Polymer Clay Central - Jenny's Faux Corner 3

Polymer Clay Superstore

Volume 3: Faux Agate Slices

Materials: Work Tile Clay-dedicated Cheese Grater Slicing Blade Pasta Machine or Roller Scouring Pads (plastic type, not steel wool!) Clay: Translucent, White, Purple (or any other color)
Step 1: Condition and roll out a ball of Translucent clay (1/4 block) and a pinch of Purple clay. Mix the two together to get a really nice translucent purple. Set aside in freezer so it gets nice and firm.
Step 2: Roll out another ball of translucent and a small ball of white - about the size of a dime or a marble. Place them in the freezer to firm also!
Step 3: Once the clay balls have been in the freezer for a while, remove one of the translucent balls and grate it on the large size grate. When finished, take out the white ball and grate that on the smaller grate. Set them aside.
Step 4: Remove the translucent Purple ball from the freezer and grate that on the larger grate. Just grate a little of the ball, enough to put a little Purple in your mix of white and translucent. Save the rest of the translucent purple for a later step.
Step 5: Mix the three colors of grated clay and roll them into a ball. Place the ball in the freezer to firm.
Step 6: Once the mixed ball has firmed up, remove it from the freezer and grate it completely on the smallest grate, and then form that into another ball. Roll the ball into a log. This will be the inside of your agate slice!
Step 7: Take the rest of the translucent purple that you have, as well as some of the unmixed purple, and roll each of them through your pasta machine on setting 4 or 5 (the setting actually depends on how thick or thin you want the bands of your agate slices to be).
Step 8: Cut the translucent purple to fit and wrap it around the center you made for your agate.
Step 9: Cut some of the unmixed purple to fit and wrap that around the log to form the outer layer.
Step 10: You can keep adding the layers of clay to form as many bands as you want for your agates!
Step 11: Once you have finished adding the "bands", reduce the log a little by rolling it, making sure all the clay is packed together.
Step 12: Take the Scouring pads and roll the log between them so you get a "rough" surface on the log. Shape the log so that it's not perfectly round (see shapes below).
Step 13: Slice and bake!!! Be sure to cut your slices thin, not TOO thin. After baking place them immediately into an ice water bath. Once cooled off, sand them using acsending grits of wet/dry sandpaper to get a nice glossy finish, or you coat them with Future floor polish!