R
Cindy. I tried the inclusion beads a long time ago but my beads ended up dark and ugly so I haven’t tried since.
~Elizabeth-S
Hi! My name is Leila, I’m a German polymer clay addict living in Italy. The tips on this web site are always awesome! Wanted to share my personal experience with dried flowers with you all, last years Valentines day my husband gave me some beautyful dark red roses, as I wanted to keep them with me, I thought about drying them and them work them into polymer clay. XO. ~Leila-B
What a great idea! What a nice way to preserve a memory. ~Denby
I so appreciate the Polymer Clay Beginners course and your weekly tutorials. It seems I spend all my time playing with clay. A relative had shown me a flower petal bead last summer and when I lost my dad Dec. 10, 2009, I really began to think about making petal beads and after going online and finding your web site and course available, just had to take it. Experimented with crushed dried flower petals and the polymer clay and have made bracelets for my two sisters, mother, and myself; also matching earrings. They loved them. For the bracelets I added Swarovski lead crystal beads and 14k gold plated corrugated beads. One had sterling silver corrugated beads and Swarovski lead crystal beads. These gifts meant so much to them and also to me. We had a wonderful dad and miss him so much. What a precious way to have keepsakes. Thank you Cindy. ~Teresa-B
Me too! Can’t wait for the Fridays to come. And I finally finished something!! I actually made beads into jewelry. I made memory beads out of my aunts funeral flowers. She passed away in September. Then I made bracelets for her daughters and grandaughters. I promised myself to get them done before the new year. As I said before my New Years resolution is to clay more instead of just watching what everyone else is doing. Like the others, this blog and Cindy’s lessons are what makes getting up early everyday worthwhile! Happy New Year to everyone. Stay safe and be healthy! Happy New Year, Cindy! ~Maureen-G
I am so glad I found this site. My oldest son recently passed away and someone had given me a bracelet and earrings made out of his flowers. I love them and where them just about everywhere. A friend of mine is wanting a bracelet for her daughter made out of the bridal flowers. I was looking for a website of someone locally that made them. I may now consider doing this myself. Thank you. ~Marie-K
Hi Cindy. My daughter is disabled due to surviving brain cancer and paralysis on her right side. By the grace of God, she survived a diagnosis of less than a year to live, and that was almost 19 yrs. ago. She is currently in college studying Horticulture. She thought she wanted to grow veggies and sell them at our family health food store. Instead, she found a love for flowers. She wants to create a business along side of ours that gives back. The thought of taking flower petals from a happy/sad occasion and preserving them into beads fits her thoughts to a “tea”! The name of her business will be: “Simply Blessed”. She plans to hire other special needs people to work with her and wants their motto to be: “Special gifts hand-made by special people”. She is working on a Business Plan as part of her business class this semester. May God bless you for sharing this awesome art! ~Leanne-T
Cindy, when my father-in law passed away we were given memorial bracelets made with the dried rose petals from his funeral spray. The beads were a brilliant red. Do you have a video for making colorful flower petal beads? Most of the examples I have seen on the net are black or dark brown. I would love to find out how to make colorful flower petal beads for others who have lost loved ones. Thank you in advance for all of your help. ~Sally-W
Cindy… Thanks SO MUCH for the wonderful idea of the “loved one” beads. My Dad recently died and that is such a heart-warming thought to be able to have him around ALWAYS… thanks once again. ~Angie-R
As some of you might remember, it was back in May 2010 that my dear sweet Uncle Glen lost his 11 year battle with Prostate Cancer. Knowing that I would like to commemorate his life with some keepsake jewelry pieces, I asked my Aunt to save and dry some of the flower petals from his memorial service.
The beads, pendants and buttons I have been making with these flowers, will be given to my Aunt so that they can be shared with her friends and other family members. It is our way of holding onto a man we all loved so much… just a little bit longer.
Coming up tomorrow (Friday, March 4th, 2011) in Vol-034-1 video at the Polymer Clay Library, I will show you a bit about what I’ve been doing with my Uncle’s memorial flowers… so that you can also learn techniques for creating your own custom Rose Petal Beads to commemorate an important event in your life.
Please Note: A general prerequisite for all of my weekly tutorials is that you have a good understanding of the polymer clay basics, including: conditioning clay, using a pasta machine, clay blade and other simple tools, making Skinner Blends or Teardrop Blends, baking clay, as well as sanding and finishing. If you need help in these areas, my Polymer Clay Beginners Course will get you up to speed quickly. There is also plenty of free information on this blog. Use the search box at the top of the page to find articles on specific topics.
Supplies & Tools: Video-034-1 Rose Petal Beads:
- Dried Rose Petals or any Dried Flower Petals of your choice. You won’t need that many. A single Rose will make many Rose Petal Beads.
- Polymer Clay. 1 block each of Ecru, White Translucent (aka Frost) and Pearl Premo Clay, plus a small amount of colored clay in colors that match your flower colors.
- Coffee Grinder. Optional but extremely handy.
- Food Processor dedicated to clay use only. Optional but extremely handy as well. As an alternative, you could use a clay blade for chopping the clay.
- Pasta Machine. Optional. Clay can be mixed by hand.
- Knowledge of general bead making skills. In this tutorial I will just be demonstrating how to create the special Rose Petal Clay, and not the actual making of the beads. If you need to learn how to shape, bake, sand and finish the beads, it is recommended that you take my Polymer Clay Beginners Course, as stated above.
The full version of the Vid-034-1 Rose Petal Beads video will be posted in the Polymer Clay Members Library on Friday Mar 4th, 2011. But if you would like to see a sneak peek intro clip right now, scroll down the page a bit to the video player below.
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Here’s That “Link Below” Referred To at End of the Video
>> Polymer Clay Tutorials <<
The full version of the “Rose Petal Beads” preview video shown above, is now available for purchase at the Polymer Clay Library in the Volume-034 Back Issue Package.
Customer Feedback About Membership Value:
Hi Cindy, I love your videos, they help so much. I have learned so many new things thanks to you … I truly appreciate the help you give and the videos are well worth the price and then some! I am eagerly waiting for the tute on the flower petals. Love, hugs, and warmest aloha. Mahalo. ~Norieta-K
…someone thinks $9.95 for three months is a rip off??? My goodness. For what I have learned from these videos, I would pay that every month. ~Kathy-B
Cindy I love your Aurora Technique! You’re so creative… it’s incredible how you continue to come up with such amazing things. Then you turn them into videos, making them super-easy to do. It’s quite a feat — you make a new video each week! After all this time, I’m still amazed at how you do it! You put out quality video tutes every week for such a low price. So I wonder… why isn’t EVERY polymer clay user a member? Seriously… why NOT? The cost is next-to-nothing, yet you get these amazing tutorials! (and recipes, and more…) They’re beautifully filmed, with close-ups, so you can easily see what’s happening. The sound is perfect, and Cindy’s fantastic instruction…it’s practiced and thought-out, so that even “tricky” processes become easy to follow. After a year of membership, I believe more than ever — Cindy Lietz is the best Polymer Clay Tutor! This latest “Aurora Technique” is simply more proof of her innovative ways, and how she shares them for just pennies. Let’s spread the word, guys! ~Phaedrakat
The following topics are included in this week’s Polymer Clay Tutor Library, Rose Petal Beads video tutorial:
- See examples of several custom color variations of Rose Petal and other Flower Petal clay as well as samples of beads, pendants and buttons created with the clay.
- Discussion of the tools and clay needed to create your own artistic and professional looking polymer clay rose petal beads and memorial jewelry.
- Learn about how to get that perfect custom colored clay to match any flower petals you may have.
- And of course, tips on how to adjust your secret formula to get exactly the look you want!
The full version of the “Rose Petal Beads” preview video shown above, is now available for purchase at the Polymer Clay Library in the Volume-034 Back Issue Package.
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I love inclusion beads! Very cool. Is this how you made your pretty Delphinium beads?
Thanks everyone! I am pleased that you are looking forward to this tutorial. With Spring and Summer approaching, don’t forget to save flowers from your gardens if you have them. They will be perfect for these kinds of beads!
@Silverleaf: Yes they Delphinium Bead Earrings were made using this very technique. Good eye!
These are wonderful, both in beauty and meaning, and I can’t wait to learn how to create these beautiful colors. In the past, my only attempts at making inclusion beads resulted in colors that I didn’t think were very pretty and so I haven’t tried again, Thus, I missed many opportunities to create memorial beads for friends and family. As always, I can’t wait to learn the Cindy way of doing this technique.
This is a wonderful way to show your love ! A gift that keeps on giving.
I am anxiously waiting for the full tute. My experience with the rose petals was like Elizabeth’s – not pretty. This will make up for that in a huge way. Thanks for thinking out side the box :O
Those were so pretty….. Like the others my attempts were less than stellar.Can’t wait to see how you derive at including the petals and getting beautiful beads.
I have some dried leaves from my Kato-paletted poinsettia that I could try this with. I don’t have a clay-dedicated coffee grinder or food processor at the moment… but I guess I’ll find out whether it’s time to change that or not!
What a fantastic idea! You’re not just a brilliant clayer but you have these amazing insights, such as how all sorts of things can be incorporated into clay for precious memorials. I’m hoping you’ll cover Steampunk sometime soon, showing how watch parts can be used on clay pendants etc. That would also be a wonderful memorial, in my case of my late mother. Her watch is beyond repair but I could still wear parts of it, on polymer clay! Meanwhile, just a few more hours to wait!
Just in time! I have a few dried dark red roses saved up from this gorgeous valentines day bouquet. I wanted to try making some rose beads. I made beads with yellow and orange rose petals and some glitter (flower inclusion technique) I would have preferred to see more yellow or orange in the bead. The beads were a beige color with yellow and orange flecks – quite nice looking too.
Cindy you have outdone yourself again. I can’t wait to try these. Why is there never enough time to play with our clay…boo hoo. I work full time, plus I have my own jewelry design business, plus a 14 month old grandson on weekends who I adore. Your videos should come with free Starbuck’s coffee so we all have enough caffeine in us to play through the night while keeping company with one or more of your awesome videos.
Well I am not a coffee drinker but I do agree the two of you have once again outdone yourselves.. Beautiful colors on the beads and the pendants are totally awesome. I can’t wait for some spring flowers to pop up so I can try this with some bright and cheerful colors. Love this tute and definitely Love you style of teaching
Many Uuuuuggggs, Peggy Thank you both so very much for all the good you
have done for all of us.
This is a technique that I have not tried as yet, except for adding some sage to a green mix for faux jade, BUT THANKS TO YOU BOTH, it will be on my “todo” list this weekend, as I have flowers saved from both my son’s weddings and their anniversaries coming up. Once again, you have saved the day!!!
This was neat! The food processor was quick! This is something I’ll be looking for when I hit the garage sales and estate sales this summer, if it ever gets here!! Just wondering how you dry pedals and still keep their color? I’ve done it on accident but would like a good process that is consistant.
@Catalina: Check out Rite Aid, some of the stores sell small appliances, I just brought mine there, I got it on sale but the base price was 19.99. Now all I need to do is get out to a store and buy the blue and translucent clays and I’m set to go on my Lapis and Turquoise experiments.
Thanks everyone! I look forward to seeing your rose petal beads and hearing the stories behind them!
@Maria: I usually use a baby wipe or a piece of paper towel with rubbing alcohol on it, to clean my clay dedicated food processor. As far as cleaning the blade, you can remove it from the bowl and wipe the blades down with the paper towel or wipe as well. If you are worried about cutting your hands on the blades, you could wear gloves while cleaning them.
@Catalina: You probably missed it, but there has been several places where drying flowers has been discussed on the blog. If you type ‘microwave flowers’ into the search box, you will find articles and comments where this process has been explained. You may need to use the Ctrl-F feature in your browser to locate the info in the comments, but there is lots there. Hope that helps!
@Karon C: Sure you can use potpourri Karon! You just need to use the soft petals and not the hard crunchy bits like pine cones and such, which of course would not grind up very well. That is so cool about your success! That is exactly what I like to hear. As far as buffing, I do buff most things. It really looks fabulous. Why are you afraid to try it? You can’t hurt your bead if you buff lightly and don’t press too hard. There is a tutorial on buffing if you need it. Click the link by my name to go there.
@Cindy Lietz from Buffing Polymer Clay Beads: Thanks Cindy! That’s what I do now, except for the glove idea -I will try that next time…
This video was more like a cooking lesson – but, as always, a lot of fun.
I have a clay dedicated food processor, but don’t use it much because it seems like such a chore to clean up after wards. (Especially if you use a dark clay and then want to go to a translucent, for example) What is an easy way to clean the machine and the very sharp blades? I’ve used baby wipes on the bowl, but feel like I am always risking my “artist’s” fingers cleaning the sharp knives.
@Maria: How about reserving a lump of scrap/”for cleaning purposes” translucent clay, and whizzing that in the clay-dedicated food processor when switching from a dark colour to a light/translucent colour?
That approach works pretty well for pasta machines — roll scrap white/translucent through it a few times after the dark colour, and before the light colour — and when the “for cleaning purposes” clay becomes too dirty you can use it for bead cores or anything else you’d use other scrap clay for.
@Maria: Maria, I grab a variety of food processors at tag sales, Salvation Army, etc. Some I get free. LOL!!!
Love the Black and Decker Coffee/Spice grinder for small loads, wipe it first with baby oil and find I can clean it without cutting myself on the blades.
The big ones are all Scoville/Hamilton Beach Dual Speed Food Processors. Why? I started out with one, loved it and look for more all the time. Happy if I can just find the replacement plastic part. The same technique as above but if I am having a bad hands day. I take out the metal blade portion and let just the metal soak in an alcohol bath to take off the gunk…and try to remember to only use cotton swabs to clean it.
How many total….refuse to answer, but, I line them up on a bookshelf with them all plugged into a multi-strip power surger, and dedicate ones to white, transparent, red, and the rest of the colors. Just like my pasta machines. LOL!!!
For the plastic bowl, alcohol and paper towels take care of it fine. I’ll use a single sided blade if I need to scrape off the gooooies.
I hope my roses hurry up and bloom -they are destined for beads LOL
Hi
I just watched the video on making rose pedal beads. My daughter has been married for 10 years and still has the dried flowers from her wedding. I can’t wait to make her a special necklace using them…what a great keepsake that will make! Thank you so much for coming up with this idea.
Natalie
Wow again!!! I would never have thought of using what you did for the colors. This was super!! [trying not to give away secrets…] Thanks you two.
Andrea [in will Spring ever get here in western NY?]
I also live in western NY (Rochester)
@Elly Moore: I’m in Newfane north of Lockport. howdy neighbor !
great idea….love it!
Cindy, Love the idea and just wondered if popurri (spelled incorrectly sorry) would work as a first attempt. I recently moved and my dried flowers did not.
And a side note, remember I told you I made my first cane from Premo the other day? well I baked it with its imperfections because it is a reminder of what I did wrong and it was a first. it is important to see progress!
And went through all the steps of sanding it. What a beautiful finish I got with just the sanding. Wish all my attempts before had looked as wonderful as this sad little pillow bead came out! It is beautiful and glossy and feels like glass. I have not buffed it yet, I am a little frightened that it will (I will) ruin my pretty little wonderful messed up bead. Do you always buff? I sound like I have never done clay. You have opened up a whole new world with the difference being astounding. I am Not even ashamed of this sad little bead. I love you for that feeling.
Thanks ever so much.
Karonkay
Well, I sacrificed a coffee grinder, but not a food processor!
I experimented (what else? :D) with a range of bases and have a different mix that I like best so far, but I need to try a few other colours out. I also used regular clay for the bead cores to try to maximise the bead strength.
I’m glad the video got me off my bottom and actually using the leaves I’d dried… I hadn’t played with natural inclusions before.
The International Polymer Clay retreat Registration is now open. I just registered. Hope others from this site will attend. It is July 13-17 in Bloomingdale Illinois. The Metal Clay retreat will be at the same location and dates.
Just wanted to chip in with an idea I heard about cleaning out coffee grinders – apparently whizzing up some uncooked rice works really well. I haven’t tried this yet, but I’ll have a go later and let you know how it works.
You really don’t want bits of petal in your coffee (even if they are edible and pesticide/herbicide free they may not taste nice).
I have a coffee grinder and a mini chopper. I should be able to use the mini chopper for smaller quantities. I’m making some rose beads at the moment but can’t wait to try this video.
Hi Cindy,
I have been using petals from dried flowers for some time in my stone beads. I also found out that ‘flash frozen dried leaves’ also work well as inclusions. Here in Arizona we had a flash frost a few weeks ago and many of the leaves from the bougainvillea froze right on the branches. As some of them fell, I walked on them and heard them ‘crush’ under my feet. They were of two colours, a beige and a deep rich green almost black. It occurred to me that, hey, this just might wor in clay.
Now, when I want a real ‘organic’ feel to my stones, I just crunch up a few of the curled up leaves in my hand and add them to the mix for stones and it works wonderfully.
And it at least saves a part of the memories of the bush. I know the leaves freeze differently back home (Winterpeg) but in the meantime I am going to use these while I am down here.
Thanks for the flower petal tute.
Pat
hola cindy vivo en santa marta Colombia y estoy interesada en los videos, ya que quiero iniciarme en el mundo de polimerclay, aca en mi ciudad no se consique la arcilla polimerica, yo hago bisuteria y me
gustaria hacer mis propia cuentas y colgantes para que puedan ser exclusivos,he leido los comentarios acerca de ti y me parecen excelentes. Por favor escribeme a mi correo y enviame la cuenta a donde yo pueda consignar porque no tengo tarjeta de credito.
esos tutoriales me los envias correo electronico ?
Te felicito por esas cosas tan maravillosas que haces
Espero me des una pronta respuesta
gracias
Agradezco tu atencion y espero pronta respuesta
@emilia: Glad to hear you are excited about the videos :-)
For situations like yours where you don’t have a credit card, I have included an option for using Paypal. The link by my name will take you directly to the PayPal sign up form.
I have never used polymer clay . I bought the video for making rose petal beads. How do you make the whole in the bead…..do you bake the polymer. Does it shrink at all while baking or do yoou air dry.
I thought this info would be included in the video…..
Thanks for any and all answers.
@Pam Barnes: Welcome to the community! It’s great to see that you have decided to get started with polymer clay :-)
Please note that a general prerequisite for all of my weekly tutorials is that you have a good understanding of the polymer clay basics, including: conditioning clay, using a pasta machine, clay blade and other simple tools, making Skinner Blends or Teardrop Blends, baking clay, as well as sanding and finishing. If you need help in these areas, my Polymer Clay Beginners Course (See link by my name) will get you up to speed quickly. There is also plenty of free information on this blog. Use the search box at the top of the page to find articles on specific topics.
If you would like to know what others are saying about
the course, I’ve posted some feedback at this link:
Polymer Clay Beginners Course – Feedback
Again… Welcome to you Pam. Your exciting polymer clay journey has just begun :-) :-)
Hi Cindy. Thanks for your reply.
I have been making rose petal beads from just the mush of rose petals simmered on the stove top. They turn out wonderful and the smell is amazing. It is just so much work and it takes forever…… the drying takes weeks.
I found your website after a google search. I love your method of adding the dried roses to the clay. I got so excited I thought I could start making them right away…. I will get myself some clay and buy the beginners workshop and explore what tools I need to create the beads right.
I’ve pressed flowers for years and so many dried petals…. I am excited to start my journey into polymer clay.
Thanks again for your help,
Pam Barnes
Wonderful Pam! I’m excited for you :-)
Hi Cindy–once again, a few questions.
From your experience, wouldn’t it work the same if you mixed all the clay (including the color to match the flowers) all at once and then add in the flowers? Also, do you really need those base colors at all?
What happens if you just use the color you like and the flowers (maybe with some translucent as well)?
I don’t have a coffee grinder or a food processor (don’t cook much!)–is there another way to grind the flowers?
As you may have guessed, I am a PC beginner and therefore have many questions. I cannot do much testing due to arthritic hands, so I am hoping you will forgive my insatiable desire to know more so that I can “go for it” with the ability I have.
Thanks for you help.
Hi Petrina, You could definitely pre-mix the colors if you like… whatever works best for you. With the base colors, no you don’t have to use those colors, I just use them because they show the petals off really well, and suit the faded flowers, but you can of course experiment with whatever color combos you like. Since you do have hand issues and don’t have the strength to do a lot of experimenting, you may want to go with my tried and true color mixes, but that is certainly up to you. In regards to grinding the flowers, that can be done by hand with a knife, but there again, since it may be hard on your hands, you may want to consider picking up a cheap coffee grinder somewhere, if you are doing many batches of flowers. Good luck!
Cindy,
I am delighted to see others are making beads the traditional way. I blend the petals with a touch of water and then cook it down in a crockpot and let it mature naturally refrigerated before rolling. It sometimes takes many weeks to reach the right consistency. Unfortunately, I ended up with a massive amount of rose paste this time….. more than could ever be rolled and I don’t want it to mold or go bad. Should I seal it airtight and refrigerate it or should I seal and freeze the extra paste? What are your thoughts this is a new one for me!
Thank you!
Thank you Sari for your tips on making flower petal beads the traditional way. This post is about adding flower petals to polymer clay however, so I am not familiar with what to do with the traditional flower paste and therefore can not offer any helpful advice. Sorry about that!
Do you seal the polymer clay & flower beads after you are done baking them before string?
Hi Linda, I’m sorry, I missed your comment. Yes, you should seal your beads after baking and before stringing. You can heat-set the finish if you like by popping your sealed beads back into the oven for ten minutes or so at the same temp you baked your beads. Always let the finish dry first before heat-setting though, or you may get bubbles in your finish.