PENDANT 101

Many have asked me to show how I made my pendant. Hidden Magic or what ever you want to call it, here's how.

I was using Barbara McGuire's rubber stamp sheet as usual. I always get the best result because the stamp has deep groove, perfect for this technique.
I hope it is clear and easy enough for you to try and make your own.
I will finish the necklace and will post on my other blog www.silastones.blogspot.com
Enjoy.

Now the question about the copper mesh sheet. My pendant is quite big and flat, sometime i can bend it after baking so I was afraid that it might snap. (Bend& Snap; you get it, right) So I put the copper mesh in between as a reinforcement for the pendant. Any thin mesh sheet will do. I just have copper mesh . Also the Fun wire is good for reinforce the part that sticking out or a loop. Fun wire is the flexible wire covered with plastic, so it bake right into the clay.

Another mistakes that I made were sometime, after covered the color sheet with black clay, I cannot tell which side was the front side , or with the round pendant, I cannot tell which way the skinner blend was going. A small mark on the black clay would not hurt.

Instead of Skinner blend sheet, you can put layers of clay instead, so you will get Mokume gane effect on your pendant. Look up our French clayers, they have different way to play with this technique. And you, yes you, don't be afraid to try something new, something different and don't forget to share. :)

One more thing. Before you start shaving the raised parts, let the pendant sit for a while after stamping. It will be easier to cut if you let the clay firm up a bit, or put it in the fridge for a while if you cannot wait that long. I kept my studio cool, because, as a woman with Menopause, I always feel warm and I have cold hand (with warm heart, of course).

The Skinner blend sheet has been through the Pasta machine at the thickest setting. My PM thickest might be thicker than most. I am using Imperia PM, that's why put 2 sheets together to make sure I have enough clay to shave off. Run Black and White sheet seperately through the thinnest setting, then put them together and run back through PM again. Depend on what kind of PM you are using, you might try to run them through the secon thinnest setting.

HOW TO MAKE A NECKLACE

Polymer clay beads - using 5 colors clay

STEP #1 Roll balls of clay in different color. I use Gold will be use for accent color only because it is so soft.

Step #2 With pasta machine, roll a sheet of Black, cut it in half. Roll a sheet of White, then put it between 2 sheets of Black, press down lightly. Cut thin slides from the stack, wrap the ribbon around the beads.

Step #3 Cut some of the Black&White ribbon into small pieces, stick them on the beads, in pattern or randomly. Roll each ball lightly to press the ribbon or small pieces down.

STEP #4 Make a small snake of clay, cut into tiny little pieces, roll them into small little balls and flatten them with your fingernail. Stick that flat circle on to the ball. Like so.

STEP #5 See how many different way you can use those Black&White ribbons, and the tiny polka dots.

STEP #6 Add more details with tiny dots and tiny snake of Gold or contrast color. For example, put white dot on black dot. Like so.

I press the beads down lightly in the picture.

Here are one of the finished bracelet. I strung the beads on the stretchy cord with a copper spacer beads.

I wonder how many different beads I can make for just using 5 color clay. What do you think? Up to the challenge, anyone?

SKINNER BLEND GANE
Here is a twist from Dominique's extruded clay technique. Roll out the skinner blend jellyroll until it was about 5 mm in Dia. Cut in to 4-5 pieces, lay them next to each other, with a brayer, press down lightly until it flat.
With a stamp sheet of your choice, stamp on the clay, make sure you get a good, deep impression. With the thin blade, slice off the relief portions to reveal the colors underneath. Isn't that surprisingly pretty?
Don't forget the keep the scrap clay and make the matching beads for your pieces. Enjoy ;-)

LAVA BEADS

I mixed the caramel color clay with some gold and a little bit of glitter. Roll it into a ball. Push as many rock salt pieces (Morton-ice cream salt) into the ball. Textured with my favorite texture tools. Baked and put them in the water until all the salt get dissolved.
I dabbed the Burnt Amber oil paint on the surface of the beads to make it look darker and shinny. That's it, really. They look really cool.

HOW TO MAKE A FRAME FOR THAT THING

You probably have a piece of clay that is small but so pretty and you don't know what to do with it. Why not bake a piece, put a frame around it and turn it into a pendant. All we need are 2 sheets of clay, running through the thickest setting on PM and that special piece of clay just like I have here..

Lay the design piece, face down, on top of the small sheet of black clay. With the blade or an x-acto knife, cut around the piece. Carefully lift both pieces up.

Trim the top part of the frame to the thickness you want. This is important because this top part can not be adjust later. The other three sides are adjustable and can be trimmed for smaller or larger size or even the different shape.

Lay the second piece of Black clay on top of the frame, press lightly then carefully flip it over.

Put the design sheet back in the frame, press it down and adjust the side accordingly.

Trim the sides and the bottom as shown.

Turn the pendant around so you can work on the top part. Trim the side of the top as shown, then cut the very top part in angle. With knitting needle as a guide, roll up the strip until it touch the edge, press down lightly or glue them together with TLS.

Here's the finished pendants. You can lift the design sheet off and dab some TLS on the backing and then bake. You can also add the texture to the frame and baked. Then use Rub&Buff to make it looks like Metal frame, or regular sand and buff will do.
Remember you can trim the sides and the bottom part , so you can cut them into curves, poke a hole or 2 or 3 so you can dangle some more beads. Embellish it as will. :)

This is how I make my , "Cherry Blossom" texture plates. Roll a sheet of clay at the thickest setting om the Pasta machine, Fold in half. I like red because it is easy for me to keep my texture plates together in one pile. :) Trim to the size you want. This one is about 2"x3".

The tools I use are the Leather texture tools. I borrowed them from my friend and never returned them. So I put them to the good uses. (Be careful if you ever lend me something, I even dog-sitting for my friend and did not return the dog to her.) Also I use Ball point stylus, knitting needle, screw driver, and what ever I can find around my table that looks interesting. LOL :0

Make a sketch to see where the arrengement is going to look like. At this point I put the clay on a square ceramic tile so I can move it around.Stamp the big flowers first, keep the distance between those flowers by following the sketch.
Stamp the big flowers first, keep the distance between those flowers by following the sketch.
Keep adding more details with those tools and stylus.
I roll the Micro Beads pen over the top to give it a nice texture.
It's look pretty good at this point.

Just trim the edge and baked.

Now, if you don't want to make it yourself, Just email me. I sell them for $8.00 and each one is different. :) Some lucky people already have their. Thank you, guys. You can make a nice pendant with it. Just split it with water and put the sheet of clay on the top, press it down with your finger, then carefully lift the clay up. I used Metalic powder on the pendant.

Happy claying.

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. :)