Premo! White Half Moon Bracelet

Getting StartedPolymer clay may stain. CLAY MAY DAMAGE UNPROTECTED FURNITURE OR FINISHED SURFACES. DO NOT USE polymer clay on unprotected surfaces. We recommend working on the Sculpey clay mat, wax paper, metal baking sheet, or disposable foil. Start with clean hands and work surface area. Knead clay until soft and smooth. For best results, clean your hands in between colors. Shape clay, pressing pieces together firmly. Bake on oven-proof glass or metal surface at 275°F (130 °C) for 30 minutes per ¼" (6 mm) thickness. For best baking results, use an oven thermometer. DO NOT USE MICROWAVE OVEN. DO NOT EXCEED THE ABOVE TEMPERATURE OR RECOMMENDED BAKING TIME. Wash hands after use. Baking should be completed by an adult.Begin by preheating oven to 275 °F (130 °C). Test temperature with oven thermometer for perfectly cured clay. For best results, condition all clay by running it through the Clay Conditioning Machine for several passes on the widest setting. Fold the clay in half after each pass and insert the fold side into the rollers first.

Conditioning all your clay: 1 ½ blocks of white, 1 block of Periwinkle, ½ block of Wisteria, and ½ block of Wasabi and ½ block Spanish Olive mixed together! Roll all your clay out at the 2nd thickest setting of your Clay Conditioning Machine.

At first we will make the pattern for the pattern for the bracelet sections: Place your sheet of white clay on the sheet of deli paper and cut out shapes of white clay and replace them with the same size shapes of the three colors Periwinkle, Wisteria and the mixed light green in a random fashion. Use your needle tool if needed.

Once you have covered the whole white sheet with different sizes and shapes and you are happy with the resulting pattern! Now cover the top of your sheet with half of your deli paper (or a second sheet) and rub it with the flat side of your bonefolder in circular movements. Do that on both sides of your patterned clay sheet until the clay pieces have connected.

Your sheet should now look similar to this.

Use one of the round cutters to cut out pieces of the patterned sheet you like. I used the second biggest size of the cutters. You will need enough pieces to go aroundyour arm. I first cut out 6 pieces only to discover I will need 7, so it is better to have one or two extra pieces!

Cut one side of each round piece to make them into a kind of moon shaped piece. I used my cutter and traced with a pencil around it, cut the pieces out and taped them over each other to find out how much I want to overlap the shape. Then I used this card stock chain to place my round clay shapes on top and know exactly where I needed to cut the small lentil shaped parts off.

Cut one lentil shaped piece off of every round clay piece. I like to cut off areas that are a little boring in the pattern (like just white pieces!).

Now place the pieces on the hollow bead make to shape them into convex little dishes. I used the biggest size of the hollow bead shapes for that.Bake them according to the directions in Step 1. Repeat with all your bead shapes!

Now fill your Extruder with a cane of well conditioned Periwinkle clay and use the half pipe shaped extruder disc with it. Press out one or better two pieces of at least 12 inch length and cut them off. These pieces need to be baked before we use them in our design.

To help the pieces stay in the extruded shape I cure them on my long bamboo skewer. I make two small clay balls, that I press my skewer on and then place the half pipe shaped piece on top. I place the skewer with the half pipe into my oven and cure everything for 30 min. at 275°F (130°C).

While the half pipes are baking in the oven I fill the cured and cooled down bead dishes with scrap clay (I used the rest of my green mixture. I just made too much and only used a little!) Fill them up to the rim and cut off the part where we cut of the lentil shape earlier. I like to press the beads down on my work surface to keep them flat. Fill all of your bead shapes with the scrap clay and try to have them as smooth as possible!

Now we cover the scrap clay with Periwinkle clay. ( From right to left) Roll out the clay on the thinnest setting that you still can manage. For me that is a number 6 setting on my machine. It might be a 5 or even 4 on your machine. Cut out a circle with the cutter we used earlier to cut out the bead shapes and place it on top of the scrap clay. Avoid trapping air bubbles and try to position it as much as possible in the middle and use the overlapping pieces to cover the rim of the white cured clay! You might have to add little pieces or cut some away. Do not forget the curve that goes up!

When you cover the white rim and cut of all the overlapping parts you will get a very thing Periwinkle colored line around your white bead shapes, that frames it. Check that it does NOT cover the white surface on top of your beads!

Cover all of your beads on the back and side with the thin Periwinkle clay sheet and texture the back with the course sanding paper to give it a little bit of texture.

Your half pipe pieces should be baked and cooled by now. Cut off two little pieces for each bead. They should be a little shorter than the beads. Place the baked pieces on top of the un-baked back of your beads.

To secure the pipes for your cord, we need to cover them with a stripe of clay. (From left to right) Roll out a sheet of clay on a number 3 setting of your clay machine. Cut a stripe that has the same width as your half pipes. Cover them with the clay stripe. Cut of pieces that are too long or hanging over the rim. Press the sheet down with your fingers or with a flexible tip tool. Use the sanding paper to texture it like the rest of the backside of the beads. Bake according to the directions above.

When the beads have cooled I like to sand them with a 400 grid sanding paper. Especially with white clay you can see every bit of dust or other color that your clay might have picked up. To make it clean and fresh again I sand the surface until I get all the dust and different color pieces off again. I wanted to have a matte finish for this bracelet, so I only used one grid of sanding paper! When I am finished with my beads I like to lay them out and play with the positionof the beads to find out which arrangement I like best. In the picture you can see my beads. When you are happy with your arrangement it is time to string your beads.

Turn your beads round and string the elastic cord through the cord pipes. Leave a good length on each side of your beads. I used three pieces of the elastic cord to ensure that it would be strong enough

Make two strong knots on each of the collected cords and tie them tight! Add a little bit of glue on top of the knots so they will be secured. Be careful not to glue your cord to your bracelet!

When the glue has dried, cut off the pieces of cord that are behind your knots. Congratulations! You have finished your new bracelet! ;-)