Creating Fimo Beads
One very popular style of today is the fimo bead. Fimo beads are made from polymer clay that is molded and baked. With the right tools and techniques, you can make a wide variety of shapes and designs for your beads that can be used for making jewelry such as bead bracelets.
Soften the polymer clay until it is warm, rubbery and moldable. This is also a good time to mix any colors together if you are trying to make a custom color or marbled effect. Make sure to work out any air bubbles. An easy way to do this is to roll your clay flat using an acrylic rolling pin.
Using your hands or a sheet of plexiglass, shape your beads. You can form them into balls, squares, pieces of multiple colors rolled together and sliced, or any other shape you can think of. You are only held back by your imagination.
Assuming you wish to string your beads, you are going to have to put holes in them. You can do this before or after you bake them. The easier method is to make the hole before you bake them. To do this, gently twist a stick back and forth into your beads. Place multiple beads on one skewer for baking and make sure they do not touch each other. Alternately, you can drill holes in your beads after baking. Drilling is more difficult, but will not distort the shape of your beads.
Next, make sure that the beads don’t touch one another, suspend the beads on skewers on a bead baking rack. If you are making holes afterwards, place the beads gently between two pieces of cardboard. Bake the beads according to the instructions for the type of polymer clay that you bought. This usually takes about 30 minutes in the oven. Once your beads have cooled, slowly take the beads off of the skewers and sand any rough spots that might have developed from making the holes. Spray them with a coat of varnish, if you want.
Is there something else you would like to learn about beads or bead bracelets? Come to Novobeads.com and check out great, American made products that are fully compatible with all major bead bracelet brands!. Unique version for reprint here: Creating Fimo Beads.
February 5, 2012 | Posted by Takara Alexis
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