![\"Cane](\"http:\/\/www.beadsandbeading.com\/images\/blog\/2009-02\/18-cane-slice-flower-bead-2009-02-14-030.jpg\")
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How To Make Your Handmade Bead Jewelry Items Even More Desirable: It’s only natural that springtime and flower jewelry designs go hand in hand. So it goes without saying that flower-shaped polymer clay beads should be popular at<\/span> the time of year when all of those beautiful colors start popping up in your garden.<\/span><\/p>\n Flower shapes and colors are probably my biggest source of inspiration when it comes to polymer clay. Being an avid gardener, I am always exposed to the rich vibrant beauty of nature and the world that surrounds us.<\/span><\/p>\n As a polymer clay instructor, one of my main focuses is to teach you how to make polymer clay beads that will give your jewelry projects that special, one-of-a-kind uniqueness to set you apart from everyone else. In other words… how to make your jewelry designs more desirable to your customers.<\/span><\/p>\n So today, I’m going to talk about flower beads, handmade by you. This is about as unique as you can get. Although there are some pretty flower shaped beads to be found at various beading outlets, they often are not going to be in the colors or designs that you are looking for. When you need something specific, I always say make it yourself from polymer clay. It’s easier than you might be thinking. The cane slice bead pictured above is very easy to make. At only 1\/4″ in diameter, it is much smaller than the last polymer clay flower bead<\/a> I showed you and wrote about a couple of weeks ago. But similar to that previous flower shaped bead design, this one is also made with a single slice from a polymer clay flower cane.<\/span><\/p>\n Wearing gloves so as not to transfer any fingerprints to the polymer clay, the slice is pinched and thinned around the edges and drawn over the rounded end of a artist’s paintbrush to form the basic flower shape.<\/span><\/p>\n Once the paintbrush handle is removed, the bead is pierced through the center onto a bead piercing wire, and shaped a little more prior to baking.<\/span><\/p>\n You can pierce several of these flower shaped beads onto the same piercing wire. Then lay them down onto a bed of cornstarch<\/a>. Gently fill the inner cavity of each flower with the soft cornstarch, while also sprinkling more over top so that everything is completely buried. Now they are ready for baking in your polymer clay or toaster oven<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The cornstarch prevents the delicate petals from drooping in heat of the oven. Plus it provides added protection from discoloration that can happen.<\/span><\/p>\n The beads are baked for 1 hour at 265F degrees and left to cool before removing from the cornstarch. You can rinse off the beads with water if you like.<\/span><\/p>\n Although sanding is difficult with these small delicate flower beads, it is a good idea to use a high grit sandpaper just around the edges of the petals to give them a smooth, snag free feel. An 800 grit wet-dry sandpaper<\/a> works well for this.<\/span><\/p>\n These pretty beads can be made with any flower cane design you like, though if the cane has a translucent clay background, you may want to trim some of it off for a prettier edge.<\/span><\/p>\n I like to use these tiny blossom beads for dangling earrings, charms and focal beads.<\/span><\/p>\n So why not add a little bit of spring to your jewelry designs and make some polymer clay flower beads from your favorite polymer clay cane today!<\/span><\/p>\n
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![\"Cindy](\"http:\/\/www.beadsandbeading.com\/images\/blog\/cindy-sig.jpg\")
![\"Polymer](\"http:\/\/www.beadsandbeading.com\/images\/blog\/polymer-clay-tutor.jpg\")
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