Paper Embellished Clay Pendants

Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial

These beautiful paper adorned clay pendants are simple to make, and easily customizable for special keepsakes.  Whip up several in an afternoon and use up your paper scraps and stray beads in the process.  Follow my step by step tutorial, adding you own twists!

 

Supplies:

  • Black Polymer Clay
  • Pasta machine or acrylic roller
  • Clay blade
  • Scrap decorative paper
  • Wire (I used 22 gauge silver)
  • Needle nose pliers
  • Mod Podge (I used glossy)
  • Size 6 seed beads for wire wrapping over surface of pendant
  • Larger crystal or bead for bottom of pendant

Instructions:

  • Condition your clay and roll at a thickness of 2 (1 being thickest) in your pasta machine.  Cut sheet in half and place one half on top of the other.  This creates a thicker sheet, which I like for the pendant beads.  It makes a pretty pendant at this thickness, and is easy to pierce with a needle to create hole for looped wire hanging mechanism later on.

Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial

  • Cut rectangles out of your double stacked clay sheet.
  • Polymer Clay Pendant TutorialPierce each pendant from top to bottom along the length of the pendant.  I use these long needles that came with my bead baking tray.  I have seen them sold separate in the clay section at Michael’s and other craft stores.  Be careful piercing the raw clay.  You can get fingerprints and other nicks in the clay, but imperfections are not to big of an issue with this project since the majority of the piece will be paper covered.
  • Polymer Clay Pendant TutorialBake per package; usually 275° for 25 min.
  • After baking and letting cool, you can wrap with paper strips.  I paint the back of the paper surface with mod podge using a foam brush.  Wrap the adhesive coated paper around pendant, smoothing out any wrinkles with fingers.

Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial

  • Print out a sheet of typed words to run along the length of the pendant.  Rip the word from the page if you like the torn edge look, or cut for a clean edge.  Adhere with Mod Podge.  Let dry.

Wire wrapped polymer clay pendant

  • To finish decorating your pendant, wrap a piece of small gauge silver wire around, adding a seed bead every other wrap.  I added three to mine.  Put wire through where your needle hole was made and loop the top end.  Place a bead or crystal at the bottom end, bending the leftover wire to keep the bead in place.  You could also solder the end or use and eye pin to hold the bead in place.

Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial

Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial



Easy Clay Image Transfer

polymer clay image transfer

Of all the image transfer techniques out there, this simple method is my favorite for it’s ease and effectiveness.  Make your own beautiful keepsake pendants, charms, ornaments, home decor and more in just a few steps anyone can follow.  You don’t need to be a clay expert for this process.  Grab your favorite images, clay and a water mister, and you are ready to get going with this tutorial.

Supplies:

  • Polymer clay in a light enough color to make your transfer visible.  I used premo ecru color for an antiqued look.  I have used white and pearlescent in the past for different looks.
  • Laser jet images of your choice.  I have no idea where I got this image.  Probably Graphics Fairy if I had to guess!
  • Glaze or other sealer/finisher
  • Mister bottle with water
  • Jewelry findings of your choice to finish

Instructions:

  • Condition your clay and lay out a sheet bigger than the finshed piece you want.  I rolled this in my pasta machine at a thickness of 2, then folded it over to double the thickness.

Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial

  • Cut out your image and lay it face down on the surface of your clay.  Burnish the image onto the clay carefully by running your finger across the back of the paper to remove any air between the image and the surface of the clay.

Polymer Clay Image Transfer Tutorial

Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial

  • Spray the back of the image with the mister, making sure you wet the entire surface of the image.  Let this sit for a few minutes.


Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial

  • With your finger, gently rub off the paper backing.  You don’t want to apply pressure in this step as you can damage your image.  The motion of your finger moving back and forth parallel to the plane of the clay will pull the paper off in clumps.  Keep doing this until you are satisfied with the quality of the image.  You can spray more water on there if you need to.  It won’t hurt the image.
  • Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial

 

  • Cut your clay piece into the desired shape with a sharp clay blade.

Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial

Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial

  • Polymer Clay Pendant TutorialI stick a bead pin in the soft clay before baking so I can put a wire hanging mechanism in later.  Some people drill a hole after baking, or use a glue on pendant bail.  The problem with poking a needle through raw clay is you can distort it, but with practice you will be able to do this without damage.
  • Bake your clay per package instructions.  Remove from oven and let cool before applying glaze or finish.  That’s all there is to it!

Polymer Clay Transfer Tutorial

Polymer Clay Pendant Tutorial

Polymer Clay Father’s Day Keychain Tutorial

Polymer Clay Father's Day Keychain

This tutorial covers incorporating an image into a polymer clay keychain, making great personal gifts.  Total time is about 45 minutes.  The project is easy and perfect for those new to the world of polymer clay.

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Polymer Clay Backed Glass Tile Pendant Tutorial

I love the look of glass tile pendants, but not so much the lack of backing. Most tutorials I have found have you seal back of the paper with whatever adhesive you used on the image to stick it on the glass tile. That leaves you attaching a bail to the sealed paper backing. I made one of these and the pendant bail tore the paper and came off of the piece after about a week. Bummer. How is the bail supposed to stay on there without a strong surface to anchor it? I knew there must be a better way. Check out my polymer clay backed glass tile pendant tutorial!

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Polymer Clay and Resin Pendant Tips

I ran out of glass tiles and wanted to make some pendants, so I decided to use polymer clay as the base, and dome some 2 part epoxy resin over the images for a glass like effect.  Some tips:
Condition the clay (I used black for some pendants and gold for others) and roll it through the pasta machine on setting 4.  Take a one inch square hole punch and carefully (avoid indenting the clay surface) slide the clay in, punching out your graphic image base.  I punched out my one inch images with the same hole punch.   Punch out your papers first, as the clay will leave residue on your hole punch, which will get on your paper.
You can spray armor all on the hole punch so the clay releases easier.
With a paint brush, cover the image front and back with translucent liquid sculpey.  This will serve 2 purposes:  1.  It will adhere the image to the clay.  2.  It will seal the image, which is important when you are adding the resin later.  After baking, you can buff and use the pendant as is, or you can dome resin on the top.  I used envirotex lite for this.  I learned a couple of things about resin this time around:  our basement flooded with all of this rain, so I was running a dehumidifier in my studio.  That, combined with turning on a space heater, really got rid of the air bubble problem I so often have with resin.  It really is as temperature sensitive as the instructions claim.  Who knew?!  My resin has never looked so great.
To attach the pendant, I drilled a hole after the resin cured for 3 days, using my dremel.  Then just place a jump ring and attach to necklace of your choice.  I love how these turned out.

Polymer Clay Day 93: Faith Paper Clay Pendant


I despise flash on my camera, which is what I get for waiting til dark to photograph today’s clay creation; a washed out version of the real deal. That said, FAITH is one of my favorite words.

Jesus had a thing or 2 to say about it.
Whenever Jesus begins with the phrase “I tell you the truth”, some good stuff is about to be revealed;
I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move.
Matthew 17:20

Now a word from Hebrews, my favorite place to go when I need reminded of how God prepared our minds in the old testament to be able to comprehend our salvation through the cross…


Heb 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

And, a C.S. Lewis take on faith, since he totally rocks. An atheist turned warrior for Christ through diligent searching and questioning everything, with a mind as brilliant as they come…

C.S. Lewis: “We must not encourage in ourselves or others any tendency to work up a subjective state which, if we succeeded, we should describe as “faith”, with the idea that this will somehow insure the granting of our prayer…. The state of mind which desperate desire working on a strong imagination can manufacture is not faith in the Christian sense. It is a feat of psychological gymnastics.”

Regardless of the details of my life, and their seeming importance to little me, faith in an unfailing love from an unchanging God is all that matters. Blessings lovely readers…

Polymer Clay Day 92: Serenity Paper Clay Pendant



I never knew what serenity was, much less that I was missing it, until I began to rely upon God. That happened right around the time I turned 30. Now I crave serenity and when the chaos of life steals it away, I seek God to restore me to peace. It usually involves a change in perspective. My serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations of others and the world.

When I let people be who they are, while taking care of myself as God would have me do, refraining to take the actions of others so personally, my soul finds rest.

Polymer Clay Day 91: Courage Swirl Pendant


This attribute is so indispensable in reaching one’s full potential. There are changes that I feel in the deepest parts of myself would free me from being less than I was created to be if I had the courage to make them. Fear keeps me from acting. I pray for courage and to hear God’s voice so loudly I have no choice but to obey. I also pray for the wisdom to differentiate my will from His, since I can so easily convince myself that what I want must be coming from God.

Bible verses on courage;

Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.

1 Corinthians 16:13
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
(NLT)

Hebrews 13:5-6
For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

WOW. These verses remind me that absolutely nothing that could happen to my earthly body can change who I FOREVER am in Christ. Whenever I find comfort in the midst of fear, it is because I have remembered this truth. It is horrifying to be in a world of uncertainties and the only constant is change. That is except for God, never changing, everlasting, perfect love. Therein lies peace.

Polymer Clay Day 90: Trust Pendant


Back to clay after a bottle cap pendant adventure. Still playing with paper on clay. I think this effect is adorable.

On the topic of trust, the Bible tells us much…
Psalm 9:10
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 20:7
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
Psalm 40:4
Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
Isaiah 26:4
Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
Luke 16:10-12
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

John 14:1
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
Romans 9:33
As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 13:6-7
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Revelation 21:5
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

I highlighted the verse that stands out to me the most right now, although they all remind me that I could benefit from trusting God with complete abandon. There are several areas of my life where I kinda suck at doing so.

The Luke verse reminds me why the little things are so important. I may not think a white lie is such a big deal, but how can I expect God to entrust me with all He planned for me long ago, if I am careless with the seemingly insignificant? He is looking down on us with Love, and I want to make Him smile.

Polymer Clay Day 89: Create Pendant



Loving paper + clay!! I am making several pendants for a convention Saturday, where I will be selling my handmade treasures. This one is coated with Krylon Triple Thick. I love it’s hard, shiny glass-like effect. There are several candidates that work well for producing the same look, but I am thinking this is my favorite. I like to spray. Paint brushes leave strokes, at least when used by me.

Giveaway coming soon. Meant to do one at 200 posts, but I am a busy, distracted bee. Blessings and love…
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