Handmade Polymer Clay Beads

I purchased one year of Bead Magazines iMag last week and it's been like christmas to be honest :D
Not only do I get to read the issues that are getting released this year, but I can even browser back and read ALL the previous issues as well! So awesome! :D

*cough* Anyway.
I read one of their back issues and saw this great article about polymer clay beads and how to keep their shape so they won't have that annoying flat edge they normally get if you just put them on the surface you stuff in the oven with the clay. Corn flour, was the answer! I decided to create two different types of polymer clay beads and then fill the plate I put 'em in with the corn flour. And heck, it worked! Now I have perfectly rounded beads :)

The first 6 beads I made are aprox. 14mm and I sat and slowly and carefully carved out the decoration pattern I wanted on 'em. When these were baked and had cooled down and hardened I added some acrylic silver color on them, which I smeared out, so it would fill the uneven parts, and the holes in the beads. I then wiped off the color with a napkin until the only thing of the color that remained was in those gaps and holes.

For my second type of beads, I actually used some left over clay from the bigger focal polymer clay bead I created by using a carving technique. I first made a cane of a base color, and then I used two other colors to layer them around it. I then carved away clay here and there so I would get all the way into the other color layers, to make them appear to the eye. I then shaped it into a cylinder and made a hole.
The smaller beads made with the left over clay are aprox 10mm, and the only thing I did with these was to measure them into equal sizes, using eye measurement and then roll them into balls.

I used varnished on all the piece from FIMO when I was satisfied with them, after they had cooled down and hardened :)