Polymer Clay Tutorial Faceted Beads

As we all know, many polymer clay artists stock up their supplies. However, all polymer clay becomes a bit harder over time, which makes it more difficult to condition.

This is especially true for Kato polymer clay, which is the hardest of all clays to begin with. If you happen to have some Kato clay made before 2008 (when it still contained the phthalates in its formula), then your material is extremely difficult to condition by now due to its age and formulation.

Here is the good news: for this project, you can utilize your old stock of Kato clay and you will not even need to condition it!

Tools:
a stainless steel blade;
a piece of sanding paper (grit 400 or similar);
a sewing pin;
paper towels;
a ceramic tile;
a piece of cardstock paper.

Materials:
a block of Kato polymer clay – the older this clay, the better;
Rub'n Buff wax metallic finish (I used Antique Gold for my project).

some glaze for polymer clay of your choice

Instructions:
The main trick for this project is the choice of clay. Cut open an old block of Kato clay and take a look at the surface. This is the texture that we will utilize in this project.

By the way, if your clay does not have this texture when you cut it, you can still make some nice faceted polymer clay beads by following the steps below. I'll show you one additional step at the end of this tutorial to add some texture to your beads.

First, cut the block of clay into chunks about 1" to 3/4".

You need the same number of chunks as the number of the beads you are planning to make.

Holding your blade at a sharp angle to your working surface, slice off the corner of the first chunk as shown in the picture below.

While working on your bead, hold it very gently to avoid smearing the natural clay texture and leaving any fingerprints on its surface. If possible, try holding the bead by its rims rather than by its flat faces (also called facets).

Repeat this step, cutting off small pieces of clay and shaping the bead like a crystal. Work around the bottom ridges of the chunk first, obtaining five or six facets.

Tip: When cutting the clay, form a facet at the bottom of the bead rather than a point. Please refer to the picture below for illustration. I will call this facet at the bottom of the bead a base facet.

Work on the second half of the bead, taking care not to distort the surface of the bead. Leave a second base facet on the other side of the bead, directly opposite from the one you just made.

If your bead is shaped correctly, you will be able to stand it on one base facet and have the second base facet facing you on top of the bead.

Make a hole in your bead using a sewing pin.

Here is how to do it. With the bead standing on one base facet, press the tip of the pin through the center of the top base facet.

Remove the pin before baking the bead.

To bake the beads, position them on a ceramic tile covered with a piece of cardstock paper.

Note: If the polymer clay bead is baked directly on a ceramic tile, it's surface will become smooth and shiny after baking (and that is not what we are want).

Use the temperature recommended by the clay manufacturer (300 F for Kato) and keep the beads in the oven for about an hour.

Let the beads cool down completely before handling them.

Use the sandpaper to smooth the ridges of the beads and make them more pleasant to the touch.

Do not sand the surface of the facets if you want to keep the nice texture of the old Kato clay.

Rinse and dry the beads after sanding.

Compare the ridges on these two beads. The one on the right has been sanded while the one on the left has not.

Working with one bead at a time, rub the surface of the bead with the metallic finish or paint. Use your fingertip to apply the finish. One tiny drop of the finish is enough to cover the entire bead.

If you do not like getting your hands dirty, use latex or nitrile gloves for this step.

Before the paint dries out, wipe it off with a paper towel. The idea is to leave the paint mostly in the crevices of the surface to highlight the texture.

Here is a close-up picture of a finished faceted bead made from old Kato polymer clay.

If you do not have this particular type of clay, use any other polymer clay you have, but before applying the paint, sand all facets of the bead with a piece of coarse sandpaper.

To obtain the structure shown in the next picture (parallel groves or scratches across each facet), use grit 100 or similar and move the sandpaper in one direction rather than in a circular motion as it is usually recommended while sanding the polymer clay beads.

This picture shows two faceted beads before they were painted.

The one on the left was made using the old Kato clay.

The bead on the right was made using Premo polymer clay. This second bead was sanded with a piece of coarse sandpaper to create its texture.

Here are the same beads after the textures on their surfaces were highlighted with Rub 'n Buff wax metallic finish.

Apply the glaze of your choice to each bead to protect the metallic finish. If no paint was used, no glaze is needed.

Happy claying!