GENERAL INFO for many of the fauxs

Translucent clays are used in many of the faux recipes... in different amounts depending on opacity vs. translucence desired
..... diff. brands and types of translucent clay will produce somewhat different results, however

Most "natural" items we simulate (rock, gemstones, wood, etc) will need at least a little transclucent clay in the mix to give them a bit of depth, especially if later polished....using the translucent will give them a less flat/opaque look and more of a realistic look.
....some natural items have tiny irregularities in clarity (little areas of opaqueness) in them (faux jade, e.g.) ...to simulate these materials, it's best to use a translucent clay which will plaque (or "moon") ....all the currently available translucents will plaque, I believe, except for Premo's Bleached Translucent (now called Frost) --Premo has two translucents: the one called "bleached-Frost" will not plaque, or will plaque very little
........although plaques can also be introduced in any translucent clays by conditioning (warming and stretching) the clay with damp hands or introducing a little moisture in other ways
(....see Translucents for much more info on brands & using translucents)
...Kato Polyclay bakes up with a natural sheen, so may not be suitable for some fauxs

COLORANTS
...more transparent colorants would be alcohol-based inks (Pinata, Adirondack) and artists' tube oil paints
..........these can be mixed into all-translucent clay to simulate many of the stones listed below (jade, amber, marble, rose quartz, for example)
(see Paints and Letters-Inks for more on paints and alcohol inks)
.......more opaque colorants would be most regular solid clays, acrylic paints, and various inclusions
...all kinds of inclusions can be used to simulate the color, shimmer, or visual texture in many fauxs
.......in order to be seen well down into the surface after baking (and especially after sanding/buffing), inclusions are usually mixed into into all-translucent clay or into tinted translucents
........ some "inclusions" would be powders such as mica, embossing, eye shadow, blusher, oil pastel chalk, dirt, ground spices... as well as crayon shavings, flaked herbs, polyester opalescent glitters, flakes of metallic leaf, grit of various types, etc
(see Inclusions and Powders for more on inclusions)
...Colorants can be mixed into the clay completely, or be marbled into the clay, or it can be dripped onto sheets here and there in dots or patterns then shaped or marbled, etc
... leftovers from techniques using translucent clays can also often be used

gashes (to create aged or distressed look), lines, or other impressions (stamped, carved, etc.) can be created on the surface of many types of raw or baked clay faux stones
.... these gashes/lines/impressions can also be antiqued or backfilled if desired
(for much more on techniques of antiquing, highlighting and backfilling, see Faux Ivory and Molds and Carving, etc.)

definitions, categorizations, and lots of info on various types of "gem"stones... and some photos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemstone
....I can't totally figure out what the differences in definition and classification are for the different "stones," "gemstones," and "rocks"... so on this page I'll just list most stones which are used decoratively in jewelry, etc..., in separate categoires (those for which I info anyway).
...the category called "Other Stone(s) & Rock" will have the more rock-like fauxs, not so traditionally used for jewelry, etc
...turquoise and ivory have their own separate pages (Faux-Turq & Wood ...Faux-Ivory)

REAL stones
...photos of many, polished stones (alphabetical)
http://www.enchantedrocks.com/Misc/mineral-chart.html
http://www.enchantedrocks.com/Misc/mineral-chart-p2.html
http://www.enchantedrocks.com/Mineral-Spheres/Minerals-New-Index.html (by name, more enlarged)
Kathy G's photos of various stones http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4153008&a=31055279&sp=1&showall=true

I love to use the Fire Mountain catalog for comparing my mixtures of 'natural stone' to their pictures of the real McCoy. Dianne C.

Books + Videos/etc.

Tory (Victoria) Hughes is the "queen" of faux techniques; she originally introduced many of the faux recipes and techniques which are now so well known
... VIDEOS: she has a number of separate videos on making fauxs
Recreating Turquoise & Lapis... Recreating Bone & Ivory... Recreating Jade... Recreating Amber & Coral... as well as Metallic Surface Techniques for faux metals)
http://www.gameplanvideo.com/videos.htm, http://www.polymerclayexpress.com/videos.html
http://www.polkadotcreations.com
. . .BOOK: Polymer: The Chameleon Clay ... it has at least one version of each of the above fauxs is also covered in her videos, plus shell and onyx
(...Tory Hughes mentioned she would be publishing her new techniques for faience and agates in Ornament magazine soon. Katherine)

Irene Semanchuk Dean's BOOK: Faux Surfaces in Polymer Clay: 30 Techniques & Projects That Imitate Stones, Metals, Wood & More has many fauxs:
Malachite Lapis Lazuli Tiger-Eye Turquoise Opal Jade Balinese Silver Bronze Rusted Steel Pewter Copper Verdigris Bone Abalone Cork Mother-of-Pearl Leather Burled Red Maple Cinnabar Jasper Slate Marble Agate River Rock Celadon Dichroic Glass Faience Cloisonne Raku Scrimshaw on Faux Ivor, and "Basse-Taille Enamel"

Carol Blackburn's BOOK: Making Polymer Beads has good lessons for fauxs (coral, amber, abalone, and veined marble, were especially mentioned by some, but there are 16 fauxs altogether)

AMBER

REAL AMBER
opaque amber (mostly):
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=amber+bead
..Tibetan amber (mostly)
http://images.google.com/images?q=Tibetan+amber+bead&svnum=50&hl=en&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&start=100&sa=N&ndsp=20
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=Tibetan+amber
...copal (likened to amber) http://tinyurl.com/2fwbfn
transparent amber: http://tinyurl.com/35nag9
transparent with trapped insects: http://tinyurl.com/2mzquw

COLORS of natural amber:
......some is opaque in shades of yellow and orange (varying from pale yellowish brown to a warm orangey color.. "butter" amber is popular
......other amber is clear/transparent (sometimes with trapped insects)
...Some believe the color (of different ambers) is related to the type of tree sources:
.......Recent pine trees produce golden yellows, white, ivory-colors, and occasionally a blue resin. Scientists at the Polish Museum of Science believe that reddish tints are the resin of deciduous trees, such as cherry and plum. Dominican amber with a reddish tint is thought to be related to a leguminous source.
...Natural amber, regardless of color, may darken to a mellow brown after long exposure to air; pressed amber may turn white as it ages.
...Amber color preferences vary from country to country. The transparent reds and greens are thought to be the most desirable colors in some countries, followed by the transparent yellows. The warm, transparent, orange color seems to be a desirable color for many Americans.

many FAUX AMBERS (opaque + translucent):
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=faux+amber

Tory Hughes created the original faux amber in her video: Recreating Amber and Coral
http://www.polkadotcreations.com/books/detail_gp11.html ...http://www.gameplanvideo.com/orderform.htm
....(see samples of her ambers below, in Examples)

Tory's recipe used Fimo's "Art Transparent" translucent clay (a non-bleached translucent), and golden yellow ..... plus a teensy bit of magenta or violet (...exact proportions depend on what effect you are going for and how you are doing it.)
...for making the buttery-looking amber on one of her (Tory’s?) tapes; basically it's equal parts of Fimo golden yellow and 00 art transparent, with a little bit of orange... I've also used a little bit of a red-violet to slightly neutralize the golden yellow. . . . the colors need to be left slightly streaky.

Kathy Gregson's mini-lesson and recipes for Tory's amber --and interview re various stones
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/kathyg_chat.html
dark amber: 1/32 block #1 Orange, ½ of 1/64 block #23 Bordeaux (dark red), ¼ block #15 Yellow ...mix together, and then add: ¼ block 00 Art Translucent ...mix together, but can leave streaky
light amber: 1/32 block #23 Bordeaux, ¼ block #15 Yellow... mix together, then add: ¼ block 00 Art Translucent...mix together but can leave streaky
.....When forming beads, leave some of the fold lines....can texture with an old piece of bark or wood. ...make the beads irregular in shape.
......the old beads frequently cracked and folks repaired them with a piece of wire (you can simulate this by forming a wire in a zig-zag pattern with a small foot on either end....push the feet into the clay over a fissure.... remove the wire while baking and then glue it in later). Kathy

Elizabeth has a lesson on making amber, with dark cracks, using inks, highly polished
.. . . she uses Pinata brand inks (see Letters-Inks) to color 3 diff. brands of translucent clay (including bleached Premo) to create base mixes (each brand should plaque and yellow differently)... each translucent sheet has random ink splotches of yellow, plus orange, red, & brown dropped on it, then it's mixed in completely)... she then mixes small amounts of each into more translucent to make three diff. logs which are twisted together and marbled, then formed into beads
...finally, uneven cracks are cut into the beads and dark inks are inserted with a tiny syringe; they are left to dry overnight, then the cracks are pushed together and the beads re-shaped; then baked, sanded and finished
http://polymerclayexpress.com/nove2002.html
....next, I'm trying a Capri blue-green agate with this method. Elizabeth
...(for ways to make a thin-nose eyedropper, or to adapt a regular dropper, see Letters-Inks > Inks for Tinting) . . . although Elizabeth uses syringes too

I was playing with Bunny's faux ivory recipe, and ended up using layers of FIMO Art Translucent, Premo translucent, FIMO White, Sculpey Ivory and FIMOSoft Beige.... different thicknesses, stacked, cut, restacked, then marbled pretty well. It looks like a block of a solid eggshell color....
...... But, if you then bake it for 8-12 hours, it does wierd stuff ...16 hours gave me "ebony," believe it or not, but less time gave me really interesting color combinations --- all in the same piece! ...amber, a purplish color and very dark brown (all from that off white mixture, baked at the right temp, but for too many hours. Strange.) ...I'm going to carve and backfill a few of these, then I'll post them where you can see them. It would be neat to combine with petroglyphs. Elizabeth

a good faux amber recipe is a largish chunk of translucent, and a LITTLE bit (pea size, even split pea size!) of golden yellow , plus a scraping of red, or (brown for darker ambers) ...It should look pale lemon sherbertish, as it darkens considerably when baking.
....And for the last 5 minutes or so of baking, I defy the rules and also push the temp to 300 degrees....yes, it burns it JUST A LITTLE ... and hey, it looks like amber.

I start with a base of about a half block of Fimo's Transparent, and experiment with an a half block of Cernit's yellow #021 and about a pea size Cernit red #012. ...I just play around with those bases because in nature there is a great deal of variance anyway. DLG

For my amber, I used Tory's receipe and just changed the shading slightly...used ocher acrylic paint to antique before sanding.... Dianne C.

tinted with Kato Concentrated Colors
....I recently got the new Kato concentrated colors (red, yellow, blue)
... mixed small amounts of yellow and red together, each about the size of a 8 mm bead (I discovered that red is far more powerful than yellow, so next time I'll start with more yellow and add small amounts of red.).. I mixed till I had a rich yellow orange.
....I added a teensy bit of blue (just a speck) to tone down the orange slightly.
....then I divided that piece into 3 parts, and made one more yellow and the other a little more red, so I had three small pieces the size of my pinkie fingertip that were 3 varying shades of yellow-orange.
....Then I took some Premo Frost and divided it into thirds and mixed in the various colors.
The cool thing is that a little of the concentrated color goes a long way, so you get your color and also keep a lot of translucency.
(Earlier I tried making my colors with Pinata alcohol inks mixed into translucent, but I didn't care for the colors I got with that method). Linelle

MORE EXAMPLES

Tory's various shades of amber dark yellow, . brownish, even red ...some with inlay s, cracks, etc... plus interview
http://craftsreport.com/april00/onlineexclusive.html
http://www.gameplanvideo.com/videos.htm
Karen O's various shades of amber, with distress marks, etc
http://www.polychic.com/gallery.html
Tricia D's yellow & orange amber, with cracks and antiquing ... not polished
http://www.tdartdesigns.com/gallery/polymer%20clay/w_faux%20amber.htm
Sera's very yellow amber, with cracks and turquoise inlays
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/teacher_serapinwill.html
Desiree's dark yellowy orange amber with cracks, wire inlays, turquoise inlays, and antiquing
http://www.desiredcreations.com/images/galleryTwoPics/amberNckl1Compo.jpg
Claude's amber, small spacer beads (cut from a baked log)
http://www.chez.com/creabijoux/interieur/GALLERIE/grandes%20photos/186.htm
amber from Mile High guild, crack with "wire holding crack together"
http://www.mhpcg.org/clayDays/claydays00/jan2000/jan00.html
Celie Fago's amber and coral (from a June 2000 class announcement)
http://www.polyclay.com/pictures/cor_amb.jpg (gone)

Spices like turmeric might lend a WONDERFUL enhancement to the faux amber techniques ....laughmoon
...I used paprika imported from Hungary (good stuff!) for inclusions, although no one told me this would work!!! H2Obaby

"gold layering" is just amazing, like magic! I'll bet it would make great amber! ... you could also paint a little insect between the layers .
. . . press a shallow texture into a sheet of gold Premo and bake .... accent the recessed areas with burnt umber acrylic, and the high points with Pearlex bright gold mixed with Flecto (let dry completely (the TLS is a little cloudy brefore it is cured but you should be able to see through it a bit) ....so now you have a bunch of different colors of gold... then fill it with TLS in a couple of coats ... the effect is almost holographic .....Jody B. (Jody's video, Exploring Liquid Sculpey)
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/bishelchat.html

texturizing faux amber with bark is really cool.

If you want a more translucent amber though, you could try the method Jenny Bezingue discovered by accident ... plain translucent Sculpey... baked at 275 degrees for about two hours!

clear amber
....my amber is made with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel, a clear embossing powder, which is melted --found with the stamping materials). It can be melted with a glue pot or a heat gun. You can also pour the UTEE into most molds such as (2-pt silicone molding materials).
...or could also use 2-pt resins or even Future, etc. instead (see Other Materials > Resins and Resin Simulations)
...I am also trying to figure out a way to make them by using a thin sheet of translucent clay wrapped around a center of liquid clay. Skye
...besides amber, I am currently working on a faux amethyst, reticulated quartz, fluorite, garnet, labradorite, and others.

real jade (all types, colors)
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=jade
http://www.jadeshop.com/About_Jade/Jadeite/jadeite.html

Real jade actually comes in many colors, as well as shades of green --almost white, grayish, brownish, purplish, brownish-yellow, dark brown, etc, but some of those may be dyed.

Most faux jade made from polymer clay though has generally been made some type of green (so far, anyway)
.... by using translucent clay tinted with a small amount of greenish clay (and perhaps tiny bits of other colors)
........the clays are usually marbled in some ways, but usually never mixed together totally.
...but other inclusions can be used to create the color in the translucent clay instead of green clay (green embossing powders, inks, crayon shavings, etc.)

Since real green jade comes in so many variations of green-ish, one or more greens may be used (alone, or marbled together) --e.g., bluish greens, yellowish greens, toned-down greens, etc
...some clayers like to add very small bits of purple or orange clay to tone down the green, and give the jade visual variation

The jade recipe is really not as critical as the technique used... the recipe merely requires a very small amount of green, pink, yellow, (orange, ) purple and/or black... (take your pick as jade comes in many colors).
...one trick is not to use too much of a color when combining with translucent
...jade's color characteristics can be very subtle and beautiful so color changes in your pieces should be very gradual (expcept for imitating flaws like those black flecks)
. . .visit a lapidary shop or rocks shop or jewelry shop some sort and study the various samples of the items that you want to imitate. Desiree

The simplest way to make faux jade is just by mixing a bit of any green clay into a lot of translucent clay, then marble it.

Before baking, faux jade can also be stamped, textured, . molded, or even sculpted (which may appear "carved")
After baking, it can be shallowly carved into (then backfilled if desired)

...also after baking, the dimensional areas (carved, textured, molded, sculpted) may then be "antiqued" by rubbing with paint (usually brown, red, or white) which is wiped off of the upper areas, leaving the paint only in the depressions
...the upper areas can then be sanded and buffed to a sheen or shine also, if desired

Faux jade may also be given a polished look if desired (from a slight sheen all the way to a high gloss), usually by sanding and buffing
...textured, stamped, molded or carved faux jade will have higher and lower areas, so sometimes only upper surfaces of those are polished (depending on how deep and close together the texture is)... this increases the illusion of some real jade items also because generally they're worn smooth wherever they're handled or exposed.... the crevices of those items also may have a bit of dirt accumulated there, or at least they aren't smoothed from wear, so it can work well not to give them a sheen or shine (also increases the 3-D effect if they're dull looking while the upper parts are shiner).
........or textured items may be polished all over (hills and valleys)
...or liquid finishes may be used to give a polished look (sheen to high gloss)
...or the jade can be left as is from the oven (matte)

translucent clay is a necessary ingredient of making faux jade, but the types and brands of translucent clay can differ:
...some translucent clays are clearer than others after baking (e.g. Premo's Bleached Translucent --CFC 06), but most others "plaque" to some degree.
...this plaquing is desirable for most simulations of natural materials, because the tiny opacities and variations in translucency are often found in stones and in nature
...the plaquing is said to be caused by moisture in the clay expanding
....Tory Hughes suggested that if you want maximum plaquing, you put your pieces in a hot oven and subject them to that drastic temp change quickly
......(for much more on plaquing, as well as more ways to increase it, check out Translucents > Plaquing )..

If putting faux jade on top of a different color clay (or other material else), Elizabeth suggests using a coating of white (acrylic paint) under the jade so that it won't be darkened or have other color changes.

The original technique for simulating jade came from Tory Hughes... her video making diff. looks of jade
http://www.polkadotcreations.com/books/detail_gp10.html
...she also has a lesson by Tory in a very old issue of Ornament magazine... and now has a book on fauxs, but not as many methods?

various colors & types of faux jade, by Jacqueline G
http://home.nyc.rr.com/ateliergikow/Evryday_dreams/jade_necklace.html
jade items by Kay P...one with black speckles, some as bicones with heavy plaquing
http://pbase.com/kpanner/polymer_clay_gallery
various jades... Kathy G's white or red antiquing on various colors of jade... Virginia B's deeply stamped or molded jade partly filled with light clay... and Nathalie's sculpted bear with heavy plaquing
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/pcc/swapfaux.html
Marcella's unplaqued jade, carved with brown antiquing
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=4327525&a=31882623&p=72679161
stamped-scene jade pendant, heavily antiqued with dark red-brown paint... upper areas sanded then buffed
http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/pc2.html (very bottom left of page)
Heather R's molded or stamped jade items... some very dark green, some lighter gr een (some with red antiq)
http://www.landofodds.com/beadschool/sg/curr/electives/clay/claypc4305.htm
sculpted then onlaid faux jade leaves on a covered BOH (using embossing or other powder? mixed into translucent)... also stopper and neck ring
http://www.bottlesofhope.org/bottles.html (2nd row)
Cheri O's beautiful sculpted flowers and leaves (almost all translucent) on a small vessel made of heavier-tinted greenish translucent ...could be "jade"
http://www.azpcg.org/documents/VesselSwap.htm
Linda's covered tin (light jade) with onlaid sculpted dragonflies
http://gallery.gundo.com/gallery/album63/Lindasjadedragonflytin
Marty W's very pale jade sculpted as tiny dragons
http://sunnisan.com/crafts/dragnswap2.html
Dotty's beautiful molded face and sculpted leaves... also small-bead "trim" (later antiqued with brown)
http://www.amaco.com/index.php?page=bottlesofhope (near bottom of page)
Sherry B's sculpted jade mini mask
http://polyclay.com/maskswap.htm (bottom right)
Claudine's mottled colors of jade in fan-ish bead shapes for necklace... carved, and backfilled with white clay (or acrylic?)
http://creaplastic.free.fr/04claudine07.htm
Irene's carving into jade, before applying red antiquing
http://www.good-night-irene.com/WhatIsIt.html
Debbie's flat jade donut pendants, with bit of shaped gold (paint?, leaf?) embellishments
http://www.pcpolyzine.com/2004may/debbie3.JPG
Gerry's very green jade as book cover (with faux ivory, etc. atop)
http://www.newfry.com/books/TheVision.htm
Ellen's speckly faux jade chain links
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/guilds/shrinegallery1.html#berne
Darla's molded jade?....with inclusions of some kind... antiqued with red/orange
http://www.celticdolphin.com/id18.htm (gone)
Linda T's faux jade mask, with carving and paint (website gone)
Darla's woven jade-like clay over an egg (egg dissolved with vinegar) http://www.celticdolphin.com/id17.htm (gone)
Judith Skinner's jade pieces based on Tory & Kate R info
http://members.aol.com/polyannie/fauxs.html (gone... eventually at judithskinner.com?)
Karen O's various faux jade donuts
http://www.norajean.com/MSAT/ClayArt/Swaps/Past/Stoner-005.htm (gone..look at norajean.biz)

lessons & recipes... using clay

Elizabeth's lessons on mixing jade by marbling two jade recipes (see top of page for recipes)
...she flattens a wad of it under deli wrap with a roller till 1/4" thick (..can add a few sprinkles of black clay or embossing powder first)
...she also textures her jade with a texture sheet ...and antiques it after baking (.... then surrounds it with a faux bronze bezel)
http://thepolyparrot.com/faux_looks.pdf (requires Acrobat Reader)

Adria's lesson on making tri-colored jade ...using 3 green shades of tinted translucent (one bluish, one yellowish and/or olive, and one fairly light)
...each sheet rolled as thin as possible (even further stretched)... then cooled
...then torn into random shapes which are piled loosely together, then compressed (no twisting, etc.)
...choose an interesting area to press into a mold... bake ... antique with burnt umber
http://www.claycave.com/tutorial_jade.html

Jennifer (ExpressionsInClay's) lesson on making jade with 5 different colors and diff. proportions of translucent (white, yellow, green/black, green/black/white);
...freeze, then chop all but the white (grate it) into smaller bits... roll or pull and smoosh, then roll until satisified
http://expressionsinclay.bravepages.com/tutjade.html

Kathy Gregson's recipes for jade, and interview re making stones
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/kathyg_chat.html
Kathy's recipes & Melissa's tips
http://members.tripod.com/PolymerClay_Interest/Faux_Jade.html

Faux jade is easy... jade comes in so many colors that you can't go wrong!
...I use .translucent with green & a tiny bit of brown ... mix well.
...add tiny pieces of black & purple (brown will do too)... mix in & make a snake, folding in half over & over until you have tiny thin stripes of black & purple going throughout
...you can add speckles of black at this point if you wish, but it is not necessary
...after you make your Faux Jade item & bake it, age it with burnt umber acrylic paint. That's it! Barbara

Can anyone enlighten me as to the appropriate technique to combine the colours (pale green, tiny amounts of pale orange, pale purple (with) black (specks), if I remember correctly) to get a 'jade' effect instead of a swirled, marble effect?... I ended up just blending the colors completely, which was a really great color, but what I was going for! Melissa

I have seen the Tory Hughes tape, but for Jade, I prefer a different formula ...cernit olive green combined with Fimo ART Transclucent. You have to experiment, but a pea size cernit+gumball size Art T. Add more or less transclucent according to desired value.
...most faux formulas result in a very soft, almost sticky consistency because of the use of translucent clay
...the translucent, when baked,produces a crackly affect (plaquing). DLG

I use about a pea-sized ball of green (or green mixture) to 1/4 block of transparent Fimo 01).  You can vary this by a bit more or less, depending on the shade/effect you want.  Remember, jade comes in all different colours/shades.  I'd suggest making a smallish batch and baking a couple of samples - perhaps a bead and a flattened piece - to see how it looks.  Then you can decide if you need to add a bit more transparent or colour. Vicki:

Try chopping (or making ropes, etc.) your bits of slightly-differently-colored translucents and combining them, possibly covered with a greenish translucent; fold, roll, squish and otherwise manipulate till you get something you like ..

That particular jade is a medium green color. It is made of Fimo. The recipe is 1/2 block OO Art Translucent, 1/64 block of #5 Green and 1/64 block of #9 Black. If you want to make a larger batch like I do, 8x that recipe is 4 blocks of OO, 1/8 block of Green and 1/8 block of Black. All the recipes I use are over on the Webpage (at PCC), click on the chat I had on Faux Techniques. Just remember with Jade that the unbaked clay looks nothing like the baked clay; bake a piece before you add more color to the recipe. Trust me on this. Kat

I love it when a mistake turns out to be a good find. I got too heavy handed on an ancient bronze patina and found that it makes a rather nice jade. If you want the surface to look matte and old, a sparse stippling of two shades of Liquid Sculpey and perm. green artists'oil paint over a dark metalic gray base, does the job. If you use a more generous amount, the colors merge a bit and look like jade. Since the LS is self leveling, it can be sanded with 1200 grit paper and buffed to a rich gloss. Jody B.

I use my small cheese grater to make the black speckles for faux Jade (a la Tory Hughes) now that Fimo's black clay is usually softer than the dry Fimo she use to use (she simply rubbed one chunk against another to get black crumbles)...

other ways to create jade... (inclusions)

Mix green Granitex clay (which has dark green "lint" inclusions in it) with translucent Sculpey III and a bit of Leaf Green Sculpey III, for an easy jade imitation. Donna Kato

I use alcohol inks (...green and brown) to color translucent clay rather than using other clays ...and the translucent clay gives me the plaquing
...the result are rather good. Claudine http://creaplastic.free.fr/04claudine07.htm
...or use artist's oil paints, though alcohol inks would be most transparent

Use green colored play sands in translucent. . .
.....Lindly Haunani. . . adding (craft) sand (available at craft stores) to clay. . . . I've found that a concentration of 3/4 teaspoon per ounce of translucent clay is a good saturation level. When researching additives I've found mixing a scale of different concentrations invaluable. Many work best at 1/2 t or less.; green can be good for faux jade...
....Lindly's lesson on using green sand to make faux jade is on same page as the crayon shavings page link in paragraph just above
Tinidril's jade made with green and purple craft sands in translucent Premo (one antiqued with Geis oil paint)
http://www.tinidril.com/projects/translucents.html

The best jade I've found is an embossing powder called Verdigris mixed into Fimo's ArtTtransparent 00 ...several companies make the embossing powder…

Or add another type of inclusion?... like an herb or a spice ....or maybe dryer lint, etc? DB

Lindly Haunani has a technique for create jade from crayon shavings incorporated into translucent clay.
....when baking this clay, care must be taken because the outermost bits of crayon will melt (use a paper towel underneath to absorb any runoff).
....more than one green may be used in a separate translucent mix to combine next to the previous green, giving the impression of slightly different pieces of jade. Diane B.
....I really dislike using the pasta machine for chopped crayons--takes forever to clean the machine.?—Dianne C.
Lindly Haunani's lesson on using crayon shavings to make a faux jade pendant
http://www.lindlyhaunani.com/tips/inclusions.html

AMAZONITE ... some is similar to jade

green --some like jade, some more greenish turquoise.... many have whitish streaking

real amazonite: http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=amazonite

Kathy Gregson's recipes for polymer coral, and interview re stones, and samples
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/kathyg_chat.html
(look somewhere at http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=4153008/jewelry.html

Dominique's muted coral? or other reddish brown, orangey, or carmel-colored stones... with carved gashes, etc., antiqued with light colored ____
http://www.domicreative.com/bijoux3.php (photo with giraffe)

Red, yellow, white, and translucent . . . marble them together.

CARNELIAN ... red CHALCEDONYS, etc.

real carnelian: http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=carnelian
...(all colors of carnelian --red-orange to dark red--Campbell's soup label to red-brown)
...some carnelian is more transparent, some more translucent... some have a waxy finish rather than a high-gloss finish

Carnelian is a clear red-orange chalcedony --a crypto-crystalline (extremely finely grained) variety of quartz
...Do you prefer the orange-ish or gold-ish tones, or the blood-red tones of carnelian?
...... (my bestest beadshop buddy) said the redder ones are a higher quality. Catherien

authentic carnelian has an orange cast to it. ...some faux carnelian beads I picked up are almost a perfect Premo cadmium red. .
... the brighter carnelian looks like it could be coral, as well...and for that one, I use Premo cad red with transluscent and a touch of black. Patti

however, a little Buddha statue I picked up in an Asian store is that very dark blackish-red, which is the color tone I personally prefer because it has an "old" look
....... for that one I've been using Premo alizaron with some classic red mixed in. Patti
....some are really dark on the bottom like a Skinner Blend w/ black . patsy

To make faux carnelian ...use a dab of crimson or dark red, some orange, and translucent red Fimo. Ed

I've gotten a really nice carnelian-type red using translucent Premo and Pinata alcohol inks (... I think I used Santa Fe Red, Tangerine, and Sun Yellow --and maybe a drop or two of brown? to get the nice dull orange-red )....it buffs up really beautifully too. Lisa

I heard that real carnelian is rarely used to make jewelry pieces anymore because it causes high quantities of lead, which is toxic on the skin so pretty much all the "carnelian" you see isn't really carnelian, unless it's in a museum. Now, that was just one article and I've seen lots of items claiming to be real carnelian, so am not sure what whole truth is. Patti

Kay P's lapis examples (more purplish blue, with distinct bits of translucent, gold leaf, etc.)
http://www.pbase.com/kpanner/polymer_clay_gallery&page=2
Tonja's lapis donut pendants (not as visually chunky)
http://www.tonjastreasures.com/jewelry1/tn17.htm
...REAL LAPIS:
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=lapis+lazuli

lesson: --2-3 colors/shades of dark blue
--hand chop before conditioning it very finely (keeps the angular edges, as opposed tousing a food processor)
--lay in gold sheet and chop withthe blue bits
--mix 1 part mixed blues to 1 pt. translucent (althought the bluer, the more expensive); maybe some gray in translucent
--sand/buff with dry steel wool 0000, after wet sanding with sandpapers
--form piece (don't roll or cane) . . . . Tawna

could also grate the translucents or blue clays
.......Kathy W's lesson on making lapis by stacking layers of blue and violet clay with gold leaf, then grating it, and combining with grated translucent into long cane (cut into lengths, then rolled into beads)
http://www.firemountaingems.com/beading_howtos/beading_projects.asp?docid=6B1U

Nora Jean used Premo's UltraMarine Blue clay and gold Pearl Ex, and sheets of Premo's gold clay.
...she layered... reduced... sectioned then reassembled... reduced
http://www.norajean.com/Faux/Lapis/Tutorial-thm.htm (gone?)

Kathy Gregson's recipes for lapis ....(and interview re stones)
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/kathyg_chat.html

Donna Kato suggests using cobalt-colored embossing powder in translucent clay to simulate lapis lazuli . . . it's a deep blue with gold flecks ...PSX is best
.....ex's of sparkly embossing powder used in other stones
http://b-muse.com/Technique-PolymerClay-EP.HTM

could use a "granite" clay (FimoSoft)... then color it blue with alcohol inks or artists' oil paints?
http://www.polymerclayexpress.com/cernit.html (Cernit's various "granite" colors)
...also see recipes for various ways to simulate "granite" (which also contains translucent and sparkles) below

Arnold Grummer's Iridescent Flakes ....they were $2.50 for about a cup-sized bag
...may be available at craft stores too; ... JoAnn's, with the paper making supplies. Jenn
...http://www.arnoldgrummer.com/ . . .lots of other cool things too..glitters, powders and other inclusiony things. Lorretta
....I made some rose quartz and lapis lazuli cabochons. . . even in person you can't tell they aren't real stones until you pick them up... the light weight gives them away. Catherien
...she also uses a coffee bean grinder to chop the flakes smaller
...and suggests Rauch Sparkle Flakes as a possible substitute

(discontinued clay color?)...or just use a "stone" clay color (like "Lapis") ... was included in Fimo Soft's 24 "Fashion Colours"

lapis without sparkles inside (...or could add sparkles just on top):
...Marina's lesson on making a dark blue "stone" by highly marbling a number of blues, then cutting cross-sections of the resulting ball or log where the pattern is very tiny and random
http://www.marieidraghi.it/fauxstone.htm
...play sand is very fine and could be used as an inclusion for speckles

metallic powders on surface, but no sparkles inside
...Varda's faux lapis scarabs and beads necklace (using blue clay ...with Pearl Ex,etc. on top for overall opalescence?, or just Skinner blends?)
http://community.webshots.com/photo/5633878/17112723PdTCMAJIjh
...I was trying for lapis. I mixed dark blue pearl Sculpey III (...Premo has a dark blue Pearl too) with (I think) blue Fimo
. . (after I formed the beetle), I brushed a little blue Eberhard Faber real-metal powderall over... then did the same with a lot of gold powder
. . after baking, I sanded it until I liked the degree of metallic effect left in the grooves, etc. (so most of the powder was sanded off). Ed
Denise S's King Tut mini mask ... lapis has lots of translucent or trans-white bits visible in the mix, and "gold" mica clay too?....molded or sculpted... onlays of bright gold strips, etc.
http://polyclay.com/mask2003.htm

I was told by someone that their Lapis Lazuli jewelry faded very badly (in the sun or UV), so be cautious with that particular color (*Classic* Fimo’s Midnight?). Desiree

AZURITE

real azurite:
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=azurite
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=azurite+bead
dark blue to a more brilliant blue ...similar to the composition of malachite
http://www.rockhounds.com/rockshop/cabs.html
often invaded by malachite, etc
http://www.powercuff.com/pcstones.htm#AZURITE
http://www.bernardine.com/gemstones/azurite-malachite.htm

real malachite:
http://www.rockhounds.com/rockshop/malach4.jpg
(see also Azurite just above which often occurs with malachite)

Lorieo's striped malachite, with a little gold, rock amulet
http://www.sculpturefromtheheart.com/_borders/Malacite_triplefae_back.jpg

Marie Segal's malachite, made like her lesson on "faux abalone", but using no Pearl clay (many layers/colors in stack...cut face of loaf with wavy blade) ...(or could be any amorphous swirling) in mosaics on boxes, trays
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/ms_abalone3.html (go back to page 1 for lesson)

Nora-Jeans lesson
http://www.norajean.com/Biz-Archive/Faux/Malachite/2002-Thm.htm

There are two approaches to malachite:
To achieve the circular growth patterns end on, roll a long rod of white blended with translucent and wrap in successively darkening shades of green, finishing with a blue/black wrap. Reduce so that the wrapped log is tapered. Cut and stack with an eye to shaping a block, packing the logs with variegated green sheets in between to create a swirling pattern. You've got a malachite cane, one of the few that I can make. . .
....Use the same technique for azurite and burl.

Sue Heaser has a method of indenting a multi-wrapped cane which she uses for "agate" (see below), but which would also work well for malachite?

I've found that the Fimo Soft color "emerald" is the best one to start with when making malachite...it's a blue-based green. From there, I just make a slab of different shades of it...adding white, black...I also tweak the color some with yellow and even a tinge of red to dull it a tiny bit.. . . then run the whole thing through the pasta machine to make it a really skinny striped slab. From there you can do the old mokume gane thing to it and you'll get lines and bullseyes. Like I said, it's challenging to get the right color and "tightness" of the lines...it's been the hardest faux for me to make so far. riverpoetess

Alan's lesson on making "botryoidal'" malachite with 5 random bullseye canes and a couple of randoms stacks, made with greens (many shades made from yellow/green/blue/pearl and black or white) .
. . 'botryoidal' just means like a bunch of grapes...there's always some layered mineral which joins the 'grapes' together. The important thing I've found, is to keep the thicknesses of all the sheets rough - no pasta machines in nature! Alan
http://groups.msn.com/ALANpolymer/malachiteinpolyclay.msnw
http://groups.msn.com/ALANpolymer/malachiteinpolyclay.msnz

... I bet you'd make a perfect burl walnut just by changing the colors to browns. Katie

AGATE

Ann’s (purple) "agate" cane (website gone)
http://www.spherestoyou.com/Sshoppe/agdomes.htm (agates)
http://www.mineralminers.com/html/agasphs.stm (agates)
http://www.montanagemstones.com/slab.htm
http://www.jesh.com/gemstones/quartz/mossagate.htm
http://www.harmons.net/cabs.html
http://www.egemstones.com/agate.html
http://www.rockhounds.com/rockshop/agate4.jpg ("picture" agate)

(see also Barbara McGuire's bead above in Marble)

New Imitatives Demo by Tory Hughes that I went to she mentioned she would be publishing the techniques in Ornament soon. The new imitations were of Faience (sp?) and agates.

…agate can also be done with a technique similar to malachite using lots of translucent and earth tones. Sherry

fat log of translucent; 3 small snakes (dark brown, ochre-ish?, rust?) along log, equidistant from each other; roll snakes and twist; roll and twist again (bend over 2 times and roll again if want to break up regularity of stripes); cut chunk off resulting fat log; close clay over inner surfaces; roll into ball (looks like agate); …Donna Kato's tech.

moss agate shouldn't be too hard...lemme think a sec...A lot of white mixed with translucent, a bit of green, a bit of black in the processor all together. Moosh it, but don't blend. Cut off chunks and roll into beads.
...Maybe green dryer lint, as my REAL moss agate ring has a spidery texture to the green inclusions

Jenny's lesson on finely patterned granite-y agate..look like geode slice (hers makes a cane and she cuts slices), using (refrigerated) grated clays --translucent on large-hole area, white in smaller hole-area, and a bit of color if you want on large hole)-- this is grated again after rolled into ball and refrigerated again; she then rolls into a plug and adds various layers of translucent or trans-tinted clays before slicing
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/faux_agate.html
..."A geode is a sphere shaped rock which contains a hollow cavity lined with crystals. A geode which is completely filled with small compact crystal formations such as agate, jasper or chalcedony is called a nodule. The only difference between a geode and a nodule is that a geode has a hollow cavity, and a nodule is solid."
... the technique for the center could be used for many finely broken up or swirly effects

Tonja's agate shapes (many wire-wrapped) as pendants
... some more grayish-brown, some more reddish-brown --with black streaks, and probably a plaquing translucent
http://www.tonjastreasures.com/jewelry1/tn1.htm

Sue Heaser has a technique for making agate in her book Polymer Clay Techniques that's similar to the circular malachite above. She surrounds a translucent log with wraps of different colors, then presses into the log along its length with a butter knife in a number of places to press the layers inward randomly.

I like the stamped mokume, too - with greens and browns and warm-toned metal leaf, it tends to look like some exotic agate. Elizabeth
(see also Mokume Gane/Paints/Lumiere oil paints for more)

Next, I'm trying a Capri blue-green agate done like this (with inks). Elizabeth (see above in "Amber," for Eliz's lesson)

Tess' organic swirly effect . . .lesson on using 8 small clay rectangles of diff. colors, on which she puts various Lumiere paints and Pinata inks (allowing them to sit no longer than 30 min), adding leaf here and there before stacking, cutting and restacking sev. times (she presses down pretty hard in between re-stacks to create waviness); the cuts her stack with a wavy blade
http://pages.ivillage.com/tesselenetdkg/garnetpomegranate/id15.html

Desiree's "sparkling moss agate" bead (& lesson) ....(Moss Agate - sort of.) Moss agate looks like a piece of milky glass with flecks and clusters of opaque black spots....I just rolled out a thin sheet of translucent; sprinkled it with finely chopped black clay and PearlEx copper mica powder; rolled up the strip and did the 'Buesseler cut'. (see football cut in Beads). Note: They're not really accurate simulations of moss agate because moss agate doesn't have sparkles of copper bits in it ... I wanted to see the effect of cutting across the different cane layers. Desiree
http://desiredcreations.com/howTo_MossAgateBead.htm
.....Jainnie's variation on Desiree's sparkling moss agate....For mine, I applied sliced pieces from the rolled up sparkling moss agate cane onto a translucent base. That way I can control, somewhat, the way the design turns out.....like if I want diagonal lines of black, etc.
... for others, I used blue-green pearl ex, or a combination of copper and yellow/gold pex colors.
.... little leftover scrap pieces after cutting the bead shape were used for yet another! Jainnie
http://www.littlebearstudio.com/ (click on Gallery, then Pendants)

"Agatized Coral" (Florida's state stone --Chalcedony Pseudomorph after Coral; ...over a long period of time the carbonate of lime skeleton was replaced by the mineral quartz; this process also happens to wood creating petrified wood.)
"Fossilized Coral" (some are "Petoskey stones" --Hexagonaria percarinata)
....Michigan’s state gem, the petoskey stone, is actually a fossilized coral. West Virginia fossil coral was also designated a state gem
http://www.geobop.com/paleozoo/World/NA/US/MI/ --Petoskey info
http://www.geo.msu.edu/geo333/petoskystone.html (info about these stones)
http://lapidaryart.com/rocks_1.html (many enlargeable photos of patterns)
http://thaigem.thailand.com/shopping/search_type.asp?code=ncs92 (many photos--click on Oval or on Round cabs)
http://www.asianbeads.com/Coral.htm
(...Modern corals deposit a single, very thin layer of lime once a day. It is possible to count these diurnal (day-night) growth lines. You can also count annual growth. So, given the right piece of coral, you can measure how many days there are in a year. These measures can equally well be done on fossilized coral. For example, coral from the Pennsylvanian rockbeds have about 387 daily layers per year. Coral from the Devonian rockbeds have about 400 daily layers per year. In the Cambrian, a year was 412 days. One Precambrian stromatolite gave 435 days per year...)
........ lesson by Darla on "fossilized agatized coral"
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/8117/projects/coral_tutorial.html
. . . What I found that works best (and I tried a LOT of different ideas) is to use mostly dark colors for your back ground, and not just one color, but a mix of colors that contrast nicely. ..I found that light colored base clays didn't work well, neither did gold or silver leaf...
I used Elissa's mum cane as a background on the blue and red (background) ones.
After I get my background layer ready, I put very, very thin layers of my translucent coral cane over the back ground, not completely covering it, but close.
I run it through the pasta machine again to smooth a bit (rolling a brayer over would be fine also)
Then I put on a top layer of the translucent cane, sliced thin, but not paper thin -- and I cover the entire top. any slices that don't come out whole I save to "smoosh" into any spaces between the slices on the top layer,
then I run it through the pasta machine again to smooth some more.
I cut out my cabs and baked, and the most important thing to remember is to pop them right into ice water after baking! The colder the better -- I set up my ice water about 15 - 20 minutes before my clay is finished, that way the ice has started to melt and makes the water super cold!
Then I sand, sand, sand from 400 to 1000 to 1500 to 2000 grit and then I buff with a peice of denim. Darla

This is some faux something or other :)....The recipe for these was translucent premo, green/blue pearlex and some gold leaf stuff. In real life, they are a very pale green - almost like an opal. Sera
...They look almost like some light colored faux agate I got once when I was trying for faux bone... somehow, a bit of green clay got mixed in my project, and it turned out nice. It wasn't the faux bone I'd hoped for, but it wasn't a disappointment either! Jodi
...I think first of old ivory or perhaps a jade? Catherien
...like the onyx on an antique clock that we have. ol' rebbie

Jenny's lesson on finely patterned granite-y agate..look like geode slice (hers makes a cane and she cuts slices), using (refrigerated) grated clays --translucent on large-hole area, white in smaller hole-area, and a bit of color if you want on large hole)-- this is grated again after rolled into ball and refrigerated again; she then rolls into a plug and adds various layers of translucent or trans-tinted clays before slicing
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/faux_agate.html
..."A geode is a sphere shaped rock which contains a hollow cavity lined with crystals. A geode which is completely filled with small compact crystal formations such as agate, jasper or chalcedony is called a nodule. The only difference between a geode and a nodule is that a geode has a hollow cavity, and a nodule is solid."
... the technique for the center could be used for many finely broken up or swirly effects

Some "special colors" of polymer clay already come in stone effects ...(see more on these in Characteristics,clays > Special Colors):
1. Fimo's Stone colors (now discontinued but may be some left on shelves) ..granitey, composite look, speckledly... good effect
2. Sculpey's Granitex ...fibers...looks like lint inclusions....soft effect
...I tend to use acrylic washes over the Granitex to get a more stone color. I find that Granitex makes beautiful stone if you just give it a light wash of a really dark color that complements.
3. Cernit's Nature (Granite) colors ...fibers and speckles, muted colors
... Wow! I have found that Cernit's Nature Colors DO look a lot like stone, and they are really pretty, to boot
.. . . they have the names granite (pale grey and very speckly), savanna (beige), agate (a pale green), quartz (dark greywith transparent), and sienna ( a lovely terra cotta). They are all full of tiny fibres and speckles. I like the fact they are very muted colours - they really do look like stones in colour....When I feel the need to make stone-looking stone, I generally mix in sand or dirt as well...
http://www.polymerclayexpress.com/cernit.html and http://www.clayfactory.net/cernit/cernit.html

POLISHED stones especially
...Marina's lesson on making a dark blue "stone" would work well for any opaque stones which have been cut and polished
(she shows some finished "stones" in colors of brown, light blue-green, and dark blue in her jewelry)
...... she highly marbles a number of blues, in this case, then cuts cross-sections of the resulting ball or log where the pattern is very tiny & speckly
http://www.marieidraghi.it/fauxstone.htm ... examples: http://www.marieidraghi.it/ciondoli_-_pendants.htm
.....also see above in Lapis, Agate, Jade, etc., for techniques which can translate to any color polished stone

Irene uses many fauxs (esp. rock-like ones) as tiles
http://www.good-night-irene.com/tiledclocks/tclocks.html (look under Older Work)
various examples of faux stone:
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/pcc/swapsolstice.html
Cheryl H 's veined faux river rocks
http://www.norajean.com/MSAT/ClayArt/Swaps/Past/Stoner-004.htm
Tom P's faux pebbles display stand
http://polymerclaycentral.com/mikeb/TomFly.html
smooth "stone" face
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/claypen_magnets.html (click on Mister X)
Sherry's stone mini mask face
http://polyclay.com/mask2003.htm
Ed's smooth stone head http://edsclaypage.homestead.com/Gallery2.html (website gone)

Irene's rock-like stone slabs, etc. ... various types and colors
(...some with embossing powders, sponge painted areas, distressing/antiquing, etc.)
http://www.good-night-irene.com/Clocks.html

Hetty's boxes with outer rock-like surfaces ...various techniques, but at least textured.
...one has verdigris coloring added in layers, then textured with a broken toothpick
http://www.bpcg.org.uk/membergallery/henscott.htm

steph's lesson with potting soil. . . i began with a sheet of clay the main color of the rock
... then I rolled pieces of a color a few shades deeper on the thinnest setting, and tore those up to place on my sheet very randomly
...i then added a little black or a dark color, very thin and in small pieces
... i then sprinkled on just a little potting soil, and twisted it into the clay until i got the look i like (you can add more later too)
...it comes out different looking depending on how much you mix the colors and mix in the potting soil (I use mine to make beads). steph

Maureen's lesson on pebbles & rocks
.....marble together granite, jasper, white & translucent clays (she uses FimoSoft)
.....flatten and fold over (same direction each time) until sufficient layers of thin stripes are created
(...for rocks larger than 1", she covers an alum. foil rock shape with the clay)
...press against rough real rock for texture
...rock's colors can be varied by using or adding adding other colors... photo shows brown)
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/crafting/article/0,1789,HGTV_3352_1399774,00.html (figure E)
(see rocks in photo of finished project)

Jeanne D's lesson on making stone with Granitex or Fimo's Stone colors, or marbling
... then molding or stamping them, or making into roses, pendants, etc.
http://www.jaedworks.com/clayspot/techniques/stone.html
Marie R's rock-sculpted gargoyle
http://pcpolyzine.com/0301january/0301fantasyart3.html

granite (summary)
.......granite has many variations in color and mix, but here are some possible combinations to use:
... As a base, use translucent clay only (or tinted translucent), or translucent mixed with bits of regular clays like white, gray or other colors)
...the clays can be chopped up or grated, then pressed together ...or you can go with more of a marble-mixed look some possibilities for inclusions in the clay:
...colored sands (e.g, natural, pink, black) ...embossing powders
...herbs, spices, dirt, natural materials (crush or grate if necessary to create bits and flecks) ...e.g., black pepper.... Old Bay seasoning... bark, twigs ...dust from box of tea bags
....many of Marie Segals "mix ins" look like granite http://www.clayfactory.net/marie/mixin1.htm
.....if you let alcohol inks get completely dry on a sheet of clay before trying to mix them in, some of the colors remain in little flecks ...(Rainforest green, sapphire blue and the brown colorsof alcohol ink will fleck) ...acrylic paints can allowed to dry on raw clay, then stretched to create small bits and flecks
...to get smaller bits and speckles of clay, use a firm clay (like FimoClassic, or leach another clay till it's "drier")-- then grate it with a small grater, or break an unconditioned bar into two pieces and "grate" them against each other
possibilities for sparkly inclusions in granite:
...fine-grain silvery glitters (the type often used on clothing)
....bit of silver or gold FimoSoft "glitter clay"
....sand will look more sparkly if the baked clay is given a high gloss finish
....sparkly embossing powders http://b-muse.com/Technique-PolymerClay-EP.HTM (middle of page)
....some mica powders will work, especially the larger flake ones
....tiny bits of metal leaf...can chop with the clays (if too sparkly, can cover whole mixed clay with very thin translucent, then stretch even thinner)
gray-black granite.. large portion of white and a TINY amount of black to make it just barely grey... then add black embossing powder until it looks right.Cathy
many photos of real granite http://snipurl.com/lrjn

Jenny's lesson on finely patterned granite type agate..look like geode slice (hers makes a cane and she cuts slices), using (refrigerated) grated clays --translucent on large-hole area, white in smaller hole-area, and a bit of color if you want on large hole)-- this is grated again after rolled into ball and refrigerated again; she then rolls into a plug and adds various layers of translucent or trans-tinted clays before slicing
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/faux_agate.html

jasper ... I recently mixed some "mystery" embossing powder (a mix of black and gold) into light brown clay and ended up with something that looks like jasper ...sure made some cool little pebble beads. jilla

torn pieces of clay sheets
...you can get ragged edges on the sides of clay sheets by tearing the sheets rather than cutting them
...... tearing works best for "dry" clays like FimoClassic, old clay, or leached clay (for more on tearing, see Sheets > Watercolor Effects)
...collaged layers of various rock-like sheets, some torn
http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/pc2.html (middle of page)

crumbled-broken rock in sheets
...your theory about large chunks scattered around on a (base) sheet sounds good . Catherine
http://www.good-night-irene.com/WallStuff.html ...http://www.good-night-irene.com/Clocks.html
...chop up some clay (mica or pearl-mixed clays will show a more 3-D crumbly look)
... then run your pressed-together-chunks through a pasta machine or brayer it flat
....the edges will also be very ragged, and the sheet will look stonelike

more old rock
...I recently mixed some clean kitty litter into my polymer-clay and got a kind of a prehistoric look!.... It is more coarse than sand, but gives a nice texture.
....a nice just-dug-out-of-the-fossil-bed look can be given by gently pressing crumpled aluminum foil into the surface of raw clay, removing the foil, curing
...... then giving the cured product a liberal "patina" of burnt umber acrylic paint.... wet-sanding, and polishing with a dry muslin buffer.
...Gwen Gibson's various fauxs, especially carved and aged rock beads and aged wood, etc.
http://www.gwengibson.com/gallery/evolve-1989.htm#art
...PoRRo's faux ammonite fossils
http://porro.claymountain.com/fossil.html
...A bunch of my clay developed cracks in a number of places while I was making some (larger, solid clay) faux stone pieces...
......so I used the cracks and made them into very old looking beads which really showed the cracks
..... I (antiqued) took black acrylic paint and put it all over each of them. I used a stiff brush so I could jab the paint as much into the cracks as possible and I "mushed" the paint around leaving a thin layer of it all over the bead.
....When the paint was completely dry (I used a heat gun to dry them).... I sanded them with a 320 grit wet/dry sandpaper, then a 400. ....After that I buffed them and wow! ..I loved them, and made whole necklace using them. Dotty
(for more on making cracks even intentionally, see Heads > Cracking)

(.....for more ways to create aged or archaeological effects in rock, etc, see below in "Aged Effects")

Maureen's lesson on rocks & pebbles with striations of FimoSoft colors (granite, jasper, white & translucent)
. . .marble-mix colors..flatten and fold over repeatedly (same direction each time) until sufficient layers appear
(...for rocks larger than 1", she uses a a alum. foil ball armature underneath...unnecessary for pebbles)
...then press against a rough real rock for texture (...add other clay colors for natural variations in color)
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/crafting/article/0,1789,HGTV_3352_1399774,00.html (Fig E... which looks like the faux wood she also used in this lesson, but supposed to be rock)

sandstone : 1 part Ecru, 1 part White, 1/4-1/2 Brown Granitex clays..... brown, copper, or white embossing powders are another nice touch for sandstones and shales ....for additional texture, add sand to it ... or grind up baked clay made from the blend above (and add that). kadewey
...my successful recipe was numerous scraps of brown,ecru orange, yellow and, believe it or not, GREEN !! Clint
.........I add green to my sandstone too...kind of a dull minty green actually. Lynne
... faux sandstone... made by mixing coffee grounds into ecru Premo clay.. . . I've also made a more marbled sandstone by mixing coffee grounds into ecru clay and other shades of brown and stacking them up (heavy on the lighter shades, but including some darker shades) and twisting them, and cutting into the center for some nice striated swirls. Emily

flecks..... if you let the Pinata (alcohol-based) Inks (or other inks or paints?) get completely dry after painting them on the clay, then mix them into the clay, (the dried ink will break up and) some of the colors remain in little flecks. ...(Rainforest green, sapphire blue and the brown colors will fleck, that I can remember... but some of the others will blend completely.) Eliz.'
(see more on this in Letters-Inks > Inks for Tinting)

see above in "Agate" for a swirly effect created with inks/paints and a wavy blade

TEXTURING a surface:
....use quilt batting to texture a chaotic sandstone effect onto faux pebbles (...batting also polishes sanded polyclay by hand extremely well). Sue?
...the idea of rolling the surface with salt to give it a rougher texture look was amazing, so thanks! Clint (then wash it off)
...I texture with a piece of REALLY rough sandpaper...it's actually a sanding disc I guess...36 grit from Home Depot. After you smooth the joints and everything, you texture it again...also, ripping the sheets and placing them on top of each other is what gets you that bumpy unevenness...Lynne
...fatbak also stamped and molded and antiqued her faux sandstone for a box ...gone??
....Jayne H's sandstone-looking mokume gane with shades of brown, beige and red
...http://home.centurytel.net/tkaylen/group3.html

ADD TEXTURE with inclusions, or on the surface:
...add grainy things like sand to the clay (or a layer of clay on the surface) (see Inclusions)
.... grind up or grate pre baked clay, and add that
....

Susan F's lesson on making faux rhodochrosite (rhodofauxite) or any stone with the "dragged lines" or combed paper method (see Sheets of Pattern > Dragged Lines for details) for simulating stone beads

INCLUSIONS mixed into translucent clays, to simulate rock
Marie Segal’s extensive inclusions samples ...7 pgs
http://www.clayfactory.net/marie/mixin1.htm
Kris Richards' lessons and many inclusions (do not use Beedz or Jones Tones foils to mix in pasta machine though!)
http://www.sculpey.com/Projects/projects_ClayInclusions.htm

You can use colored play sands as an inclusion (at craft stores) for creating jade, granite
....My current favorite is Old Bay seasoning mix.... Mixed with translucent it really looks like stone.
....Mix in the dust from bottom of a box of tea bags - lovely tiny speckles (I describe this technique in my minis book to simulate stoneware clays). Sue?
........(see more in Inclusions > Websites)

Donna Kato has suggested using these (embossing powder?) combinations to simulate stone:
--cobalt powder in translucent clay to simulate lapis lazuli
--Weathered White into black clay for black granite
--verdegris into translucent for green granite

Heather's lesson on mixing brown embossing powder into translucent clay ..... to use as an onlay of "sand"
http://www.sculpey.com/Projects/projects_tropfishswitchplate.htm

...for some stones, can be best to use more than one color or shade to get variation in the coloration

embossing powders used as inclusions in translucent clay to make (roughly shaped) buttons (stone-like, jade-like, etc.)
http://b-muse.com/Technique-PolymerClay-EP.HTM

I use embossing powders on top of raw clay all the time. They bake just fine, giving a pebbly effect on the surface. Dotty
.....Most (all?) of those embossing powders when mixed into raw translucent clay and baked had tiny explosions of white all over the surface of the clay after baking, and many of them changed colors or otherwise looked different from their unbaked state. ...I think the amount of explosion may have depended on the baking time, but the white bursts could also be reduced by sanding after baking.

I mixed clear embossing powder into black clay, and baked it. The result was a flat black sheet that looked like water droplets had been baked on it!
....I then attached on top of it another piece of baked clay with TLS (squashing it?), and rebaked it ...(came apart easily?) this time the water droplet thingies kinda merged together into droplets with less circular, more random shapes (also, after the second bake, the EP has become waxy. I can peel it off like wax, and it is quite soft). Sera x

to create a sort of bleached rock look, Donna also likes to use white (embossing?) powder in translucent clay
....after impressing with an ethnic or abstract stamp, she bakes, antiques with a diluted white acrylic paint, and sands the top off

Here and there you could try tinting your clay-and-inclusions mixture with the powder from grated charcoal or artist's pastels... scribble vigorously on a scrap of sandpaper, then transfer the powder to your clay piece (before baking) with a Q-Tip... or if you're really brave, just blow it on. Suzanne I.

You could use pale pink, pale violet and little gold spots, for example as flashes of mica in your stones. PoRRO

fake polymer clay rock with one large eye on it, by Devil Ducky... large eye was plastic so not baked with the clay --eye impressed in raw clay, then glued back in after baking (or could make an eye with clay --see Sculpting-Body > Eyes > Clay Eyes, or use a glass eye)
...foil-ball armature underneath.... could use a paperweight, or outdoors, etc.
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/3649/kamen2ze0.jpg

Valerie's high relief stone wall and stone ovens in clay "painting" created just by impressing lines into clay sheets
http://www.vaharoni.com/wp-content/fgallery/paintings/kever_detail.jpg ...and http://www.vaharoni.com ( Paintings)

many photos of REAL STONE ...granite, sandstone, marble, slate, travertine
http://www.findstone.com/matph.htm

SAND

There are various types of sand we might want to simulate
.. very white & slightly-sparkly beach sand, off-white or more brownish desert or beach sand, very fine sand, more grainy sand, dune sands with ripples/etc, colored sands (volcanic, fantasy), etc.

A suitable color of clay (white, offwhite, or brownish...with or without some sparkliness or shimmer ) could just be textured with sandpaper, tiny pricks of a needle, a texture sheet (possibly even made yourself, from real sand or salt), crumpled aluminum foil, etc., depending on how close-up they're viewed and their natural texture.

Sparkles or shimmer could come from various things inside the clay (especially if using translucent or trans/Pearl clay), or on top of the clay... e.g., mica powders, fine-grain opalescent glitters, even pearly acrylic paints

Graininess could also come from mixing actual sand or salt or sugar, etc., into translucent clay or trans-white clay, or liqiud clay
etc.
....or those things could be applied to the top of the clay and pressed or sealed on
...or there could be no graininess at all

I came up with a nice sand that's got great sparkle... colored sand with small amounts of TLS, just enough until it's thick and moldable --I mixed (dry) white sand with a little peach, yellow and brown until I got a realistic shade....place it where you want it.... then dab pearl-colored mica powder to highlight, and add sparkle ..might even use a little gold powder too. Marcella

(see more on using salt and sugar just below in Lava + pitted effects )

BONE
(see Faux Ivory for all bone)

Paulo's faux snake vertebra (website gone)
Paulo's faux bone heishi-type beads (website gone)

SHELLS

Alan's brown and white nautilus shells (somewhat opaque coloring) ...(DB: where are rest?)
http://groups.msn.com/ALANpolymer/polyclayjewellery.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=45

translucent-white shell

You might be interested in a mix I have come up with. Layer white fimo, pearlized white fimo and translucent, having the white thickest, then pearlized enclosing a thin layer of translucent. Repeat layers and create a square log. The secret is to cut diagonal slices across the layers for the most realistic effect. After I create the log I slice the whole thing diagonally the long way, turn and recombine.

Jeanne R. simulates the variegation in translucent-whitish capiz shell (the translucent disks of which are often seen as wind chimes) (also look like dried seed pod of silver dollar plant/lunaria)....to create a faux-textured bead.... she uses Pearl clay (a mica clay), or translucent and pearl and runs them through the pasta machine with a piece of plastic canvas, which causes small bumps to be raised in a grid... the bumps are shaved off and placed onto a base clay ball then rolled smooth...
http://www.heartofclay.com/pc/fauxfabrics.htm

Using one of the opal, quartz, or abalone, etc., recipes above to create a pearly white shell, you can also carve, stamp or texture into the clay. . . . if the resulting low lying areas are antiqued or back-filled with white Rub 'N Buff, white acrylic paint, Diluent-thinned white clay, or even white Pearl Ex or Fimo Pulver in liquid clay or a finish like Varathane, it will resemble "carved" shell buttons, etc.

(for pearly shell such as abalone/mother of pearl, see below in Abalone)

TERRACOTTA + earth clay

3-2000 --Polyform is now making a terracotta colored clay in 2 lb boxes---that matches a clay flower pot.
..... Marie Segal gave me a hunk of the stuff to try. . . it hasn't been done up yet but looks amazingly like the real terra cotta pot it is resting in.... I think that it is even being marketed in 8# pkgs. mamadude
...I believe this is a "weak" clay after baking in any thin