Saturday, March 31, 2012

Beautiful Creativity with Polymer Clay

I currently have a beautiful assortment of handcrafted polymer clay pendant-necklaces available in my store! And, I thought I should give a little info on the labor behind these pendants! (This info is very simplified for brevity.)

Here's a little known fact, I love working with Polymer Clay -- it is my favorite! First of all, the clay has to be conditioned, kneaded and/or processed through a pasta maker! Then the clay is rolled out to the desired thickness. From this point on, the sky's the limit!

Sometimes I add powdered color pigments to the raw clay. Sometimes I wait until the piece is baked, then paint it. Working with the powder color pigments, I can combine colors to make new colors! I can also mix the powder with liquid glaze to use as paint. With the color pigments, I can make the clay look like antiqued brass, copper, gold, silver and/or all the colors of the rainbow, and add an amazing variety of color detail!

There is a new pendant design I make in which I insert a large bezel into clay that I have already cut into shape. After I bake this piece, I glue one of my tiny original art collages and/or charms into the bezel, cover with a layer of resin and then let it cure. Later I can add color pigments, polish and buff the clay, finish it out. It is then ready for me to make into a necklace!


I have also used my handmade polymer clay beads on this necklace:



For another new style, recently I decided to set gemstone cabochons into clay pieces for beautiful, unique pendants that are much less expensive than the Precious Metal Clay pendants I make. I enjoy making these as a vintage style!





Being that I am a garden-and-nature-woman, many of my pendants feature birds, dragonflies and flowers. Again, making these with Polymer Clay instead of the Precious Metal Clay helps me to have lower price for my customers!






The process for each pendant, from start to finish, takes several hours over a day or two or more, depending on the complexity of the piece. Making the pendant into a pendant-necklace takes additional hours; again this varies due to the intricacy of the design. These hours are a 'labor of love' for me. As I mentioned earlier, I love working with Polymer Clay, it is my favorite!

~Please visit my new location at www.GilannieJewelry.com~

Peace&Love
~Gilannie~

2 comments:

  1. You make such adorable pendants. I can really see the love you have for this medium. It shines through each and every piece.
    hugs
    Caroline

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  2. Wow, Caroline, thank you for the lovely comments! Especially coming from YOU (an artist I truly admire) the words mean so much to me! {hugs}
    ~Gilannie~

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