1.... Condition Transluscent KatoClay and mix it well with the ball of white and ball of yellow until no streaks show.

2.... Flatten the ball of mixed clay into a patty approximately 1/4 in. thick.

3.... Tear (do not cut) small to medium sized pieces of clay from the patty. You will have two or more rough edges on each piece.

4.... In a Little Dipper Scoop, mix 6 drops of Rainforest Green ink, 6 drops of Baja Blue ink and 1 drop of Black acrylic paint. You will need two batches of the ink mix. Because the ink dries fast and the painting takes a bit of time, I only mix one batch at a time. I tried using a syringe with a fine tip, but the ink clogs up the tip with disastrous results.

5.... Spread a piece of plastic wrap onto your table surface. Push a toothpick into the flat surface of one of the pieces of clay to use as a handle. Use a blunted toothpick to dab drops of ink down the center of the rough edges of each piece. The ink will spread into the tiny cracks where the piece tore form the main patty. Try not to get ink onto the flat,smooth surfaces, but if some bleeds into small cracks that is fine. Place each piece of painted clay onto the wrap to dry for about an hour.

6.... Gather up the pieces in the plastic wrap (or wear gloves), and press them firmly together forming a cube. Press down hard on all sides to form the cube into a rectangular block. Let the block rest for an hour or so, or place it into the freezer for a few minutes.

7.... Using a Polymer Clay blade, remove a very thin slice from all sides of the block to reveal the veining.

8.... With the blade, cut a slice from the block about a half inch thick and form it into a cabochon. It can be pierced with a needle before baking or have an eye embedded in the top or side. The slice can be gently rounded and the center cut out to form a donut that can be hung on a cord. The slices that were removed from the sides, can be rolled into balls and pierced for beads. Place the outsides of the waste slices together so most of the ink is on the inside before rolling the bead.     Roll out a thinner slice from the block to use as veneer over a base. Rolling the slice stretches the veining and shows shadows of underlying veining, making some interesting patterns. Rolling sometimes breaks the slice a bit at the veining, so you may need a thin coat of liquid clay on the top when you put the veneer over the base form.

9.... Bake on a ceramic tile according to the manufacturer's instructions. Even though there is a lot of transluscent clay in the mix, I do not put these beads into an ice bath at the end of the baking process.

10....Baking the beads darkens the yellow color a little making them closer in color to the real turquoise. The beads, cabs or donuts can be polished with a coat of Future Floor Polish or buffed on a piece of denim. KatoClay takes on a really nice shine when buffed. The cabochon on the left below has been buffed, but the small beads and the larger ball have one coat of Future Floor Polish on them.

11.... The cab can be inserted into a bezel cup(below right) or wire wrapped (below left) after baking . Beads can be strung on any wire,or cord or joined with wire links. If the block of turquoise is left to sit for sometime, the ink will bleed into the surrounding clay, giving yet another interesting effect.

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