Many lamp work bead artists use glass to make their beautiful bead creations but did you know that you can make gorgeous handmade beads with cold porcelain clay?
Here is a quick tutorial on how to make gorgeous handmade beads with cold porcelain clay.
First choose the colors you would like to work with. I love mixing bright colors with metallic or gold colors for a special kind of pop. First make sure to condition each color of clay properly to eliminate air bubbles and to reduce cracking. To condition your clay means to knead it or work the clay with your hands. Some people use a pasta machine to help flatten and knead the clay but only do this if the clay is firm because if the clay is very soft it may get stuck in the machine.
Next you can take a piece of clay and start rolling it into a ball. You can also take two small pieces of clay and lightly mix them together to get a color swirl. Once you’re done getting a very nice round shape you can place the ball of clay on a piece of foil to dry. Some artist may create the hold in the bead before it dries but sometimes it’s best to do it when it is half dried just to prevent distorting the bead. Once the bead is half dried and you make the hole that you want you can let it finish drying.
When it has fully dried you can sand paint or varnish the bead. You can also add embelishments to your bead to get the lamp work effect on your beads. After you’ve painted or added any thing you desire you can next varnish your bead with a waterproof varnish and or gloss and let dry. When finished not only is your bead durable but also very gorgeous and can be used to make some of the most gorgeous pieces of jewelry. If you are a professional bead maker who makes lots of beads at a time and can’t wait for cold porcelain clay to dry you can purchase a dehydrator. This will allow you to dry a large amount of beads in a faster time. you can also dry larger clay pieces in the dehydrator and leave it running overnight. It works great. The great advantage in using cold porcelain clay to make beads is that cold porcelain clay can immatate just about any kind of medium. it can look like glass, ceramic, porcelain plastic, metal and more! If you can’t afford glass lamp work beads you can make your own faux glass lamp work beads with cold porcelain clay. I sure hope this mini info tutorial helps with your many bead creation. To check out our clay and other craft items you can visit us at Stacie Laurell Crafts
STACIE LAURELL CRAFTS 