Secrets For Rolling The Perfect Swirly Lentil Bead
Video #698: When you get this one right, I’m sure you’ll agree it is one of the most addictive polymer clay beads you can make.
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IN THIS POST: — swirly lentil — lentil beads — lentil — bead — beads — bead making — rolling beads — acrylic — block — cd case — polyform — sculpey bead making kit — sculpey souffle — swirl — we r memory keepers — canes — canework — scrap clay — extruder — extruder cane — (Topics marked with an asterisk* are discussed in the Comments Section below).
In this video, I’m going to share with you the secrets to rolling the perfect Swirly Lentil Beads from Polymer Clay.
Swirly Lentil beads are quite addictive to make… it is fun to watch the color pull up from the sides and twist into a wonderful swirl in the center.
They can be made with scrap clay, with canes or with perfectly planned sections of clay.
They are fairly easy to make, but they do take practice and there are a few tips and tricks to getting them right.
You’ll need a smooth surface to work on. I am using the We-R Memory Keepers Glass Mat Review for Polymer Clay.
And you will need a small piece of smooth see-through material such as an acrylic stamp block, a piece of Plexiglas, or even an old cd case.
During the rolling process, there are a few things you must remember. Keep the acrylic block level. Use your fingertips like little table legs, to keep your top plastic surface plastic level, and at the right height.
If your top plastic surface is uneven, the bead won’t be round.
Keep your circular motions even. Too big, and the bead will become a pointy bi-cone bead. Too small and the bead will become very flat and hard to roll.
The same goes for the pressure. Too light and the bead will be pointy, and to hard the bead flattens out.
Color gets pulled from the outside edges and swirled into the center. So remember that when placing your patterns or cane slices on the bead.
Always do your circles in the same direction. If you change directions partway through, the swirl will untwist and start going in the other direction.
In can take a while to get the swirl you want.
Firm clay moves slowly and will take more turns… soft clay moves quickly, but can be harder to keep the shape even.
After rolling, let the clay rest for a bit to firm up. Do another quick roll to reshape before baking.
If you try and handle a freshly rolled lentil bead without allowing it to rest and cool down, it can become distorted and will fingerprint easily.
If you are interested in a video on piercing lentil beads or other lentil bead videos, leave a comment in the section below.
00:00:03 –> 00:00:07 Hi guys, its Cindy Lietz, your Polymer Clay Tutor, and today’s PcT Mini Tute, we’re gonna
00:00:07 –> 00:00:13 learn the secrets to rolling the perfect Swirly Lentil Bead.
00:00:13 –> 00:00:20 Now these are made with Polymer Clay and they are super addictive to make, and I have done
00:00:20 –> 00:00:28 many tutorials on lentil beads, and I just thought I would do an update ‘cause I haven’t
00:00:28 –> 00:00:30 done one for a while now.
00:00:30 –> 00:00:35 Now lentil beads…these Swirly Lentil beads can be made with all kinds of different things,
00:00:35 –> 00:00:38 they can be made with canes and scrap clay and all kinds of stuff.
00:00:38 –> 00:00:46 I have a bowl of old lentil beads in here, some of them are beautiful and some are quite
00:00:46 –> 00:00:54 terrible, and…because there are some tips and tricks to making a decent Swirly Lentil.
00:00:54 –> 00:01:00 Now you can make them large, you can make them small…oh where’s a small one, there’s
00:01:00 –> 00:01:08 little ones in here, you can make them with scrap clay or you can make them with canes…like
00:01:08 –> 00:01:13 this one here was made using some of the Mod cane, and I’m actually gonna show you how
00:01:13 –> 00:01:21 to make that, you can make them pointy or you can make them flat and squashed out.
00:01:21 –> 00:01:25 Now both of these I wouldn’t consider very beautiful for a couple of reasons, this one
00:01:25 –> 00:01:30 I didn’t swirl very well, this is probably one of my very first ones that I made years
00:01:30 –> 00:01:36 and years ago, and this one, there’s almost no contrast in the colors, it just really
00:01:36 –> 00:01:46 gets lost in there, even though it is kinda cool, it can be done in lots of different
00:01:46 –> 00:01:47 ways.
00:01:47 –> 00:01:52 Also, if you do it a little off, you can end up with one that is quite oval looking, like
00:01:52 –> 00:01:58 this one here, you can see it’s quite oval looking, and it really depends on the angle
00:01:58 –> 00:02:00 and a whole bunch of little neat things.
00:02:00 –> 00:02:05 So the first thing I’m gonna do is just show you what you need, I’m gonna do the first
00:02:05 –> 00:02:13 one with a piece of scrap clay, this is from the Nautical Anchor cane and I just took a
00:02:13 –> 00:02:16 chunk of the end, and just rolled it into a ball.
00:02:16 –> 00:02:22 And you’ll wanna make sure that the clay you are using…that you roll it into a ball,
00:02:22 –> 00:02:25 and that there aren’t any big cracks and that kind of thing in it ‘cause that will show
00:02:25 –> 00:02:31 up later, and this is what the bead will look like, or similar anyways, once it’s rolled
00:02:31 –> 00:02:33 into the lentil.
00:02:33 –> 00:02:39 And you’ll need to work on a smooth surface, don’t work on a rough surface, because you
00:02:39 –> 00:02:45 need the surface to be smooth so that it isn’t causing too much drag…and I’ll explain that
00:02:45 –> 00:02:53 in a second, and then you need a top surface that you can work the clay with.
00:02:53 –> 00:02:58 Now, I’ve got a bunch of different options here, and whatever works for you is good,
00:02:58 –> 00:03:08 this is piece of stamp block, so it’s an acrylic block for sticking cling stamps to…you can
00:03:08 –> 00:03:14 get them at Michaels or craft stores or wherever you want, and this works perfectly ‘cause
00:03:14 –> 00:03:20 it’s a nice size and you can see through it and it’s a smooth surface, you can also use
00:03:20 –> 00:03:22 a piece of Plexiglas.
00:03:22 –> 00:03:27 This is a piece that was from my bead rack from a long time ago, this is the one I’m
00:03:27 –> 00:03:30 gonna use today because it’s big enough, and I can get my hands out of the way so that
00:03:30 –> 00:03:33 you can really see the process.
00:03:33 –> 00:03:44 You can use…this is a little acrylic sheet that comes in the Sculpey bead making kit,
00:03:44 –> 00:03:49 so if you’re around Michaels or whatever, they have an interesting little kit that has
00:03:49 –> 00:03:52 like a bead reamer and a little roller, and it had a blade in there…
00:03:52 –> 00:03:58 I think I took it out already, and a cutter and this little plastic disk that works great,
00:03:58 –> 00:04:07 or you could just use a CD rack…rack a CD case, make sure to use the smooth side, and
00:04:07 –> 00:04:08 you can use that.
00:04:08 –> 00:04:14 Some people use glass like from a picture frame with tape around the edges, I’d just
00:04:14 –> 00:04:20 rather use something plastic, it will be less chance of it breaking if you’re pushing on
00:04:20 –> 00:04:21 it.
00:04:21 –> 00:04:28 Alright, so the process of this is quite simple but you need to do it right, otherwise it
00:04:28 –> 00:04:33 turns out all wonky, and there’s a few principles.
00:04:33 –> 00:04:38 So I’ve rolled this out, there’s no…it’s nice and warm, there’s no cracks in it anymore
00:04:38 –> 00:04:49 and I’ve got my clear sheet here ready to go, and I’m putting my fingers down on the
00:04:49 –> 00:04:56 glass, right…so that they sit like little table legs, and you want them so that they’re
00:04:56 –> 00:05:02 just sitting perfectly level, so this surface is nice and flat, and then what you’re going
00:05:02 –> 00:05:07 to be doing is you’re going to be making little circles on the table with your fingers.
00:05:07 –> 00:05:14 I’m not pressing down too hard, I’m keeping the top surface flat, and I’m just going around
00:05:14 –> 00:05:15 and around and around.
00:05:15 –> 00:05:22 The bigger the circle I do, the more of a Bicone shape it becomes, the harder I press
00:05:22 –> 00:05:32 down, it will squash out, also if you have…if you do the circles too small, then it just
00:05:32 –> 00:05:35 becomes flatter and flatter in the center.
00:05:35 –> 00:05:40 But to get the swirl happening, so I’m just…and I’m always, always, always going in the same
00:05:40 –> 00:05:46 direction, so if I’m going counter clockwise, I have to make sure that I just keep going
00:05:46 –> 00:05:52 counter clockwise, if I switch directions, the swirl will get pulled in the opposite
00:05:52 –> 00:05:54 direction, so I’m just going around and around.
00:05:54 –> 00:06:03 First I’m just getting my shape, and I’m being very careful not to tilt the flat plastic
00:06:03 –> 00:06:09 here, and I’m just keeping it flat and even, you can go fast or slow, it doesn’t matter
00:06:09 –> 00:06:11 that much…I’m gonna go a little bit faster.
00:06:11 –> 00:06:20 And it works on dragging… it’s a friction thing, so the top surface and the bottom surface
00:06:20 –> 00:06:30 are dragging on the clay mostly in the center….now, it’s taking me a bit here, but you can see
00:06:30 –> 00:06:39 it’s going to start twisting towards the center, and that’s because in the center, the clay
00:06:39 –> 00:06:46 is getting dragged around and around and around, and around the outside edges, it’s not getting
00:06:46 –> 00:06:49 dragged on as quickly.
00:06:49 –> 00:06:55 So you can see it, it’s starting to form here…let me just go a little faster, now, see how it
00:06:55 –> 00:07:00 becomes…if you get it…if it turns into an oval, you can press down on the longer
00:07:00 –> 00:07:04 side a little harder and a little lighter, and you can just keep going until you get
00:07:04 –> 00:07:09 it round again, like that.
00:07:09 –> 00:07:13 And you can see… if I press down in the center, you can see that the center is starting
00:07:13 –> 00:07:22 to swirl, like that, and on the back side, it’s starting to swirl as well, it will take
00:07:22 –> 00:07:30 several times to go around and around for it to get a really nice swirl on both sides.
00:07:30 –> 00:07:37 Now, the neat thing about doing something like this one here…now the way it works,
00:07:37 –> 00:07:42 ‘cause there’s…there’s… the friction is happening on the top side and the bottom
00:07:42 –> 00:07:48 side right at the highest points, so like I said, as it’s getting twisted around, the
00:07:48 –> 00:07:52 color’s kinda getting dragged and smeared around, but on the outside edge, it’s slowly
00:07:52 –> 00:07:58 getting sucked towards the middle, kinda like a little vortex, so whatever’s in the middle
00:07:58 –> 00:08:08 of your design will get sucked in, and whatever’s on the outside, it will come wrap up around.
00:08:08 –> 00:08:11 So I’ll show you…it’s very obvious when you do something like this, so I’ve just got
00:08:11 –> 00:08:15 a piece of scrap clay here, it happens to be a pretty Pink color, but it won’t matter
00:08:15 –> 00:08:23 that much, and I have some pieces of leftover Mod cane…and I did a little Mini Tute on
00:08:23 –> 00:08:27 that a little while ago, so you can check that out if you wanna learn how to make these,
00:08:27 –> 00:08:34 but I’m just gonna take these little sections and wrap them around the outside… and they’re
00:08:34 –> 00:08:42 fairly thick, I would say they are about at least an 1/8th of an inch or couple millimeters
00:08:42 –> 00:08:53 thick, and I’m going around the equator of this bead here, see that?
00:08:53 –> 00:08:57 Now I’m just gonna kinda roll it in a bit just to make sure it’s nice and stuck on there,
00:08:57 –> 00:09:05 now watch what will happen when I start doing the lentil on here…so I’m gonna make sure
00:09:05 –> 00:09:11 that it’s around the equator, and I’ve got the plain color in the center.
00:09:11 –> 00:09:18 And as I start wrapping around, you can see that the edges kinda start… and see how
00:09:18 –> 00:09:25 that outside…those spots are starting to come towards the middle, and they’re just
00:09:25 –> 00:09:31 getting drawn up…and actually on the opposite side, they’re doing exactly the opposite,
00:09:31 –> 00:09:38 so they’re getting drawn down, and eventually…as we get going here, they’ll start pulling to
00:09:38 –> 00:09:40 the center and start swirling.
00:09:40 –> 00:09:48 Now this is very soft clay in the center, so I’m getting it into an oval, so what I
00:09:48 –> 00:09:55 should do… just keep going here, try to keep it as even as possible and watch it just
00:09:55 –> 00:10:05 swirl towards the center, and that Pink is starting to disappear, and that’s why it doesn’t
00:10:05 –> 00:10:09 really matter what you put on the inside.
00:10:09 –> 00:10:13 See that just pulling and pulling and pulling, and it gets…it’s really super fun, in
00:10:13 –> 00:10:18 fact that’s why I have a big bowl of them….even when I wasn’t sure of how to do it properly,
00:10:18 –> 00:10:26 I kept trying and trying and trying until I could get it right, see that?
00:10:26 –> 00:10:32 And you would wanna let this rest for a while, do a quick roll again and then… to see…
00:10:32 –> 00:10:37 get the shape back in, because once it gets really warm, it becomes a little soft, and
00:10:37 –> 00:10:41 you can get fingerprints and stuff on it real easy, see that, and then we’ll check out
00:10:41 –> 00:10:48 the other side, and it’s starting to swirl really nicely too, alright?
00:10:48 –> 00:10:53 So remember with the lentil, you wanna keep your fingers as even as possible, this top
00:10:53 –> 00:11:01 plate as level as possible…no tilting this way or this way, you wanna keep your circles
00:11:01 –> 00:11:07 nice and even…too big of a circle will make it super pointy, too small of a circle will
00:11:07 –> 00:11:10 make it squashed and flat.
00:11:10 –> 00:11:15 The colors come from the outside and get swirled towards the inside, so remember that when
00:11:15 –> 00:11:21 you’re placing canes or any kind of pattern onto your beginning lentil bead.
00:11:21 –> 00:11:26 Alright, I hope that was helpful for you and explained a little bit more about the process
00:11:26 –> 00:11:32 of making lentil beads, if you would like to learn how to put the holes into the beads,
00:11:32 –> 00:11:37 leave a comment as a suggestion, and I will see about making a video about that in the
00:11:37 –> 00:11:39 future.
00:11:39 –> 00:11:46 And if you have any other subjects that you don’t understand in regards to Polymer Clay,
00:11:46 –> 00:11:50 then make sure to check out the videos that we have, we have done tons of videos, and
00:11:50 –> 00:11:55 you can see if we’ve done a video for you on that already, and if not, you can also
00:11:55 –> 00:12:01 suggest a video that we can make in the future, alright?
00:12:01 –> 00:12:03 So we’ll see you next time and bye for now.
Our goal is to translate these videos into as many languages as possible. If you are interested in helping with this initiative, then please do contact us and we will figure out a way to make it worth your while :)
Resource Links:
- Related Video: Making Lentil Beads That Don’t Go All Wonky
- Related Video: Polymer Clay Lentil Beads – Very Addictive
- Related Video: Piercing Lentil Beads
- Related Article: Getting Your Polymer Clay Lentil Beads to Swirl Properly
- Related Article: How To Make Polymer Clay Lentil Beads
- Related Video: We-R Memory Keepers Glass Mat
- Amazon: We-R Memory Keepers Glass Mat **
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CINDY!!!! i’m late to this party but oh MY!!!! you make it look so easy to do I think maybe I CAN do this too!!! I can’t wait to get home and try this – so inspiring!!
note: do you have any other thoughts on the ‘base’ clay ball color? If i follow this, then none of the under color will show so it doesn’t matter- right?
and I kind of did wish to see what would happen if your clay wasn’t warm enough and any cracks did appear.. sometimes seeing the negative can help reinforce the positive.
Thank you so much for all you show us!!
Hi Cris, the only time the base bead color would make any difference, is if you were using cane slices that were made with translucent, or were cut really thin, or if you didn’t complete the swirling until the canes on the outside covered all the way to the center of the bead. If you do it like I did, it won’t matter. As far as the cracking goes, I probably should not have said ‘warm’ because it isn’t really a temp thing… the clay in the ice water would not have cracked if it had been recently rolled.. whether the bead was warm or cold. What I meant was warmed up or woken up really. When a clay bead has been recently rolled, the oils move through the clay and make it more pliable… even if it is cold. So when it is pierced the hole won’t crack at the exit hole when it is being pierced. Hope that wasn’t ‘as clear as mud’ for you. It would be easier to explain in video.
Cindy, just watched this today, I am going nuts here with so much to do but I wanted to pop in and tell you how much I appreciated your video on rolling out those swirly beads. I have made dozens but after your explanation on how the colors appear, it made a lot more sense to me. Thanks so much Doll!
Glad to hear this video gave you some clarity… thanks for saying so! Isn’t it fun with things just start to click!?
Thank you so much. Very good clip
You are very welcome Asya!
Would love to see how you Pearce the beads.I am inspired to try this again. Mine were always too pointy or too flat.thanks for another informative video.
You’re welcome Susan, I will be doing another piercing video soon. Like I mentioned to Julia, there is an older video you can check out for now… just look for the link under this video player.
Hi Cindy,
It was fun to see the “Swirlies” again. Loved the example of the bead with the waistband of the mod clay cane. I can remember the first one Itried to make, sure it would be perfect…ha! But now I can do it, and it is such fun. I’m mostly writing to say….YES… Please do another demo of putting the hole in the bead. I’ve done it but still find it very tricky, so if you have some wisdom ( and don’t you aleays????) on doing this I’d be grateful to see it.
Thanks Julia! I will be putting a Lentil Bead Hole video on the list of videos to do. In the meantime, if you look up under the video there is an old video I did on Piercing lentils that should help.
That is cool! I have some lentil beads that I have made, but I didn’t realize how the color moves to form the swirl. Fun!
Yeah, that is pretty cool, isn’t it Betty!
Thanks Cindy. For small beads I like to use the smooth acrylic part of the Amaco tube bead roller. It has the little legs that keep it flat while swirling. These beads certainly are addictive.
Cool idea Dawn! As long as those little legs don’t restrict you, they would help to keep you piece flat.
I’d have never thought that mod cane scraps would make such lovely lentils. Great refresher video with lots of tips. I haven’t figured out how to correct the shape when it becomes oval or wonky, I will be practicing some more after this. I’d love to see how to pierce a lentil bead cleanly!
Hi Krithika, thanks for your comment! Yeah, it’s just a pressure thing combined with the angle of your acrylic block that will create those wonky beads. Keep practicing… it’s worth it for the joy you feel when you create that perfect swirly lentil!