Well, I tried glitter beads yesterday in preparing for my upcoming demo. I am so excited about how they turned out!
I used a pink flesh clay (Fimo Classic) and mixed five different ultra-fine glitters in a baggy. Then it is simply a act of shake and bake. I did put the holes in the beads before I shook them. I have put on two light coats of a spray varnish and plan on doing a coat of a liquid (either Triple Thick by Decoart or Varathane). I can’t wait to play with different colors of clay as well as different glitters.
I wanted to try one of the new texture sheets that I got. I also had some foils that I haven’t played with. I combined the two on a simple oval made out of pearl blue clay. This is what I ended up with.
I really like this texture sheet. It is not overly busy but has a nice flow to it. I really like the foil that I used. Put it all together and you have a very simple barrette that would go with almost any outfit and any occasion.
I have come up with three techniques that I want to Demo. I am going to do “shaving cream beads”, “glitter beads” and a simple Mokume Gane.
The shaving cream beads are very fun to do and extremely easy. I am going to do different colors then the browns and reds that I used following the book, Bead Techniques by Linda Peterson. They are not in the color scheme that I like. I had great fun making the beads, in fact I learned the smash and rock method from the book and now can make a bunch more shapes easily. It is also fun to play in the shaving cream! (I had to but some of the foam type since all we have in the house in gel). I can’t wait to color more shaving cream with my alcohol inks! I have many things I want to try using this technique.
The glitter beads are from a book by Marie Segal. You simply make the beads and then shake them a bag of glitter. (You want to make sure that your glitter will be okay will the oven and not melt.) I really like the idea. I will be doing some with a mixture of glitter colors and maybe even some Pearl-Ex powders.
The Makume Gane technique is always fun and easy but with stunning results.
I have been asked to do a demo on working with Polymer Clay at the upcoming yarn and bead festival at work. I work at an AC Moore craft store.
This weekend I will be going through some of my books for ideas on what I can demo that is fun and easy. (I was told that I had to “dumb” my stuff down, since I was so advanced. This be a none crafter and with very little knowledge of polymer clay. Once I find things to demo I get to play with the techniques so that I can demo them with out looking at the books.
I am sure that I will end up with many beads to play with and turn in to beautiful things. I am also hoping that I can adapt the techniques to make barrettes.
I better get off to the clay room and get working. I don’t want to show up at the Demo with no finished projects but just a bunch of beads. I do want people to see what you can do with the beads.
In one of the lots of clay that I bought off of e-bay there was this wonderful sheet of clay that looked very much like an animal print.
I cut a large piece out of it and turned it into a barrette. I am very pleased with the look. I am sure that I can come close to reproducing the “print” or making something close so that I will be accenting other barrettes with it. I also think that it would make some great looking beads.
Looking closely at the sheet, I am sure that it was made with transparent, gold and black clays. I am also thinking of trying different colors to create different animal prints.