Glittered Christmas Light Bracelet

Today I have a fun and relatively easy Christmas project combining polymer clay are Art Glitter.
These glittered Christmas lights could be used in decorations or as embellishments for mixed media projects or in this case for jewelry.
For this project I used:
Pardo Jewerly Clay in Ruby, Peridot and Gold
Art Glitter - Ultrafine Opaque - #1 - True Red, Ultrafine Transparent Neon - #241 - Fresh Lime, and Ultrafine Opaque - #65 - Old Gold
Antique brass spacer beads from Metal Gallery
Antique brass eye rings
Antique brass chain and toggle clasp
Art Glitter - Designer Dries Clear Adhesive (DDCA)

Begin by cutting one ball of Pardo clay into fourths.

Roll each of the quartered sections into a ball and then pinch and taper the end to form a teardrop shape.

Trim eye pins to about 3/4" long so that when they are inserted through the spacer bead and into the clay, they will not come through the bottom of the clay.  Insert the eye pins to secure the spacer beads to the fat end of the teardrops.

Roll the clay in glitter corresponding to the color of the clay.

Repeat with the other two colors.  And bake according to clay instructions.  Be careful not to over bake!

After baking, pull the pins back out of the clay, dip the pins in DDCA and re-insert into the clay for a secure hold.  To keep the glitter from shedding, brush on a layer of gloss acrylic sealer and let dry.

To finish, add jump rings and attach the "lights" to brass chain.  Attach a toggle claps to each end of the bracelet chain.

TIP:  The transparent glitter is a little lighter in texture than the opaque glitters and when baking may "disappear" into the clay if you over bake.  If this happens, simply let the bulb cool and then brush on a light layer of DDCA and reapply the glitter.  (Do not re-bake)

Please visit the Art Glitter Blog for more glittering project ideas!

Happy Holidays!

KC

Faux Dichroic Glass Pendant - made with Polymer Clay and Glitter

I love making fused glass jewelry and playing with dichroic glass, so I almost feel like I'm cheating by doing this faux dichroic glass project.  But, this is a really fun technique with endless possibilities, and may be more suited to the general population, since there is no need for access to a kiln.

For this pendant I used:  Silver Pardo Jewlery Clay, Pendant blank from Metal Gallery, Art Glitter Ultra Fine Glitters - #65 Old Gold, #157 Purple Lame, #241 Fresh Lime, E6000 Glue and Lisa Pavelka Magic-Glos UV Resin

Condition the Pardo Clay (work it until it is soft) and then roll it through a pasta maker on the thickest setting, until you have a piece that is larger than the pendant setting.  You can use a roller if you don't have a pasta maker.

Press the pendant setting face down into the clay to mark the size of the pendant.  Use a craft knife to cut out the clay, just inside the marking.  

Use your finger to press random patches of glitter into the clay.

Carefully place the clay into the pendant setting and bake according to clay instructions.

Depending on the temperature and length of baking time, your glitter colors may change slightly.  Because I was using a transparent Lime Green, it faded a little and my colors picked up a little more pink and copper tones.  Watch your clay as it bakes to make sure the glitters aren't getting "burnt out".  Since the clay shrinks a little during baking, once it is cool, you should be able to pop the clay out of the pendant pretty easily by using a craft knife along the edge.  Put a few drops of E6000 in the pendant setting and replace the clay piece.  This will keep the clay in place permanently. 

Place the pendant on a ceramic tile so that the loop at the end hangs off the tile and the pendant lies flat.  Add a few drops of Magic-Glos to the top of the clay.  Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles and draw the Magic-Gloss out to the edges of the pendant.  Add a few more drops as necessary until you have the pendant completely covered.

If you have access to a UV light, you can cure the Magic-Gloss in about 10 minutes under the UV light.  If you do not have a UV light, you will need to place the pendant outside in a level spot and let the sun cure the resin.  There are other jewelry resins that do not require UV light (or sunlight) but this is my preferred method because it sets up quickly, and I like the rock-hard finish.

The finished pendant has a rainbow of glittering sparkles.  

Please visit the Art Glitter Blog for another glittering jewelry project!

Thanks for stopping!

KC

Snowflake Pendant

Christmas in August continues at Red Rubber Designs.  For this project I've used one of this month's featured stamp sets - Snowflake Set.

To make the pendant, I rolled out purple polymer clay and pressed my pendant setting face down into the clay to mark the outer border.  Then I stamped the snowflakes, without ink, into the clay.  To fill some of the empty areas, I used a dull pencil and added extra dots.  Then I used a clay blade to cut the pendant just inside the guide marks I had made with the pendant setting.  After baking the clay, I rubbed the surface with a rub-on silver, leaving the recessed snowflakes in purple.  I finished by gluing the clay into the setting and adding a jump ring and cord.

Christmas continues all month at Red Rubber Designs, but Pam's Birthday Sale only goes on for four more days!  Hurry and take advantage of some great deals!  50 items are marked at 50% off!  Free shipping for orders over $50.00 (continental US) and $5.00 shipping on orders under $50.00.  Plus all stamps have been marked down!