Index
Directory
Artist Bio of Sarajane Helm
Beads
Books
Buttons
Millefiore Canes
Classes
Dolls
Eggs
Faces
FAQ about Polymer Clay
Links
Miniatures
Molds
Mosaics
Necklaces
Paper Dolls
Ready Stamps
Storefront--Purchase from the Polyclay Gallery
Textiles
Tutorials
Rustoleum Varathane
Wall Art
Webpage Designs

Like this site?
Please give us a 
thumbs up!
 


Stumble It!

 beads made from polymer clay to record color blendsMaking beads of polymer clay can be a very simple or very complex process. If it has a hole going all the way through it that can be used for stringing, a piece can be either a pendant (meaning that it hangs) or a bead. 

Beads can be round, tubular, shaped like river rocks, shaped like lentils, bicones, cut into thin slices called "heishi" beads, large or small and any size in between. Some are shaped like animals, bugs, shells, flowers, or other natural and fantasy forms

Because the colors available in polymer clay are so intermixable, many polymer clay artists keep track of their color palettes and  mixtures by creating a bead strand, or they will keep one bead from every batch as an artistic record of their work. 

Beads can be decorated  using a variety of methods, including millefiore (meaning "thousand flowers" in Italian) adapted from Venetian glass making cane work techniques. 

millefiore canework in polymer clayJapanese girl bead made with polymer clay and a pingpong ballIn making millefiore designs, no paints are used, only colored clays or glass. Individual slices, called "murrini" are placed to build up even more detailed images. 

Other techniques include molded, stamped or impressed beads, color manipulation such as the Skinner Blend, mica shift, paint applications, reticulation, filigree, and more!

Clays can be used with metallic foils, embossing powders and inks as well other decorative inclusions. More ways of using polymer clay and techniques for incredible effects are being discovered and furthered every day by artisans around the world. 

Many different canes and other embellishments are used in a kind of clay appliqué to make our very popular Girl Beads.

 brown girl beads made of polymer clay

Japanese Girl beads made with polymer clay

a polymer clay Japanese Girl bead

We've opened a store at Etsy to sell our beads, face cabochons, and more!  
Click here to see what's available!

mehndi hand bead made of polymer clayIn the books "Create A Polymer Clay Impression" and 
"Celebrations With Polymer Clay" many  techniques for making beads are shown in detail. All it takes is lots of time, patience, and of course, some polymer clay! 

Here is  a Mehndi Hand Bead with silver wire to form a pendant loop, and silver bells. The henna-like designs are made with cane slices in the millefiore style.

The one shown here is strung on a simple leather cord, with faux coral polymer accent beads and some silver bells. Jewelry that moves and makes sounds gives an extra level of fun!


tribal tattoo hand beads made of polymer clayTattooed Hand Beads suggest tribal designs inked into permanent mementos--and these designs ARE inked, using dye inks on individually formed polymer clay hands and a huge collection of stamps developed over many years accumulation.

Designs can also be traditionally colorful-though the blue versions are my favorites, and many people seem to agree. 

We've just designed a NEW set of stamps specifically for these beads, so check back later in the year to see what's being made! 

Victorian style hand beads made of polymer clayVictorian Hand Beads are also costumed in a wide variety of period costume styles.

These are some of my favorite beads to create...and I think it shows. Playing "dress-up" with each one is a lot of fun..

From Renaissance through Victorian and on to many other modes of dress, these beads are very unique. No two are costumed exactly alike.

Many are done in faux ivory, but versions with colored costumes are also available by special order.

Hands can be used as a special dangle at the end of bead amulet bags, as single pendants, or in a grouping with other beads you've come to treasure!  

I love stringing them into necklaces, although they look great by themselves on a cord as well. I like to use them as ornaments on Holiday trees too.

All Hand Beads are pierced from side to side at the top of the arm area. And doesn't everybody need an extra hand now and then?

impressed beads made with faux ivory polymer clayhead beads made of polymer clayBonnet Head Beads are also individually costumed and made with meticulous placement of many detailed bits and pieces. 

These beads and the  Face  Pendants both make use of polymer clay face cabochons

After an original face is modeled by hand, each is cast into a RTV Silicone mold and replications are then used to create these beads--they are also for sale individually for those who want to make their own Bonnet Heads or dressed pendant pieces by adorning them with more clay and re-baking. I've also been using these faces to make central focal pieces for necklaces and to create molds for using with ceramics and glass! Polymer clay has so many versatile uses. 

beads made of polymer clay that look like ivory, cinnabar, bakelite and jadefaux cinnabar and coral beads made with polymer clay Molds created from antique buttons, architectural details like knobs and moldings, toys and textured fabrics, and even pieces of pressed or cut glass along with two part mold making silicon provides all sorts of interesting textures as do rubber stamps. Presses from these molds are also used to make beads.

Along with other faux ivory beads, the bonnet head beads are made in monochromatic tones of palest ivory to darker bone or the buttery tones of older bakelite pieces, bronze, or black. 

I like to string them in to necklaces or make them into hatpins.

Every one is hand formed and detailed, and some are baked in several different stages and then compiled into one beautiful bead. 

It is also possible to mimic many other classic bead making materials such as ebony, jade, turquoise, cinnabar and wood. Nan Roche's tutorial on making faux cinnabar inspired the bead seen above. Instead of using stain to darken the recessed areas, this technique uses a very thin sheet of black clay on thop of the red clay, and raised areas are sanded off to expose the underlying color. 

lentil shaped beads made of polymer clayblue lentil shaped beadas of polymer clayEach bead is textured and cured in an oven, then carefully  hand stained if necessary using my own  recipes of acrylic paints, mica pigments, and Rust-Oleum Varathane as a carrier medium. This gives an antiqued effect. 

There are so many techniques that can be used to decorate beads. Mica shift, textured, faux enamels and brocade effects using acrylic paints, cane work, inlay, backfilled with raw clay after baking and so many more. Beads are a great way to experiment with techniques in a small way.

Lentil Beads are a wonderfully wearable shape. They are also lots of fun to make. Some people make them over light bulbs in two sections, and some make them in one solid piece and drill them after baking. Recently some of these beads made using my favorite blue canes were featured in a decorative project for our bathroom---see how to create your own "Bauble Bath" here.

 

 

 



Copyright©1995-2010 Sarajane Helm    All rights are held by the artist
Reproduction without permission is a violation of copyright law