Beginner Basics Kids' Class - Marbled Bead Bracelet

My goal with this homeschool polymer clay class is to expose the kids to the versatility of polymer clay, so we're doing a wide variety of basic projects and techniques.  The second lesson will be marbled beads that can be strung to make a bracelet.

One of the things I had to figure out with this class is how to efficiently hand out the clay.  This is what I came up with:

Each of these balls is one tenth of an ounce.  I used my tiny scale to weigh each one.  (It might have been quicker to do some math and roll out blocks and cut them but for various reasons, that wasn't an option.) The bigger chunks are the scraps from last week that need to be re-weighed.  Each week, I will know exactly how much clay I want the kids to have and I can tell them to "pick 6 balls of any color" or "choose 4 black balls, 2 brown ones, and 1 green" or whatever.  It is a lot of work to prepare the balls but I got my kids to help while we watched TV and that made it go waaay faster.

So, here's this week's project:

This lesson is intended to teach the kids about marbling (and what happens if you go too far), forming basic shapes and bead piercing.

Supplies:

3 balls each of 2 colors of clay (about 1/3 ounce of each color)

stretchy cord

spacer beads

super glue

Tools:

tissue blade

needle tool

This looks like a long tutorial but it's actually really simple. I just took lots of photos.

So here's the clay:

Mash the matching balls together and roll them into short logs.

Slice up the logs.

Pull the slices apart and pile them randomly on the work surface.

Squash them together into a ball...

... and roll it into a log.

Twist the log...

... and fold it in half.

Twist again...

... and roll again.

Fold in half...

... twist, roll out, fold in half, twist...

and roll into a log one more time.  Roll it to 8 inches long and cut into 16 pieces 1/2 inch long each.

The cut ends are marbled differently than the sides.  You can leave them as is or you can hide the ends.

If you want to hide them, pinch the sides gently toward each other...

... until they touch. Press them together firmly.

Round the points.

Do the ends of all of the pieces.

Roll them all into balls.

Form the beads into shapes. We're going to do four rounds, four cubes, four ovals, and four disks,

Pierce the beads and bake. (I'm using Fimo Soft and baking at 265 degrees for 20 minutes.)

String the beads on elastic cord with spacer beads between.

Tie a tight knot.

Get someone to hold the knot tight and put a drop of superglue on it.  Trim the ends of the elastic and you're done!

Enjoy!
Korrina

Toys and Dragons

I didn't get a post up yesterday, so today you get a fun vintage toy treasury from the vintage sellers on Etsy and a gorgeous purple and green dragon collection from the artists on Artfire.

This one is a trip down memory lane - for me anyway. I played with every one of these toys at some point in my childhood. I even still have a couple of them. (Although, I admit, I was in high school when I was collecting the Star Trek action figures.)

I asked my family for theme ideas from this one and after getting suggestions like "pizza" and "necklaces" from the kids, Rock suggested "dragons." I added my own favorite colors and came up with this gorgeous collection.

Purple and Green Dragons

Curated By: KaelMijoy

ArtFire.com

Enjoy! Korrina

What I've Been Working On

I told them to look at the goodies like they wanted to eat them.

What have I been working on?  Christmas, Christmas, and more Christmas!  I made a black and pink quilt for my oldest daughter and she and I made a playhouse (a fabric thing that goes over a table and they play under it) for the two littlest girls.  The kids helped me make about 30 simple clay ornaments to give away and we all spent a day making goodies.

I made this quite a while ago but realized I still hadn't shared it.  This was my first real attempt at sculpting a rose.

This will eventually be listed in one of my shops.

I never make stuff for myself so I decided I would make me a pendant to match my favorite black and white skirt.  Um, yeah.  DON'T bake polymer clay at 400 degrees for 10 minuntes.  Unfortunately, I don't own a black and dirty brown skirt.

I wanted to try something new in a flower sculpture.  I used pink skinner blend slices for the middle two rows, lace cane slices for the next one or two and black skinner blend slices on the outside.  It's kind of unusual but I think I like it.

So there you go... which one do you like best?

Enjoy!
Korrina

Polymer Clay Tutorial: Purple Flower Cane

This cane is really easy!  It would be great for a beginner.  In fact, my 7 year old daughter is wanting to learn some flower canes- maybe I should teach her this one.

Anyway, only two colors involved and it only took be about an hour to make (including color mixing and working out the geometry of the thing).

So here it is:

Purple Flower Cane

(I really couldn't think of a more creative name for this one, sorry.)

Materials:

equal amounts purple and white clay

translucent clay for background

Tools:

pasta machine or acrylic roller

tissue blade

Directions:

Make the purple and white clay into a skinner blend, starting with the shape shown below.  For more info on making a skinner blend, see here.

Make it into a blended log with the white in the middle.

Reduce the log (see here for reducing info) and cut into 3 equal pieces.

Take one of the pieces, further reduce and cut into 4 equal logs.  Cut 3 of these in half the long way.  You will have one whole log and 6 halves.

Reshape the halves to fit around the whole.  You will need to squish the corners toward one another a little to make them narrower and give the cut sides a little curve.  Place the petals around the center.  Set aside for a minute.

Take the other two logs from the original three, cut them in half the short way (for 4 logs) and cut them into thirds the long way.  Stand the log up on your work surface and make a vertical cut straight down the cane. 

Eyeball it a little to see where the next two cuts need to be made.  Cut all four logs into thirds. You'll have 12 wedges.

Place six of the wedges in the grooves around the first row of petals.  Press them on firmly.

 Now use the remaining 6 wedges for the outer row of petals.  Use your fingers to pull and stretch each wedge to make it wider and thinner.  Place them in the grooves around the flower.

Roll out several sheets of translucent clay and wrap the flower 4 or 5 times with it.

Trim the excess background so that the cane is round and not flower-shaped.

Reduce and trim the ends to see your finished cane!

Enjoy!
Korrina