A handmade polymer clay bead kit and matching tin. Makes a great gift. Adults and teens alike will love this project. The best part is-the jewelry can be worn in the pool--Way Cool!!

Making the Bead Baking Tray
Roll Scrap Clay through the pasta machine on the widest setting, #1 setting. Lay on glass. With glass marble or other rounded object, make indentations with a circular motion. With soft brush, dust with baby powder and bake. Let cool. Baby powder does not need to be reapplied unless you notice beads sticking. You now have a great way to bake round beads that stay round. Use again and again.

Preparing the Tin
If there is a thumb indention in tin, cover with a pinch of clay and bake with tray.

Making the Canes
Working with polymer clay in warmer temperatures may make slicing the canes somewhat difficult. Lay completed canes on a cookie sheet covered with freezer paper over a freezer ice pack. Canes may sweat. Just dab with a paper towel or soft cloth. You may also place completed canes in freezer for 15 minutes. When cool, canes will be easily cut and crisper.

Petals
Make a triangle shape, about 2” long, from 1/4 package of Atomic Orange.

Mix marble sized pieces of Atomic Orange and Lemon Yellow to make Yellow Orange. Roll the yellow orange through pasta machine, on the medium setting, usually #4. Wrap around triangle. Slice 1/2 way through end with Super Slicer.

Roll 1/4 package white through pasta machine on the medium setting usually the #4 setting. Insert white strip into the slice you made above; then wrap triangle with white.

Reduce by pulling and stretching, not rolling.Start in center, pressing and stretching slowly.

Cut into 3 equal pieces, lay side by side. Roll white sheet over Atomic Orange snake, reduce and cut into 3 pieces. Place little dot canes between each petal cane. Cut assembly in half.

 

Center Cane
Roll a white sheet of clay made on the medium setting (#4 setting) of pasta machine over a 3” snake made from 1/8 package of Red Hot Red. Reduce covered snake to 7” long. Cut into 7 pieces. Arrange 5 around center roll.

With leftover snake, reduce and cut into 5 smaller snakes. Arrange in between the first five.

Flower Cane
Cut center to a little larger than petal canes. Arrange the two, three petal canes around the center.

Fill spaces in between petals with white snakes. Roll gently, cut into three parts, reduce to three different sizes.

 

Leaf Cane
Roll Lime (1 – ½ sections out of 4) through the pasta machine on the widest setting, #1 setting

Roll White Premo through the pasta machine on a medium setting, #4, cut into 2” x 2 1/2" rectangles, stacking colors alternately.

With Super Slicer, cut through stack, corner to corner, making two triangle halves.

Smoosh into teardrop shape.

With two white sheets of clay rolled through pasta machine on the medium setting (#4) in the middle, place teardrop shapes together and cover cane with white sheet.

Reduce as above, by pinching and pulling, cut into three canes and reduce to three sizes.

Little Flower Cane
Roll snakes of Red Hot Red, Lime and Yellow Orange and cover with sheets of Lemon rolled through the pasta machine on the medium setting (#4).

Reduce Yellow Orange and Green snakes into 5 pieces each.

Arrange around Red Hot Red center as shown.

Wrap in a sheet of white rolled through the pasta machine on the medium setting (#4). Reduce this cane.

When all canes have "set" or chilled, slice 1/2 of each cane into slices about 1/8" thick.

NOTE: If you use rubber gloves when handling canes and applying sheet clay, you will not leave fingerprints. Just make sure they fit properly--tight over your fingers. This is my best secret to a smooth finish without sanding.

Bead Kit with matching tin continued on Page 2