But a short love story I heard recently in a polymer clay bar changed my feelings about baked beads.

The tale goes like this:

A young woman once left her boyfriend because she thought he was too ordinary just like clay under the feet which can be found everywhere.

The man was heartbroken. "Is being ordinary such a terrible shortcoming," he wondered to himself.

One day, he was passing by a polymer clay bar and decided to go in. He spent a whole day working with clay and he made many clay beads decorated with hearts.

He sent these beads to his girlfriend with a note which said: "Clay is very ordinary when you step on it, but if you look more closely at it and spend more time on it, it becomes beautiful and intimate."

Whether this persuaded his love to return to him or not is not important. There are so many stories about separation and reunion of lovers.

But this story has made me look at clay in a whole new way.

Next to sparkling, expensive stones and metals, clay may seem cheap and ordinary.

But if you are willing to spend some time on it, designing and making jewellery with it, you will be able to create a unique ornament that is yours alone.

At No 45, Lane 712 on Changning Road is a very peaceful clay bar. I made my first polymer clay ornament there under the direction of Jin Lei, the young boss of the bar who used to be a cartoonist, but became addicted to working with polymer clay the very first time he used it.

"When you hold the clay in your hands, it feels soft and comfortable, just like talking with an old friend," he said.

In Chinese, polymer clay is called ruantao which means soft pottery. "It starts soft and malleable, but after about 20 minutes in an oven, it becomes very hard and can't be broken," said Jin, wearing a bracelet of black and golden clay on his right wrist.

Polymer clay ornaments were first made in Europe and were introduced to the Chinese mainland from Taiwan.

"Chinese people usually design ornaments in traditional Chinese styles in rich colours and with regular patterns," said Jin.

The bar has hundreds of polymer clay ornaments including necklaces, bracelets, hairpins, earrings and rings of traditional Chinese colours such as deep blue, bright red and gold.

Polymer clay comes in 10 basic colours which can be mixed to expand the spectrum. Or you can make objects which are only black or white. "Young people like black and white. They think it is modern and therefore cool," Jin said.

Combine yellowish brown, black and gold and you will come up an ornament that looks ancient Egyptian.

If you prefer tropical island colours, you can choose from sea blue, green and pink.

As for patterns, floral prints such as rose and chrysanthemum look very pretty. Twisted circles and crosses are also popular.

The soft polymer clay can be moulded into many sizes to form cylindrical, square or any shape of bead. These can then be threaded onto ribbon or leather to make a necklace or bracelet.

The latest way to wear polymer clay beads is on silk strings hung from a waist belt which suits casual wear.