{"id":5109,"date":"2009-08-07T03:13:23","date_gmt":"2009-08-07T10:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beadsandbeading.com\/blog\/?p=5109"},"modified":"2013-04-28T11:23:48","modified_gmt":"2013-04-28T18:23:48","slug":"learning-about-faux-raku-polymer-clay-beads-and-kaleidoscope-canes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beadsandbeading.com\/blog\/learning-about-faux-raku-polymer-clay-beads-and-kaleidoscope-canes\/5109\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning About Faux Raku Polymer Clay Beads and Kaleidoscope Canes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Deep<\/p>\n

Spotlight:<\/span> “I couldn’t wait any longer before sending you some pics… so here they are with no sanding.” ~Polyanya<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The spotlight article for today features the work of Iwona (aka Polyanya). She is an international polymer clay artist<\/a> that<\/span> comes to us all the way from the Shetland Islands, situated off the northern tip of Scotland in the United Kingdon.<\/span><\/p>\n

What I like about the letter Polyanya sent along with her pictures, is that in addition to her bead making successes, she also talked about some of her frustrations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although I work very hard at helping you to avoid mistakes, there still can be a bit of a learning curve to any new technique. Especially if you substitute materials, which I always like to encourage. Sometimes it takes a few ‘swings at bat’ so to speak, before you ‘hit one out of the park’!<\/span><\/p>\n

I love Polyanya’s determination to figure out the unique properties of the clay she was using, and her ability to make some great beads in the end!<\/span><\/p>\n

Related links for this spotlight feature include: (1) Faux Raku Crackle Technique<\/a>; (2) Kaleidoscope Cane<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Here is Polyanya’s Story…<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi Cindy,<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you for your nice reply you are lovely!\u00a0 I’m not sure my beads are worthy of a ‘spotlight’ focus but I couldn’t wait any longer before sending you some pics so here they are with no sanding or anything.<\/span><\/p>\n

Raku item 1 [See Photo Above] was the ‘balls up’ (do you use that expletive in the States?) I used Kato white (I must point out that I hadn’t used the alcohol inks – still haven’t made the pear bead<\/a> either tsk tsk) but it was very tricky to gauge its curing time – it went from floppy to cracked very quickly.\u00a0 The sheet would not stick to the base layer as I tried to put it through the pasta machine, I ended up rolling quite hard with the acrylic roller. By this time I had the idea of making Jupiter Beads<\/a> as I had some hard crumbles\u00a0 by now – this really didn’t work.\u00a0 Not wanting to be beaten I tried to rescue the whole exercise by making lentil beads<\/a> – forget it! So its ended up as black and gold discs and white crackled tubes.<\/span><\/p>\n

My 2nd raku beads [See Photo Above] are called ‘New World Beads’ as they remind me of planet earth. I’m not sure how to finish these and am tempted to varnish. The last 2 Raku items [Listed as 3 and 4 in Photo Above] are made with mixing a little gold into some scrap clay, marbling and passing through the pasta machine to the thinnest setting and baking.\u00a0 This being Premo worked better with the timings and I put the sheet onto a dull green and an antique gold – I quite like this effect and it has encouraged me to explore this technique further.\u00a0 Again these haven’t been sanded or buffed and I’m not sure how to finish them if at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

As mentioned in an\u00a0 earlier blog I also made a couple of\u00a0 Kaleidoscope canes – No 1 [See left photo below] using Kato concentrates, the second [See right photo below] was a bit more disappointing as I used a mix of brands and they didn’t hold their shape very well – however, when I reduced that particular cane right down I made beads with it and I must say I’m rather pleased with them.\u00a0 These beads have been tumbled and buffed in the thing that goes round and round and round……..<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you so much for doing this Cindy I have learnt so much in the past few weeks, looking forward to more videos.<\/span><\/p>\n

~Iwona (aka Polyanya)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\"Kaleidoscope<\/td>\n\"Kaleidoscope<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As far as finishing your raku beads Polyanya, the only places you will be able to sand and polish will be the ends of the beads where there is no raku finish.\u00a0 After doing that, you can add a finish such as Studio by Sculpey Glaze<\/a> or Future Floor Finish<\/a>. I would definitely put a finish on the raku areas to protect it.<\/span><\/p>\n

You’ve done a beautiful job Polyanya! Thank you for sharing your photos and story with us!<\/span><\/p>\n

So go on everyone, share the love and let Polyanya know how you feel about her beads and canes. If you have follow up questions, I’m sure she would be happy to respond.<\/span><\/p>\n

**<\/strong><\/span> If you have been inspired by my teachings and would like to be featured in an upcoming Spotlight Article<\/span><\/strong>, then please do write up something creative and email it to me along with a selection of your project pics. Make sure to send me high resolution photos that I’ll be able to zoom in on to show the details of your work. If you don’t already have my email address, simply leave a comment below and I will get it to you right away<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cindy\"Polymer<\/p>\n

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