Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Toga Beads How-to


Here's a short how-to for making what I call, for lack of a better name, toga beads. They remind me of marble "fabric" drapped on classical statues.

All you'll need is white polymer clay, a cutter, needle, black acrylic paint, paper towel and possibly some steel wool.

1. Make a ball of white clay about double the size that you want the finished bead to be.


2. Pinch and twist opposing sides of the ball making "handles" (sort of) and continue to twist until the bead has layers/twists to suit you. Less twisting will result in thick folds, more twisting results in thinner folds.




3. Carefully cut the handles off the ends of the bead.


4. Pierce, flat end to flat end, with a needle and bake standing up on one end or using a bead rack.


5. Brush with black acrylic paint, getting the paint into all the indentations, then immediately removing paint from the "high spots" with a paper towel. After the paint dries if you find you want more white showing, remove even more of the black paint with steel wool.




Black and white gives these beads a marble/toga feel but different colors of clay and paint would be fun too!



















7 comments:

  1. Thanks for your tutorial, it's such a simple technique but something I would never try on my own.

    I still have to get over my concept of beads being smooth polished and symmetrical, perhaps! Your work inspires me greatly, and I like the brain stretching I have to do to wrap my mind around it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Merci beaucoup pour cette technique de perle, qui sont très belles.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Can't wait to try these. Thanks for the tutorial. I love your work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for sharing the tutorial.
    Looking forward to more tutorials in the future. Sell some tutorials in you shop is a good idea. Give it some thought ! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. great tutorial! thanks for sharing - it also helps us get a glimpse into your process... love it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your work. How inspiring! Thank you so much for sharing your technique. I use polymer clay for my little dolls. I would love to send you one of my zines that I made. Check out my store and let me know if you want my little book on "How to Make a Doll"
    http://www.etsy.com/shop/BobbidiBoo?ref=si_shop
    Have a wonderful day,
    Katie

    ReplyDelete
  7. I saw the link to this tut on Cynthia Tinapple's pinterest page. Thank you for sharing not only this, but also your thoughts and insights. Because of you, I saw a TED video about plastics that led me to other TED videos all of which helped me with a report on environmentalism for my local Current Events Club.

    ReplyDelete