I've long admired designs which mix polymer clay with wire (see links below). The good news is you do not have to be good with wire to create wire-polymer clay jewelry combinations! Check out this Christi Friesen tutorial over on Fire Mountain Gems to see how to fill filigree with colorful polymer clay!
It looks easy enough to fill in the gaps with bits of clay in different colors. The challenge comes with the back side in trying to keep it all neat!
There is no glue involved. As you will see, the instructor pushes the clay through the holes. So there will be enough polymer clay both front and back even when it shrinks ever so slightly with the baking.
An alternative to polymer clay is resin clay. This 2 part clay is self-adhesive so there is no baking needed. You could color plain resin clay (use a little oil paint or resin color) or paint the resin clay after it hardens.
H/T to Aims
Disclosure
Before You Go:
______________________________
Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Wire JewelryTips -Jewelry Business Tips
It looks easy enough to fill in the gaps with bits of clay in different colors. The challenge comes with the back side in trying to keep it all neat!
There is no glue involved. As you will see, the instructor pushes the clay through the holes. So there will be enough polymer clay both front and back even when it shrinks ever so slightly with the baking.
An alternative to polymer clay is resin clay. This 2 part clay is self-adhesive so there is no baking needed. You could color plain resin clay (use a little oil paint or resin color) or paint the resin clay after it hardens.
H/T to Aims
Disclosure
Before You Go:
- Wire and Polymer Clay Leaf Brooch Tutorial
- Wire Work and Polymer Clay Pictorial and Inspirations
- Amazing Polymer Clay Peacock Necklace Tutorial
______________________________
Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Wire JewelryTips -Jewelry Business Tips
I took a week long course with Christi Friesen. It was a whole week of playing with polymer clay and Christi was an absolute ball of fun! She makes learning new ideas a blast and she certainly has a ton of ideas! Her skill at manipulating polymer clay blew me away. It was second nature to her.
ReplyDeleteUsing filigree like this is a brilliant idea! I've got all kinds of filigree in my studio and often wonder what I could do differently with it. Christi sure answers that question!!