Tutorial – African Beads From Polymer Clay

Welcome to my tutorial on how to make African style beads in polymer clay

After searching for a stamp to make patterns in my clay beads & being unable to find any in the designs I required I sat down for a coffee & thought ‘why not make my own?’ So it is a little experimental but a lot cheaper & you are welcome to share this project too. The design possibilities are endless – floral, fairy tale, celtic you name it! Also experiment with colours too – blues & purples with silver/pearl paints for example.

What You Will Need - 

• Polymer clay e.g. Fimo, Sculpey, etc in earth tones plus large piece of scrap clay
• Plain tile for working & baking
• Acrylic roller/ Pasta machine
• Craft knife
• Ruler
• Paper & pencil
• Hand held multi tool (e.g. Dremel) engraving attachments or fine engravers
• Darning/tapestry needle
• Acrylic paint in earth tones
• Small pieces of sponge
• Matt/gloss polymer clay varnish 

 

What To Do -

Step 1

 

 

 

Get a reasonable sized piece of scrap clay, preferably in one colour as it makes it easier to see pattern later. Set up you tile & work space ready for some funky beads!

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2

 

 

 

Condition (knead) clay until well mixed & workable. Roll out on tile until aprox 3-6 mm depending on how deep you wish your pattern to be. You can remove any air bubbles by pricking them with a pin.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3

  

 

 

At this point you can cut your clay to make it all nice & neat – not essential but your more than welcome to be fussy about these things  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4

 

 

 

Bake! – always according to the instructions on the packet & keep area well ventilated too. While your clay is getting toasty warm find books, mags & fire up google images to search for inspiration!

 

 

 

 

 

Step 5

 

Think of a general theme you wish to work on & get some reference. I wanted to work on some beads for my ‘Out of Africa’ project, with a focus on the rustic, earthy tones & textures I wanted these to look very handmade not perfect & polished (well a bit ‘wonky’ really).

Doodle ’til your hearts content – I find it helps even if I change my mind by the next stage!

 

 

 

Step 6

 

 

 

Draw the designs you have decided upon on to the cooled, baked clay. I find a soft pencil works better & doesn’t dig into the clay while drawing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 7

 

 

Search high & low for where ever it is that you put the Dremel once found use the engraving attachment to etch in your detail. You can always do this by hand using fine engraving tools though a Dremel is much quicker. Make sure you etch quite deep as you need your pattern to stand out.

 

 

 

Step 8

 

 

Give your stamper a good wash in warm soapy water & dry thoroughly. Make balls out of the ‘best’ clay & roll them up your new pattern stamp! Make your holes using a darning/tapestry needle. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 9  

 

 

 

Bake your newly made beads according to the packets instrutions. Pop kettle on while your waiting… mines a coffee, strong, milk but no sugar ta xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 10

 

 

OOOooo messy time! When your beads have cooled get your acrylic paints ready, I have used a mix of burnt sienna & burnt umber to get the  colour I desired. Very lightly dab your paint onto the bead with one sponge & rub it gently off the raised detail with a clean sponge. Apply a coat of polymer clay varnish to your bead & your done…

 

 

 

Finished bead…

    

 

Here it is!

Thanks for reading & I would love to here your comments/suggestions & to know what you have done with this technique x x x