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April Meeting: Mica Shift Beads

Mica Shift Beads BraceletThis month Christie Wright will be teaching us how to make bracelets that feature an exciting technique called mica shift. Mica shift is an optical illusion — the beads appear to have a textured design, but they are as smooth as glass.
Several of you met Christie at our last meeting. She sells hand-crafted polymer clay items through DragonflyLane. Her site also features wonderful video tutorials — including a mica shift video you can watch if you want a sneak preview of Saturday’s lesson.
Here are the meeting details:
* When: Saturday, April 14, 2007, 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.
* Where: Hobby Lobby at I-40 and MacArthur, 6104 West Reno, Oklahoma City, OK. (The classroom is in the very back of the store.)
* What to Bring:
* 1 block of metallic clay. Christie uses Premo or Kato metallics. If you prefer, you can make a custom metallic color by mixing a small amount of a bright color clay to Pearl — if you’re doing this, bring 2 colors of clay (one of them metallic).
* A deeply etched stamp
* Pasta machine
* A thin, flexible slicing blade
* Acrylic roller (optional)
* A bead piercing tool (if you prefer to make bead holes before baking)
If you don’t own these supplies, don’t worry. We will have some on hand to share. We will also provide a spray water bottle, wax paper, and a toaster oven.
Mica shift beads don’t show their true beauty til they’ve been sanded and buffed. While Christie will go over how to do this, we probably won’t have time to complete these steps at the meeting. These are the “at home” supplies she recommends:
* 400 & 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper
* A high-speed polishing tool OR an old pair of denim jeans for buffing
* A small drill bit to make bead holes if you did not do so before baking.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn an interesting technique from a great artist!