This pendant is one of the final projects in which I incorporated the lava beads detailed below. My inspiration for this tutorial came from Ponsawan Sila’s lava bead tutorial here. I have mentioned her blog before. She has some wonderful polymer clay beads and free tuts. Here is how I made mine (click to enlarge)…
Ponsawan mentions using acrylic paint after the beads are baked for color and shine. Hers look cool done that way. I love the bronze color I mixed, so I didn’t go that route. I did spray the cured pieces with varathane by Rustoleum. Be careful when finishing clay pieces. Some finishes will react with the clay and cause the piece to soften months down the road. There are tried and tested finishes that can be used. Future Floor Finish is a good one, and it is cheap. I prefer sprays, and the Rustoleum has been tested to at least a year out with good results. The shine it imparts is brilliant. It is my favorite!
Some more lava bead pics from this project…
