Polymer clay beads ... experimenting at home

The topic for the class this week will be polymer clay beads. So with the Fimo having arrived and lots of tutorials on "You Tube", particularly those from "The Crafts I couldn't resist having a play.

Polymer Clay Beads

Materials and Tools:   Polymer clay (I'm using Fimo ), Sharp knife, Baking tray, Oven

Polymer clay comes in blocks. Cut off a piece to use and wrap the remainder of the block in plastic bag or other airtight container.   Work the piece by kneading and rolling. The purpose of this is to make the clay more pliable, easier to work with and eliminate air bubbles.

I'm going to leave any discussion on patterns until after the class. This was just having a go and I limited myself to two colours (ochre and turquoise). I made a check pattern by layering the colours then cut into cubes which I rounded into beads, and pierced a hole. As the colours became more mixed there was more marbling and I tried a couple of different shapes. 

The clay is baked (according to instructions) at a relatively low temperature (110 degrees C) for about half an hour. 

All tools used for polymer clay are no longer fit for food use so the baking tray needs to be covered in tin foil or made exclusive for non-food use.