The rough design is lightly scratched into a smooth 3/8" thick sheet of raw polymer clay.

Large areas are defined by pressing or cutting excess clay away from the design.

Sculpting begins and some of the finer details are added. With a better idea of how the design will look, more shaping can be done.

Where raised detail would be tedious to carve, more clay in approximately the right shape is added.

The process of shaping and smoothing firmly attaches the new clay to the sculpture.

The final details are added and smoothed then the piece is trimmed of excess clay and baked.

Mold material is carefully and quickly pressed into all areas of the finished carving. Puffinalia's Miracle Mold can be found here.

Once the mold material has set up, it's carefully removed from the original.

I chose ecru polymer clay lightened with a bit of white and added gold dust for my finished sculpture. The softened clay is packed tightly into the mold and a large darning needle is added to make it usable as a bead. The back is stamped with a signature tool.

The filled mold is popped into the freezer to chill the clay making it firmer and easier to release.

Excess clay is trimmed and any air bubbles are smoothed out. I've cut out a bit of clay near the center of the bead for added interest. Once baked and sanded, the finished sculpture is ready to be used in a necklace. The final measurement is approximately 2" wide and 1/4" thick.