Sue's Blog
I have just been asked about how to glaze polymer clay beads with liquid clay. It is a fun way to glaze polymer beads but I don't feel it is terrible hard-wearing. The beads can be easily marked because liquid polymer clay never does get as hard as acrylic varnish or Future in my opinion. But they do look great. The pic above does not do it justice - I was trying to catch the reflection in the shot. It is covered with a deep coating that looks like a ceramic glaze.
Here is a good link where it is explained well: http://www.jewelry-and-polymerclay-tutorial-heaven.com/glazing-beads.html#axzz1ezhMNwzi
Another way of glazing round beads is with clear Utee or embossing powder - the powder used for card embossing. That gives a harder result but melting the Utee is a bit sticky. You melt the powder in a small pot (a little saucepan on a stove is fine) until it is runny. Push the bead on a bamboo skewer and dip into the liquid. Pull it out and twirl and it sets clear as it cools. It is described in Judy Belcher's book Polymer Clay - Creative Traditions.
