What kind of clay do you think this might be... and more ?'s

[shelly_bean]

My mom got this from my (distant) cousin's baby's baptism, it was the party favor. I don't talk to said cousin much at all ok technically only when I'm in town and it has been like years since I last talked to her. any who...Here are some pictures.


this is the back how the 'beads' are placed onto the string.


Also the 'bead' is shimmery/glittery and it smells like roses.
I've been googling to see if I could find something similar and talked to another cousin who talks to said cousin regularly, but no word back.
So I'm wondering... would it be possible for me ( a never used clay before) to make something like this rosary?
Also how do you scent it? and keep the scent strong because this thing is over a year old and still smells great.. but it also hasn't been handled a lot ( which I think is why it stayed smelling great). and also what kind of clay would this be? I know I posted this in the polymer section, but its because I had no clue where to put it.

I can only presume that this wasn't a baked bead but more of an air dry bead because the string is embedded in the cross. But I'm not a clay person so I have no clue. Any help would be greatly appreciated. TIA.

[Diane B.]

It's hard to tell for sure, but it's probably polymer clay though could be an air-dry clay.

If if were a polymer clay, it would probably be either one of the mica-containing clay "colors" called Pearl from several brands....FimoSoft calls theirs Mother-of-Pearl (in their Effects line, one of their "Metallics").  Or perhaps it could have been FimoSoft's Glitter White (which has fine-grain glitter in it rather than mica powder), but probably not.

Or that kind of color in polymer clay can just be created at home by mixing uncolored mica powder into the Translucent color of polymer clay--or even into a Pearl just to gild the lily. 
If it were created with Translucent clay, it might also have had a bit of off-white clay (or other colorant) added also just to opaque it more (and make it less bright white as well).

The green and pink pearly flower/leaf beads are probably created by adding a bit of green or magenta/pink clay (or artists oil paint, or shavings from oil pastels, or various other polymer-compatible colorants) into whichever strategy from above was chosen.

You can read much more about mica clays (including the colorless version call Pearl), as well as about mica powders, using inclusions inside Translucent, etc, here:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=251339.msg2796578#msg2796578 (last 2 paragraphs)
http://glassattic.com/polymer/mica.htm (you're not concerned with the special effects mica-containing clays can do like mica shift and ghost image, etc, since the baptism beads didn't do them)
And check here for loads of info on mica powders and putting inclusions into translucent clays:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/powders_metallicwaxes.htm > Mica Powders
http://glassattic.com/polymer/translucents-glow.htm > Inclusions & Additions

If it were an air-dry clay, it could have just been painted on the dried surface with pearly-colored acrylic paints or with mica powders mixed into a clear finish then used as paints.  It's possible that adding a lot of one of those pearly paints to the raw air-dry clay could work but the color is pretty saturated here so probably not.  There would be other colorants (and inclusions, finishes) that could have been used though in the body of the clay or on top.

The shininess you see was probably added with one of the clear water-based gloss liquid finishes after baking, or after air-drying if an air-dry clay (but polymer clay can also be sanded then electric-buffed to make its surface glossy). 
You can read more about finishes for polymer clay here:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=273974.msg3096293#msg3096293
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/finishes.htm

As for hardening the clay used, polymer clay must be heated to harden but only at a very low temp, and most materials will be fine at that temperature--including probably the cording you see used with the beads.  In fact, there are only a few materials (mostly certain kinds of plastics) that can't be baked with polymer clay especially if protected a bit while baking.
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=283069.msg3315049#msg3315049
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/baking.htm

There are also all kinds of ways to "string" beads together, and the "little pad of clay on the back" for your beads is one way that's often used for attaching pinbacks to polymer items, etc.
There are more ways on these pages of my site, if you're interested:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/jewelry.htm > Cords > Connectors > Necklaces
http://glassattic.com/polymer/pendants_cording.htm > Loops & Holes for Cording especially
http://glassattic.com/polymer/beads-holes.htm

As for the scent, essential oils, perfume oils, and other strong scents from ground materials (cinnamon is one favorite), and more, can be used as inclusions in polymer clay and will retain the scent for a long time, especially if the item is kept in a baggie or somewhere it doesn't get a lot of moving air/oxygen all the time. But even then it will retain some of the scent depending on the strength of the original inclusion. The scent will become stronger also if the clay is warmed a bit or rubbed (or even sanded on the back side occasionally).
You can read more about scenting polymer clay on my Inclusions page as well:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/inclusions.htm > Smell-y Inclusions

HTH,
Diane B.

[shelly_bean]

Thank you for all that info. I have no clue about clay or anything like that.