From March 2015

Translucent Polymer Clay Hollow Bead Experiments – Part 4: Translucent Liquid Sculpey

Cornstarch and baking soda beads covered with Translucent Liquid Sculpey
Cornstarch and baking soda beads covered with Translucent Liquid Sculpey

Sad to say, the photo above is the best one to come out of the session where I tried to create translucent hollow beads with Translucent Liquid Sculpey (TLS).

I had read (where exactly escapes me now) about a polymer clay artist getting better translucent effects by painting liquid Sculpey. There wasn’t any further information than that, so out come all of the supplies.

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Translucent Polymer Clay Hollow Bead Experiments – Part 3: Return of the Cornstarch

Cornstarch and baking soda bead cores for polymer clay
Cornstarch and baking soda bead cores for polymer clay

After crossing paper off the list as a useful hollow bead core material, and realizing there was a crucial piece missing from an option I had come across earlier, it was time to take a second look at cornstarch as a contender.

I found a recipe for the traditional cornstarch and baking soda “play clay” of childhood. I remembered it as being heavy and cracking a lot when trying to make Christmas ornaments years ago. With any luck, neither of those factors should be an issue for this purpose.

What I’m looking for in my dream bead core is the ability to dissolve quickly and easily, so the bead won’t take forever to transform from filled to hollow.

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