Faux stone experiments

I recently snagged a new book (Making Polymer Clay Beads by Carol Blackburn) that has a project for making faux marble. It's certainly not the first time I've seen this technique....but it's the first time I've tried it.

I seem to be incapable of following the color recommendations for a tutorial. ANY tutorial. It's like a mental block. HA! The book called for white, translucent, and black. But I've been experimenting with other colors. My very first experiment beads turned out so cool. Unfortunately, I can't get a good picture of them. They are these earthy green, copper-ish jasper like beads. Hopefully I'll get a picture to share soon.

For now, I want to show you the others! I used gold mica powders for these.

My very first reaction to them...after they were freshly sanded: "Hey honey! Want to see what happens when a can of cream corn and a block of marble have a baby??" LOL! Aaron and I refer to them as 'the cream corn beads'. But after I finished all the different grits of sanding and buffing...I love them. In real life, the mica powders are gorgeous. The layers seem to move in the sunlight....they are gorgeous.

These little guys are cute.

They did not turn out as vivid as I had hoped...but I still like them. A good jewelry designer could pair them with other beads that make them pop, I think. I have more that are waiting for buffing.

And these poor little fuglies...

Did NOT turn out like I had hoped. I have too many of these little guys. LOL! I'm sure in the right piece of jewelry they would be adorable. But I just don't have the imagination to make that happen.

I have many more colors of mica powders to experiment with! I'm sure you'll see more of these in the future. :)
Btw...click on any picture to visit my flickr album and see more. If you want to. :)