Vol-022 Mar’2010 Back Issues Now Posted in Polymer Clay Library

Polymer Clay Video Tutorials Volume 22

Video Tutorials:
Glowing Jellyroll
Cane; Polymer Clay
Buttons; Faux Opals;
Silver Spoon Bail:

With another month gone by, the Volume-022 Back Issue Videos have just been uploaded to the Polymer Clay Library, right on schedule. If you missed your chance to see these tutes as they were released each Friday during the month of March, now’s your chance to add them to your collection as a convenient bundled package.

Today’s photo shows thumbnail images for the 4 videos included in this package:

Video-022-1 Psychedelic 60’s Cane: This funky cane is my twist on the popular Rainbow Jellyroll Cane. It is the way cooler cousin to this cane for a few reasons. First it glows in the dark! Second, it is done using alcohol inks and a super easy, yet extremely awesome blending technique, which gives the cane a unique painterly look. And thirdly, It glows in the dark!

Video-022-2 Polymer Clay Buttons: Whether you sew, knit, crochet, scrapbook, or make jewelry with them, polymer clay buttons make for one of a kind projects! Because they need to be durable and professional looking, there are a few easy tricks you can learn about making them. I know you are going to enjoy the prospects of being able to make your own cool custom polymer clay buttons.

Video-022-3 Faux Opals: This is one of those techniques that has drawn people into working with polymer clay in the first place. People look at the faux opals and say, “You made that with polymer clay? It looks so real!” I am not the first to make opals from polymer clay, but I do have a few unique twists on the technique that you are going to enjoy!

Video-022-4 Silver Spoon Bail: Making polymer clay beads and pendants leads to making polymer clay jewelry, which in turn leads to needing great looking findings. What could be better than bails and pendants made with real vintage silver spoons and cutlery? You can even give your jewelry extra meaning by using silverware from the family set or a precious baby spoon keepsake.

Rocks and Minerals Polymer Clay Color Palette

Also included in this Volume-022 back issue package is the A-Series recipe cards from the Rocks and Minerals Color Palette.

To read feedback from members who have already benefited from the videos and recipes in this Vol-022 back issue package, click here: Glowing Jellyroll Cane | Polymer Clay Buttons | Faux Opals | Silver Spoon Bail

And, Sneak Peak Preview Clips are available for viewing here: Polymer Clay Tutorials [Videos]

If anyone else would like to add a review for any of the videos or color recipes in Volume-022, I would love to hear from you. Or if you have not yet purchased this back issue and have a question, ask away. In either case, use the comments section below.

Cindy Lietz SignaturePolymer Clay Tutor


  1. Phaedrakat, 04 April, 2010

    Great month of tutorials, Cindy! Hope you had a Happy Easter! Everyone else, I wish the same for you! :~)

  2. Sara Baer, 05 April, 2010

    Way back when, my mom had a method of taking flowers from a funeral or wedding and make them into beads. This Palm Sunday, my first baby was still born and we have a bunch of flowers from her funeral that I would like to preserve by making rosary beads. Is there a technique where the primary color/concentration of the bead is made from the flower petals as opposed to the clay? Perhaps a translucent clay? I’m trying to find the best way to make durable, simple, yet lovely beads for everyday use. It’s probable that you have included this info in your course already. :) I thought I would double check before purchasing. Thanks so much. Sara Baer

  3. Phaedrakat, 06 April, 2010

    @Sara Baer: Sara, I am so sorry for your loss! This subject has come up before, sometimes people want to make the flower beads themselves, other times they want someone else to do it for them. If you would like someone else to make beads or jewelry from your flowers, leave a message saying so at this article: Polymer Clay Jewelry Made with Several Styles of Flower Petal Beads

    Artists willing to make this Memorial jewelry for you will leave a comment telling you how you can reach them.

    If you are interested in creating your own beads, there’s quite a bit of information here at the blog. Read the article, and follow the 6 links to other articles that all deal with flower inclusion beads, rosary beads, etc. There’s also a video tutorial showing how to create these Keepsake Beads using translucent clay and the flowers. You can find lots of information by using the search box on the upper left of each page. You can type in things like “keepsake jewelry” “rosary beads” “memorial beads” “flower inclusions” etc., and get a list of articles that will give you information about using the flowers to make beads. I’ll go ahead and list a few of the articles here, but if you need to look for additional info, you’ll know how to do it…: )

    > 4 Tips for Making Flower Keepsake Beads
    > Memorial Jewelry – Polymer Clay Rose Petal Beads
    > Rose Petal Rosary Beads – The Difference
    > Handmade Jewelry – Polymer Clay Rose Beads

    Good luck with this! Please leave another comment if you have more questions, or if you need more info about how to work with polymer clay. There’s info here at the blog on nearly every subject, plus videos and even a special Fundamentals Course for Polymer Clay Beginners or anyone who wants to make sure they know how to do the basics without making mistakes. Cindy’s videos are amazing, so if you haven’t already done, join the newsletter to get 3 free videos and color recipes. Then, you’ll probably want to become a member, to get the weekly video lessons, which comes out to $3.32 a month. Or, the Polymer Clay Basics Course… (the links for all of these are at the top of this page as well.)

  4. Cindy Lietz, 06 April, 2010

    @Sara Baer: Sara, I would like to echo the kind words of Carolyn and Phaedrakat and say how sorry I am that you have had to go through such a loss. May time and the love of others, heal your pain.

    Making keepsake beads is a wonderful thing to do with the flowers. Everything both Carolyn and Phaedrakat said about making them is correct. The videos will help you to make beautiful beads with your flowers.

    The color and type of flower used can make a difference to how the color turns out. Once you’ve added your petals like I show you in the video, you can add tiny amounts of colored clay or alcohol ink to adjust the color if you wish.

    If you are set on creating a specific color of bead with your flowers make sure to make a few test beads first before using up all your flowers.

    Make sure to ask any questions you have here and we will all do our best to help.

    Take care of yourself. ~ Cindy

  5. ChristineK, 06 April, 2010

    @Sara Baer:
    Dear Sara,
    God bless you and your family. I hope you find comfort in supporting each other with this loss, and knowing that your sweet child is in the arms of our Father.

    Here is a recipe for rose rosary beads on the website for Embellishments Inc. (thebeadsite.com/bmm-rose.htm). I’ve also seen this same recipe in old beading books.

    The recipes I’ve seen recommend using fragrant dark red rose petals.

    Over several hours, simmer clean dry “organic” rose petals (grown without insectides or other chemicals) in water to cover in an iron skillet. The iron skillet makes a rose mixture a pretty dark color (avoiding muddy colors).

    The rose petals will break down into a very soft mass, or puree. This is strained, then the beads formed, about 1″ around. Beads will become much smaller as they dry. Poke a toothpick completely through each bead, then set upright on a piece of styrofoam or florist clay. Turn the toothpick within each bead to prevent beads from sticking to it as the beads dry.

    The hole in the bead for stringing is formed by waiting until beads are still moist enough to enlarge the hole around the toothpick, but dry enough so that the bead doesn’t lose its shape.

    The directions from Embellishments don’t mention how to finish the beads when completely dried and hard. A vintage bead book recommends applying a little petroleum jelly (Vaseline) then rubbing with a velvet cloth (or other very soft cloth) gives the beads a little shine. I’m sure more specific directions are available on one of those websites in the Google search.

    These beads retain some of the rose fragrance and are very pleasant to wear. The vintage book includes instructions on how to make a Rosary with these rose beads.

    What a lovely way to honor your baby.

  6. carolyn, 06 April, 2010

    @ChristineK: Is this the recipe for air dry clay or oven bake?

  7. Cindy Lietz, 06 April, 2010

    @ChristineK: Thanks for the information you provided about creating rose petal rosary beads. That reference outlines how to make them using what I call “traditional” methods.

    But there are a few problems when it comes to making ‘traditional’ rosary beads. I did an article about this a while ago (see link by my name).

    The cooked kind of rosary beads that you are talking about take an enormous amount of petals, take hours to cook, smell bad while cooking and often turn black or dark brown. The more modern rose petal beads made with polymer clay, take very little time, just a few petals, don’t smell bad and are much prettier because you can see the lovely petals.

    To read more about traditional rosary beads vs polymer clay rose petal beads, click the link by my name.

  8. carolyn, 05 April, 2010

    Oh, Sara, my heart goes out to you. The pain you feel must be all but unbearable. May God grant you peace in the midst of the turmoil. You might not believe it now, but time does help the pain to ease. It may never go away, but it does ease up.

    About the beads, I have found that the flower petals themselves do tend to somewhat color the translucent clay. These are made with translucent clay. One tip that I would have is to make sure that the petals are close to the surface of the beads. I made some from a rose and I can barely see bits of the petals. Also, I guess you shouldn’t make the bits of dried petals too small. Which reminds me, make sure the petals are dried, or the moisture could do funny things when you bake.

  9. Sue Gerard, 11 April, 2010

    Hi Cindy,

    I just wanted to tell you that I LOVE the Polymer Clay Basics Course and the library videos. They are great! Have learned so much. You make it easy to understand. The videos show you Exactly what to do and your explanations are wonderful. I am starting my own business; and this has truly inspired me to do so many things I never thought possible. I will continue with you for a long time to come! Thanks so much for sharing your gifts and talents with others. It is a true blessing.

    Sue Gerard

  10. Cindy Lietz, 11 April, 2010

    Hi Sue,

    Thank you so much for taking the time to write those very kind words. Sharing feedback like this really gives others great insight about what they can expect from the Beginners Course as well as the weekly library video tutorials. I truly appreciate your help.

    Very much looking forward to hearing more about how your beads and jewelry projects are coming along. Good luck with your new business venture.

  11. Nancy Candela, 17 April, 2010

    Hi Cindy – Thanks for getting back to me so quickly about the PayPal issue. I sure don’t want to miss any of your weekly library videos. I watch them all the time over and over… even the beginners series which I’ve had for at least a year. Love love love them. As the weather gets warmer we are outside more and I seem to do less crafting. But one of my favorite things to do when it’s warm is to sit in the back yard with our lap top computer and watch your videos. Take care. Nancy

  12. Cindy Lietz, 17 April, 2010

    You are very welcome Nancy. Glad I was able to help. And I am so glad to hear you are loving the tutes. Sitting out your warm sunny back yard watch polymer clay videos sounds like heaven :-)

  13. Amy, 23 April, 2010

    Hello,

    I am an amateur polymer clay bead maker. I tend to create lager projects that lend themselves to being stand-alone pendent beads. I enjoy finishing my beads and giving them as gifts. The problem I am having is that I have not learned enough about constructing necklaces, bracelets, and using findings, to hang my pendents on, nor do I have much interest in it. I was wondering if you know of a store or resource where I can purchase some fairly inexpensive and fairly simple base necklaces and bracelets to put my pendents on? I would love to have an assortment of materials like ribbon, leather, cord, etc.

    Any information you have would be great. I feel like not having an outlet to get these things has been holding me back from creating more beads.

    Thanks so much!
    Amy

  14. Phaedrakat, 28 April, 2010

    @Amy: Hi Amy, where do you live? Are you in the US, Canada, etc. Have you tried Etsy? You say you want an assortment of materials for the necklaces, but do you mean you want to buy ribbon necklaces & leather necklaces with the findings already on them? I think the best way to get a good answer is to get input from lots of people. This page is an “older” one; when you post for something like this where you want lots of people to see, it’s best to put it on a current page with lots of traffic.

    To find it, go to “Home” at the top of the page, then choose the first article. Write your comment there, and it’s more likely to be noticed. Don’t forget to “subscribe” to the post by putting a checkmark before you submit your comment so that you get an email when someone replies. You can even copy your comment & repost it to the new page, just make sure you add where you live, so that you’ll get better answers about shops! Good luck, and Happy Claying (sounds like you’re loving that part of it!)

  15. Cindy Lietz, 28 April, 2010

    @Amy: Phaedrakat is right, it is good to get this kind of advice from lots of people since there are many options for this type of thing.

    I just got a newsletter from rings-things.com and they are having a 20% Off sale on their ready made steel chokers. They also have a large selection of ready made necklaces for stringing on pendant and such that you may want to check out. Another place to look is firemountaingems.com which also has a large selection of ready made chains and neckwires.

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