Faux Agate Geode Polymer Clay Tutorial

How to Make a Faux Agate Geode from Polymer Clay

• I will be using Cernit translucent, Sapphire, Turquoise and Antique Bronze.
• To start you need salt - a mixture of coarse and fine, translucent Cernit and Pearl white Premo.
• Chop a piece of translucent and pearl white finely and mix together.
• Squish your pieces together well, making sure to eliminate air bubbles.
• Flatten your ball into a thick slice - about 0.5cm thick.
• Scoop a good pile of salt into the middle.
• Fold together to enclose the salt. Try to eliminate as much air as you can.
• Pinch the edges to seal and trim away the excess.
• Gently form into a round. Don't worry about folds as long as they aren't too deep.
• Use a ball tool to smooth out creases.
• Roll out a sheet of Cernit Sapphire as thin as you can get it.
• Place your ball on it, seam down, and wrap the Sapphire around the ball trimming away any excess. Cover any gaps with another small piece of Sapphire.
• Compress your ball and smooth the creases again using a ball tool.
• Cover the ball with a layer of White Pinata ink.
• Allow to dry.
• Then continue covering as follows:
  Translucent, white ink, turquoise, white ink, translucent, white ink, sapphire, white ink and translucent - allowing the ink to dry each time.
• Roll out a thin sheet of Cernit Antique Bronze, and wrap around as the final layer.
• Roll your ball in a bowl of coarse salt to texture the outside.
• Gently mold into an oval shape.
• Bake for an hour and a half in the salt.
• Allow to cool until you are able to comfortably handle the clay.
• Rinse in water to remove the outside salt.
• While still warm use a sharp blade to slice the faux Agate geode in half.
• Tip out the salt and wipe it away.
• Bring over your acrylic paints - a range of browns, black and white, and mix up some browns that you like. Thin down with water if necessary.
• Use a coarse brush to dab paint on the outside of the polymer clay geode.
• Allow the paint to dry.
• Use your finger to clean the salt out of the middle.
• Use a brush to coat the inside of the geode with Kato translucent liquid clay. Make sure you get into all the nooks and crannies and give it a good coating.
• Run your finger over the rim to remove any excess liquid clay.
• Hold your geode over a bowl and tip your silver druzy inside the geode.
• Run your finger over the rim again to clean it up.
• Bake again for another hour.
• Sand the rim using wet/dry sandpaper, starting from a 400 grit to 1200.
• Polish using polishing papers, starting from 600 to 8000.
• Buff using a rotary buffing wheel or a soft cloth.
• Stand your geode up on a raw ball of clay so that the top rim is level.
• Apply Magic Gloss to the rim.
• Use a skewer to pull it to the edges.
• Place in the UV lamp for 30 minutes.