Polymer Clay is an incredibly versatile medium. It is manufactured under several brand names, the most familiar being Sculpey, Premo!, and Fimo. The clay can be cured in a home oven at relatively low tempratures. There are virtually limitless possibilities for creativity with the clay, from sculpture to home items to, my personal love, jewelry and many more.

My favorite technique to use with the clay is making floral canes and beads. I am often asked if the beads are painted, so I developed a brief overview of the process used to create a cane and a bead to help explain. There are no paints or dyes used to create the beads and other items you see here on my site. Only clay is used to create the floral designs.

The clay is conditioned by rolling it through a pasta machine untill it is soft and pliable.

After selecting colors, they are blended into a Skinner Blend.

The blend is then manipulated into a short squat cane. A contrasting color is used to add veins and an outer wrap.

This short cane will become the petals of the flower. The cane is reduced and cut into the required number of pieces for petals, in this case, six.

The petals are then positioned around a smaller cane of contrasting color that will serve as the flowers center.

The space between the petals is filled or packed with translucent clay, resulting in a round cane.

The cane is then reduced again to useable size, which depends on the size of the project. Thin slices of several coordinating canes are then layered over a base bead of scrap clay and smoothed in carefully.

The bead is then shaped, and baked at 275 degrees for 30 minutes per 1/4 inch of thickness.

Once the bead has cooled, wet/dry sandpaper is used to smooth out the surface, and the bead is given a glossy sheen by buffing with a muslin wheel. The finished bead can then be strung with other coordinating beads into lovely, one of a kind, wearable art jewelry.