A variety of polymer clay jewelry and their care

Decorations made of polymer clay are popular among creative people. They are bright, beautiful and very durable. Anyone can learn how to make such accessories with their own hands.

Polymer clay jewelry has many advantages.

• Versatility... Polymer clay is similar in consistency to soft plasticine. Therefore, you can make a variety of crafts from it. To make them unique, paints and various glitters are added to the clay.
• Strength... After heat treatment, the material hardens and the jewelry becomes very durable. Therefore, they are worn for a very long time.
• Availability... Clay accessories, like the material for their creation, can be found in many stores. If you wish, you can buy them at a low price.

There are several basic techniques for working with multi-colored polymer clay. The most common options are:

To create decorations in watercolor technique, translucent and simple clay and dry pastels are used.

A master class on working with this material is as follows.

• To begin with, dry pastels must be crushed into powder with a sharp knife.
• Colored material must be mixed with translucent clay.
• The resulting blank must be kneaded and turned into a flat cake.
• From clay white and any other color, you should make two of the same details.
• All these elements must be folded in a pile and then rolled out.
• A circle is required to be cut from the finished part.
• Next, you need to prepare the basis for future decoration. To do this, knead a piece of clay and roll it out to a flat cake 1 mm thick.
• Colored elements made earlier are placed on this part.
• The cake must be rolled out again with a rolling pin.

Translated from Italian, the name of this technique means "a thousand flowers". It involves the creation of products that resemble the details of a large stained glass window..

Crafts using this technique are done as follows.

• First of all, you need to roll two small balls out of polymer clay. Each of them needs to be rolled out, forming a rectangle with smoothed corners.

• The resulting blanks must be passed through a paste machine or rolled out using a regular rolling pin.

• The edges of the workpieces must be cut off, forming thin rectangles. Each of them must be cut diagonally.

• Then they are put together to form a two-color square.

• The new workpiece must be passed through the paste machine several more times. This will help achieve a particularly beautiful color. As a result, purple will smoothly turn into rich yellow.

• This part must be twisted into a tight tube. All excess must be carefully trimmed.

• Black polymer clay must be rolled into a thin layer. The yellow-purple blank needs to be cut into four parts. The same should be done with the black material.

• Next, dark and colored blanks should be connected. From these parts, you need to assemble a tight circle. It will be separated by three dark stripes. Next, the figure must be cut into two parts.

• Another black rectangle must be placed between them. The workpiece must be laid on a black polymer clay substrate. All excess should be cut off immediately.

• Having given the base the shape of a sheet, it must be wrapped in a black sheet of polymer clay.

• The resulting workpiece is stretched to form a "sausage". Then it is cut into pieces. Each piece is rolled out, forming thin leaves.

This color mixing technique is the most difficult.

The step-by-step process for creating jewelry with patterns consists of the following steps.

1. First, the mass must be kneaded and rolled well. This must be done on the board.
2. You need to extrude patterns on the clay layer.
3. Separately, it is worth rolling out a layer of clay of a new color.
4. The patterned layer from the board must be cut off with a sharp knife. It is important to keep the embossed print in the process.
5. The openwork layer should be placed on a base in a bright color.
6. From the resulting blank, you need to cut out unusual details or form beads.

This technique involves creating an openwork pattern from delicate details. Elements with graceful patterns are made as follows.

• To begin with, a sheet of polymer clay is rolled out. Then it is cut into thin threads.

• An even square is cut out of the material of the same color.

• The surface of the clay is treated with a polymer gel. It is spread in a very thin layer.

• A rhinestone should be placed in the center of the decoration. Four more of these parts are placed around the edges.

• Then you can start forming the pattern. It is "drawn" using threads prepared in advance, as well as toothpicks or needles.

• Small balls can be placed between the thread patterns.

The finished jewelry can be decorated with metallic powder. This will make it even more beautiful.

By the name of this technique, one can understand that salt is used to create products from polymer clay. The finished parts are rolled in salt. Individual grains are gently pressed into the product.

After baking the part, the salt is washed out. Small depressions remain in place of the crystals. Their size depends on what salt was used in the work.

The choice of modern jewelry made of polymer clay is very large. Therefore, everyone can find something suitable for themselves.

• Rings... Polymer clay can be used to make both solid rings and accessories on a metal basis. You can buy them in hardware stores. Paired accessories designed for friends or lovers will look interesting.

• Earrings... Polymer clay can be used to make both children's accessories and ornaments for adults. Autumn, spring and summer jewelry fits easily into the images of modern girls.

• Pendants... Neck jewelry is also quite popular. Ethnic pendants or boho accessories look especially beautiful.

• Beads... Making polymer clay beads is a great option for beginners. Even a child can make such a simple decoration. Such accessories can consist of the same beads or parts of different sizes. It all depends solely on the imagination of their creator.

• Brooches... You can sculpt unusual brooches with images of real-life and fantasy animals from soft polymer clay. The base of the brooch can be decorated with the image of such characters as a dragon, lion, owl or cat.

• Bracelets... Like rings, polymer clay bracelets can be solid or made from individual pieces. Both types of jewelry look interesting in their own way.

• Hair ornaments... Unusual fashionable hair accessories are made from polymer clay. Details from this elastic material can be used to decorate headbands, hairpins and even simple garters for curls. Such elements, as a rule, are attached to the base using invisible fishing line or special glue.

To create original jewelry, you will need the following materials and tools.

• Colored clay... For sculpting jewelry, you should use high-quality clay. Good producers are Pardo and Kato. At the same time, products from these brands are quite expensive, so beginners should buy cheaper counterparts from domestic manufacturers. It is undesirable to immediately buy a large set of materials for modeling. To get started, you should buy one bar and test it at home. It should be elastic and soft. It is important that after hardening the material does not crack or change color. When choosing products for sculpting jewelry, it is also worth remembering that there are both self-hardening clay and those intended for baking in the oven on sale.
• Fittings... To create jewelry, you need to choose the necessary accessories. The needlewoman will need fastening metal elements, earring hooks and other details. You can buy them at any art store.
• Knife and stack... These tools are needed for cutting blanks into fragments, as well as for giving them relief. To create holes in individual parts, you should use a regular toothpick or needle.
• Rolling pin and board... They will be needed for rolling thin parts. Instead of a rolling pin, you can use a paste machine. This will greatly speed up the process.

It doesn't take long to make accessories from this pliable material.

The procedure for creating jewelry consists of the following steps.

1. First, you should purchase all the necessary tools and materials.... They should always be at hand. In addition, it is worth preparing a place for work and gloves in advance. This is to maintain the purity of all clay colors.
2. Polymer clay must be kneaded well... In this case, after baking, there will be no air bubbles in the product.
3. Next, from the material of the selected color, you need to sculpt all the necessary details.... Bigger figures can be done with a mold. The rest of the elements are sculpted by hand. This must be done very carefully.
4. If the workpieces are deformed during the cutting process, the polymer clay should be placed in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes... During this time, it will freeze, and it will become much easier to work with it.
5. Ready-made decorations need to be baked, following the instructions on the package.... The baking time depends on the characteristics of the polymer clay.
6. Having finished baking, you can start connecting the individual parts.... For this, high-quality metal fittings are used. You can decorate finished crafts with beads or details obtained in the process of working with epoxy resin.

Jewelry made of polymer clay turns out to be very beautiful, so it can be worn both with everyday clothes and with festive ones. Wherein it is undesirable to combine it with accessories made of precious metals and decorated with stones.

In general, bright accessories should be the main accent in the bow. In this case, the decoration will help to emphasize the dignity of the image and make it more memorable.

Like any other jewelry, polymer clay jewelry needs proper care. So that accessories do not lose their attractiveness over time, their owners need to adhere to the following rules.

• Prevent moisture from entering the surface of the material... For this, jewelry is always removed before bathing. They are also not worth playing sports and sleeping in.
• Dirt and dust are removed from the surface of crafts using a soft cloth or a special brush.
• Drops of perfume should not fall on jewelry made of polymer clay... Therefore, they wear it only after using perfume and beauty products.
• Store accessories on a special stand or in a separate cloth bag... It is not recommended to put them in the jewelry box with the rest of the jewelry, as they can get scratched or even broken.
• It is also important to protect jewelry from mechanical stress.... They must not be thrown on the floor or scratched in any way.

An example of a delicate polymer clay jewelry in the video below.