Polymer Clay Jewelry
Polymer clay jewelry is a new fashion statement that is spreading on like wild fire. These polymer clay beads are a bit on the heavy side but they are very attractive and you can create all kinds of jewelry on your own. It usually contains no clay minerals and is only called “clay” because its surface and operational properties resemble those of mineral clay. It is sold in craft, hobby, and art stores, and is used by artists, hobbyists, and children. Polymer clay is a man-made, non-toxic modeling material that works and feels like ceramic clay, but won’t dry out when exposed to air. It’s great for kids as well as adults.
Polymer clay is, as the name implies, a pliable, bendable polymer compound for artists and crafters. It’s not true clay - clay is fine particles of silicate suspended in water, whereas polymer clay is fine particles of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) suspended in plasticizer - but it can be used much like clay. What makes polymer clay special is its versatility. It comes in dozens of colors, and you can blend clays together like paints to make your own colors. Since the color is inherent in the particles, you can also work two or more colors together without blending them, if you prefer, for special effects such as cane working and marbling. The clay’s pliability and ductility let you use techniques from glasswork, textile arts, and sculpture. And polymer clay doesn’t dry out, so you can sculpt and form it without worrying about a time limit
In jewelry, polymer clay can be used to make beads, pendants, bracelets, and neckpieces. It comes in dozens of colors, and you can blend clays together like paints to make your own colors. Because of this, artists have developed techniques to give polymer clay the appearance of granite, jade, amber, coral, turquoise, and ivory - and its flexibility means you can make pieces in shapes and sizes that wouldn’t be possible using actual stone. Polymer clay jewelry and beads do not require special precautions. They can be sanded and polished or sealed with an acrylic glaze to make them more durable. Cleaning is easy - simply wipe with a clean, dry cloth.
Polymer clay is not new to the mainstream jewelry designing world. Many jewelry artists have simply kept this versatile material as their little secret - but the cat had to come out of the bag at some point.
There are several ways to hang a clay piece as a pendant for a necklace or earring:
- Pierce a hole from front to back at the top of the piece and insert a jump ring. This technique is most suitable for light, thin pieces made of strong clay; brittle clay may crack at the top after a while, causing the pendant to fall off.
- Embed an eye pin into the top of the piece before firing, leaving just the eye at the top visible. Bend the end of the eye pin a little before inserting it, to make the join stronger.
- Attach the jewelry finding called a “bail mount” to the top of the piece. (A bail looks like a tiny tweezers with a loop at the top.)
- Pierce the pendant from top to bottom, fire it, then insert a head pin from the bottom and twist the top end into a loop. You can also make the piercing bigger and thread a ribbon or cord through it, knotted at the bottom.
If you have a piece that’s already been fired, you can insert a head pin as described above if it’s a pierced bead. If it’s an unpierced flat piece, you can embed it in a clay frame or glue it to a metal filigree.
This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 5:12 am and is filed under Polymer Clay Jewelry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.