Tuesday, February 27, 2007

The BUBBLE Beads - Tutorial
1 Black sheet at the thinnest setting on PM.
1 Green sheet at the thinnest setting on PM.
2 Red sheets at the thickest setting.
1 homemade texture plate.

Put Red on top of Red and green on top of Black. Run black-green sheet through thinnest setting.

Trim black-green sheet, then lay on top of red. With the roller, press it down. Make sure there is no bubble between the sheets.



Lay the whole sheet on top of texture plate, Black side down. Press firmly using thumb and index finger. (Note: Lightly coat the plate with Baby Powder for easy release. Also you can lift up the corner and peek to see if you have enough indentation on the sheet. Be gentle!)




Carefully peel the sheet off the texture plate and trim the side. I put it on the piece of acrylic so I can turn it around while working with it. With the thin Blade, carefully shave off the bubble one by one. Save the cut-off for the later use. (Be sure to handle them gently because we are going to use all of them later)







Carefully and carefully shave off the black bubbles!






Now that you shave off all the black bubbles , stick some of the left over pieces to the sheet to fill up the gap. Isn't it prrrrretty? Use the roller to smooth them out.






Roll the finished sheet over the base bead.







Carefully hide the seam by using the end knitting needle to blend the black clay together until it smooth. You can use any tool you want, but the knitting needle works for me. Patch the seam with the cut-out pieces. Roll the piece back and forth until it is smooth, then put the end cap on.
Roll out the small base beads, stick the cut out pieces on the beads. There, you have it, matching beads with your pendants.








Poke the holes and bake. They look a lot nicer after sanding and polishing.
Try it.
Have fun. :)