Mini creoles with polymer clay beads for beginners

Cut some dough with your blade. You don't need to take much dough (about 1 quarter loaf if you opt for the assortment), otherwise about 1 or 2 bars of a loaf of classic dough.

Condition the dough by first heating it between your hands, then flattening it several times with your rolling pin. Make sure to remove any air bubbles that may have formed.

This step applies every time you work with a piece of dough for the first time.

Stripes

Using your pastry machine (or your rolling pin) and your dough pieces (the height of your choice), prepare your different colors in smooth sheets of identical thickness.

Lay them on top of each other for the first time, then cut the sheet in half again to lay them on top of each other once more. Continue creating a mille feuille with your coloured sheets until you have the desired number of stripes.

Cut the edges for a neat result, and play with the plate to either create tube beads or cut strips to create a flat striped pattern. You can then punch out shapes and pierce them with a needle (or post-fire hand chuck).

Marble

Repeat step 1 to prepare your dough, then form colombins (strands) of each of your solid colors. Twist them together to form a single colombin, which you can then fold over itself several times.

Stretch this colombin to a diameter that will allow you to cut tube beads and pierce them, or, as in the previous step, create a plate with the same shape as the colombin.Create a plate with a marbled pattern by gathering pieces of colombin next to each other before flattening them with your roller. Use cookie cutters to create shapes and pierce them before setting them aside for baking.

Cane

Using the pre-conditioned dough (step 1), form different-diameter colombins and cut them into sections, juxtaposing them (randomly or in a pattern).ons so as to juxtapose them side by side (randomly or in a pattern). Use your fingers to reduce the cane to the ideal pattern size. You can also cut the cane down the middle and stick the piece next to the first if you want to multiply the pattern.

Then have fun with the cane, creating a plate with the pattern to create cookie-cutter shapes.

Once your picèes have been pierced with a needle, place them in a conventional oven. If you have one dedicated to polymer baking, this is preferable; otherwise, be sure to clean your household oven thoroughly before the next use.

Be sure to read the supplier's instructions on the dough sachet (generally 110°C for 30 minutes) and place your pieces in the oven. Leave them to cool on removal from the oven, to allow them to harden (they are still malleable when hot).

If necessary, lightly sand your pieces to remove any excess dough left on the edges by the cookie cutter, using very fine sandpaper (800 or 1000 grit).

Then move on to assembling your parts. If you haven't drilled holes in your pieces before firing, you can still do so using a hand chuck or a Dremel-type electric drill.

For mounting, depending on the earring brackets you've chosen (creoles, sleepers, studs, etc.), use your pliers and open rings. If you need to make loops and pass through a tube bead, for example, use flat-headed, ball-headed or round-headed studs (metal pins) and form a loop at the other end using one-step looper pliers.