Polymer clay art: adorable image transfer COIN BEAD!

Make polymer clay art jewelry with me! Here's a great idea for a beautiful coin bead using image transfer and a texture mat with an exquisite pattern

And here is my opinion on image transfer media and which one is the best:    • { Laser Image Transfer}🤔I tested 4 IM...  

And if you have the heart of an artist and you want to reach your full potential, I recommend you to read my friend Antreina Stone's book on how to leave behind the Starving Artist myth and embrace your artistic gifts and express them and yes, prosper in all ways while doing this! (I am not an affiliate, just someone that truly resonated with her message and I sincerely think that more creative people need to hear her message)

Here is my favorite quote from her book:
"To grow from a starving artist to an artist who's nurtured and fed, you must prepare for the harvest. You must be prepared to love, sow, prune, plant, grow, nurture, plow, attend, expand, put in hard labor, sweat, pain, create, push, persevere, pray, adapt, choose, plan, seek counsel and
transform by renewing your mind and the remission of your sins." (Are You a Starving Artist? Who's An Artist? Everyone! by Antreina Stone )

(And my personal interpretation of the "sins" would be: self-doubt, looking for external validation, looking outside for an answer that can only be found within).

Are You a Starving Artist? Who's An Artist? Everyone! by Antreina Stone
https://www.amazon.com/Are-Starving-A...

Hello dear polymer clay enthusiast!

This is one of my favorite clay tutorials. And I decided to shorten it and keep it concise and interesting. And really think that this is a great inspiration for making beautiful beads with an interesting shape. And yes, you can use image transfer and make a stunning look bead / pendant/focal piece.

I'm using a classic Chinese tiger ink drawing. I’m using an image from Rawpixel, that is free for commercial and personal purposes (still there are some limitations to the usage of this Royalty Free image. https://www.rawpixel.com/image/581465...

I’ve used Canva to make variations of this image in several sizes (flipping horizontally the initial image for earring designs) and I printed the resulting image on my Laser Printer.

When using this technique for image transfer, it is highly recommended to work with Laser printed images. Here is my opinion on the best transfer media for image transfer if you like to embellish your clay designs with beautiful images:

I also used a beautiful texture (with an Asian wavy design) that I particularly like. And I used it to texture a sheet of clay that I used to decorate part of the front of the bead and also to decorate the back of the bead.

I also used some Venetian Gold Acrylic paint to accentuate the beautiful details of this texture plate.

I baked the piece on a soda can wrapped in fabric (in order to avoid a glass-like look on the back of the piece) for a slightly curved effect.

In order to protect the image transfer, I applied UV resin on top (and I cured the resin with a UV lamp for one minute). I even applied two consecutive coats. You could use glossy varnish or matt varnish to protect the transfer.

Here is the complete material list:
White polymer clay
Image from Rawpixel.com https://www.rawpixel.com/image/581465...
A recipient with water
Round cutter
Small square cutter
Wavy texture plate
Venetian gold acrylic paint and a brush
Gold mica powder
Liquid clay
Smoothing tools, blades, oven, pasta machine, roller, craft knife
UV resin and a UV lamp
Brush
Gloves, baby wipes

Happy claying!
Mihaela

Time stamps
00:00 Intro
00:16 Preparing the image to transfer
00:31 Making the image transfer
01:36 Preparing the textured sheet
01:45 Texturing the clay
02:02 Putting together the layers
02:07 Cutting out the shape
02:24 Adding gold accents
02:42 Cutting out the opening in the center
02:59 Baking instructions
03:40 Applying UV resin and curing it
04:01 Second coat of UV resin and curing it
04:27 Applying gold acrylic paint
04:46 Outro