An easy to understand illustrated guide to creating polymer beads.

Now that you know how to make a simple bead, you can move onto something a little more complicated. Start with a ball slightly smaller than you want your bead. Roll an even smaller ball of a different color into a fat noodle shape (against your work surface), and a smaller ball the same color as the first ball into a noodle of clay as thick as a piece of spaghetti.

Use a rolling pin to flatten out the clay. If the pin sticks to the clay (or you don't want to get the pin dirty) put the noodle of clay in folded parchment or wax paper and roll (right hand image). If the clay breaks when you try to peal it from the paper, it's too thin. Make sure it is no thinner than linguini.

Place the smaller flattened noodle on top of the larger one and gentle roll them together so that they become seamless. Cut them into bits about the width of your pinkie nail. The effect will be better if the widths vary slightly.

Place the bits gently around the ball you made. Space them out so that the ball is covered and small parts of the ball can be seen.

Roll the ball between your hands until the bits become seamless with the ball. The bits will change shape and no longer be perfect squares or rectangles. The three layers of clay from the three balls blend together in such a way that no one will be able to guess how you did it. Poke a hole into the ball with your needle tool, and you've got one great bead! To make more than one at a time, make longer noodles and roll more balls.