my first swirl lentil beads:D

~Candace~ wrote:

5: lock your wrists, so that your hands and forearms move as one, and, while
you apply gentle pressure with the plate to the clay, mimic the "Go Barbara,
its your birthday! Go Barbara, its your birthday!" dance!

LOL! That's one way to describe it

You want to move
your locked wrists in a small series of circles, holding tight to the glass
plate. You'll see the clay ball form a soft point in it's center, and that
is where the swirl will start to form. Varying the amount of pressure you
apply to the ball will dictate how "thick" the "fingers" of the swirl come
out.

Here's something I found - small slow circles make lentils; larger slow
circles make bicones. I also had better luck just using one hand to
hold the flat surface (a little lucite square I got from Polymer Clay
Express), but you have to stay directly over the clay - can't lean to
one side or the other or the beads come out lopsided.

Cheers,
Carla (working furiously on my new webpage!)

Carla! *hugs!* LTNS


--
~Candace~

Orphan Beads ~low cost and bartering for the financially challenged beader~
http://snipurl.com/6s4t


"Carla" wrote in message
m...
~Candace~ wrote:

5: lock your wrists, so that your hands and forearms move as one, and,
while you apply gentle pressure with the plate to the clay, mimic the "Go
Barbara, its your birthday! Go Barbara, its your birthday!" dance!

LOL! That's one way to describe it

You want to move
your locked wrists in a small series of circles, holding tight to the
glass plate. You'll see the clay ball form a soft point in it's center,
and that is where the swirl will start to form. Varying the amount of
pressure you apply to the ball will dictate how "thick" the "fingers" of
the swirl come out.

Here's something I found - small slow circles make lentils; larger slow
circles make bicones. I also had better luck just using one hand to hold
the flat surface (a little lucite square I got from Polymer Clay Express),
but you have to stay directly over the clay - can't lean to one side or
the other or the beads come out lopsided.

Cheers,
Carla (working furiously on my new webpage!)

~Candace~ wrote:
I used that same tutorial to learn how to do the swirlies, and I could not
get it to work for me either, at first.. IMNSHO, that tutorial has a lot
more wordage to it than it needs. Barbara, let me see if I can break it
down to the basic steps:

[cut]
Well, that made perfect sense to me...lol..I hope it helps you!

i agree, tutorial is bit weird, since english is not my mother tongue, i
first thought i have to make bicones with my fingers and then press them
with glass... that didnt work well

Here is an idea to keep the plate parallel with the table top... use a stack
of cards or other proper thickness item to each sideof the bead rolling
area. This should keep the plate level.

Greg
www.PurpleDragonGifts.com
www.krynen.com - forums and such


"crna_ofca" wrote in message
...
~Candace~ wrote:
I used that same tutorial to learn how to do the swirlies, and I could
not get it to work for me either, at first.. IMNSHO, that tutorial has a
lot more wordage to it than it needs. Barbara, let me see if I can break
it down to the basic steps:

[cut]
Well, that made perfect sense to me...lol..I hope it helps you!

i agree, tutorial is bit weird, since english is not my mother tongue, i
first thought i have to make bicones with my fingers and then press them
with glass... that didnt work well

Greg Krynen wrote:
Here is an idea to keep the plate parallel with the table top... use a stack
of cards or other proper thickness item to each sideof the bead rolling
area. This should keep the plate level.

that is a great idea! ill try that

Hugs backatcha! How's that new baby, btw? I didn't even get a
chance to send congrats, but I did see the cutie's pics you posted.

Yep, I've been "away from keyboard" for awhile, getting a bunch of
pieces ready to take to a local convention. Someone I know who deals in
fannish memorabilia had offered me space on her table to try and sell
some jewelry...and silly me, I decided to make all new stuff. Didn't do
"great", but had lots of fun. I probably spent more than I made, buying
beads from someone else there

Now I'm trying to get my website up and running and my computer decides
to start giving me fits. Grrr...

Cheers,
Carla

~Candace~ wrote:

Carla! *hugs!* LTNS

Thanks Iva, Candace, Carla & Greg - I'll try and give it a go this
weekend and see how it turns out.

Barb