HOW TO USE BEAD ROLLER

This is the way I measure the amount of clay to make beads. It is easier and faster than using the measuring device that comes with the packages

First. a Tri Bead Roller, of course. Second the clay of your choice. Third, a set of circle cutter from Wilton. You can get it at the local craft store in the cake decoration section. It is about $3.oo. We will use the smallest cutter.

Next roll out the sheet of clay at 2nd thickness on the pasta machine. I use Imperia Pasta machine. Keep in mind that different pasta machine has different setting.

Fold the sheet in half, use a roller to press the sheet together.

With the small circle cutter, cut out a piece of clay, roll it to a round shape, then roll it in the bead roller. You should get the perfect, or near perfect shape of beads as shown.

I also use this clay unit for bigger bead roller set. Some require 2 or 3 units. You might need to adjust the thickness accordingly, or find other shape of cutter that will get the same result as mine. The circle cutter I use is 1.5 cm. Diameter.

The BUBBLE Beads - Tutorial
1 Black sheet at the thinnest setting on PM.
1 Green sheet at the thinnest setting on PM.
2 Red sheets at the thickest setting.
1 homemade texture plate.

Put Red on top of Red and green on top of Black. Run black-green sheet through thinnest setting.

Trim black-green sheet, then lay on top of red. With the roller, press it down. Make sure there is no bubble between the sheets.



Lay the whole sheet on top of texture plate, Black side down. Press firmly using thumb and index finger. (Note: Lightly coat the plate with Baby Powder for easy release. Also you can lift up the corner and peek to see if you have enough indentation on the sheet. Be gentle!)




Carefully peel the sheet off the texture plate and trim the side. I put it on the piece of acrylic so I can turn it around while working with it. With the thin Blade, carefully shave off the bubble one by one. Save the cut-off for the later use. (Be sure to handle them gently because we are going to use all of them later)







Carefully and carefully shave off the black bubbles!

Now that you shave off all the black bubbles , stick some of the left over pieces to the sheet to fill up the gap. Isn't it prrrrretty? Use the roller to smooth them out.

Roll the finished sheet over the base bead.

Carefully hide the seam by using the end knitting needle to blend the black clay together until it smooth. You can use any tool you want, but the knitting needle works for me. Patch the seam with the cut-out pieces. Roll the piece back and forth until it is smooth, then put the end cap on.

Roll out the small base beads, stick the cut out pieces on the beads. There, you have it, matching beads with your pendants.

Poke the holes and bake. They look a lot nicer after sanding and polishing.

Try it.

Have fun. :)

MOGUME GANE TUTORIAL

MOGUME GANE - Step#1

Roll out several sheets of different colors, cut them into 1"x2" pieces.

MOGUME GANE - Step#2
Roll each piece at the thinnest setting on the pasta machine, stack them and press lightly with the roller.

MOGUME GANE -Step#3
Roll the whole sheet through the pasta machine at the second thinness setting, cut it in half. You can make another piece using the reverse color. Do not roll it at the thinnest setting because the colors will blend into each other.

MOGUME GANE - Step#4

MOGUME GANE - Step#5
Place the Pink log at one end, roll it tightly until it turns into a log.

MOGUME GANE - Step#6
With a sharp blade, slide off small pieces of clay.

MOGUME GANE - Step#7

MOGUME GANE - Step#8
Slide off at random patterns. Keep those small pieces so you can make beads later.

MOGUME GANE - Step#9
Push both ends in with your fingers and roll the log until it becomes a round, smooth surface again. Keep sliding off more thin sheets. You can slide it off at the same place or just randomly slide it. You will never get the same pattern.

MOGUME GANE - Step#10
After pushing, rolling and sliding for about 3 times.

MOGUME GANE - Step#10

After pushing, rolling and sliding for about 10 times, this is what it looks like. The more you slide, the more rings of color you get.

At this point I would roll it to the shape that I like, poke a hole,bake, sand and buff. Well, you know all the routines.

BUMPY BEADS TUTORIAL
BUMPY BEADS-STEP#1

You will need: several black beads 12mm., Jelly Roll cane of your choice, with black clay on the outside, knitting needle, texture tool. I covered the handle of bead reamer with double stick tape (the orange kind) and covered it with the Micro Beads. Roll the cane until it gets about 3mm in diameter, then slide it to about 1mm thick pieces. Do not slide them too thin.

BUMPY BEADS -STEP#2

Stick the black bead on to the knitting needle, with the texture tool, roll it on the surface of the beads as shown. No salt is needed. You know, usually you roll the bead onto the salt to texture it, bake and then wash off the salt.

You can also texture the bead by rolling it onto the sand paper. I prefer the random pattern I get from my microbeads tool.

BUMPY BEADS-STEP#3

Texture the whole surface of the black bead.

BUMPY BEADS-STEP#4

Stick the jelly roll slides on to the black beads.

BUMPY BEADS-STEP#5

Lightly press all the slides onto the beads, bake and enjoy. Yum-yum.

Here's how to make rings

This is how I make my rings. I used 16 gauge silvered wire. Wrapping it around ring mandrel, or what ever you can find around the house, 3 times. The wire is quite soft and easy to bend. You can use Sterling silver wire if you want. It probably looks better but a lot more expensive. Curl both ends up and tie the top part with smaller gauge wire. Roll a thumb size ball from Black clay and push it down to the ring. With a pea-size ball of clay, cover the back of the ring. Smooth and reshape the ball. Let the clay sit for a while to firm up. Decorated it with what ever you want. Have fun!

EVERGREEN KISSING BALL TUTORIAL
These are my latest Holiday Beads (12-02-06). It looks like evergreen Kissing Balls to me. Just a new twist from my previous Christmas beads.