Fall Jewelry Collection

Fall Jewelry Collection by Cynthia Gougian

This fall jewelry collection was fast and super easy to make!  I used simple techniques to create dramatic, contemporary looks.  I was pleasantly surprised at how many pieces I was able to create with just a small amount of clay and a few findings! 

Materials List:

·     Makin’s Professional® Ultimate Clay Machine®

·     Makin’s Clay®  30g  in yellow (1/2 of a 60 gram package)

·     Makin’s Clay®  30g in red (1/2 of a 60 gram package)

·     Makin’s Clay® 30g  in black (1/2 of a 60 gram package)

·     Makin’s® 3 piece oval cutter set

·     Wilton® 6-piece Nesting Fondant Double Sided Cutters,Leaf Cutters

·     Makin’s® 3 piece flower cutter set

·     An acrylic clay roller

·     A tissue blade

·     Cornstarch, or powder

·     400 grit wet dry sand paper 

·     Dust mask

·     Makin’s® Texture Sheets – Set H ( I used the sheet labeled “Abstract B”) 

·     Deco Color® Premium 3-way chisel point pen, gold (optional)

·     1.5 mm Wire ferrule (Sometimes labeled for 16 AWG wire)

·     1/16  drill bit

·     Earring Wires of your choice

·     4 mm and 6 mm jump rings, or jump rings in sizes of your choice

·     Necklace cord of your choice

Instructions:

I used a blended clay sheet to create a veneer.  I began by rolling out Makin’s Clay® 30g in yellow on the thickest setting of the Makin’s Professional® Ultimate Clay Machine®.

I then trimmed it into a rectangle shape.

I cut the rectangle into 2 triangles. Then, I stacked the triangles.

I repeated steps 1-3 with 30 grams of red clay.

I placed the stacked triangles next to each other. I offset the points of the triangles slightly.  Then I used my clay blade to trim the triangles into a square. 

I rolled over the seam with a clay roller to adhere the red and yellow clay.

I continued rolling until the clay was just a little thicker than the widest setting on Makin’s Professional® Ultimate Clay Machine®.

Then I rolled the clay through machine at thickest setting (setting #1).

I folded the clay in half. 

I then rolled the clay through the clay machine at the thickest setting, folded side first. 

I continued folding the clay in the same direction and rolling it through the machine. Each time the clay was folded and rolled; it caused the clay to blend.  In this photo, the clay had been folded and rolled about 6 times.

When I was satisfied with my blend. I trimmed the clay into a neat rectangle shape. 

I then rolled the blend, short side first through the clay machine on setting #4.

I used a knee-high stocking filled with cornstarch to dust the Makin’s® texture sheet-Abstract B.  Cornstarch prevents the clay from sticking to the texture sheet.

I placed the blended sheet of clay on the texture sheet.  Then I rolled over the clay firmly with my clay roller.

I rolled out 30g of black clay on setting 4 of the clay machine.

I then misted the black clay with water. 

I place the blended, textured veneer on the black clay.  Then, I gently patted the veneer to adhere it to the black clay without damaging the texture. 

I used one of the leaf cutters to cut a pendant from the veneer. 

Then, I used one of the smaller leaf cutters to cut my first earring. 

I flipped the veneer over, then used the same smaller leaf cutter to cut a second earring from the veneer.  Flipping the veneer over results in earrings that are mirror images of one another. 

I used a 1.5 mm wire ferrule to cut holes for jump rings in the pendant and earrings. 

I had plenty of veneer left over.  So, I used the largest oval cutter from the Makin’s® 3 piece oval cutter set to cut 2 oval shapes from the veneer. 

Then, I used the smallest oval cutter from the Makin’s® 3 piece oval cutter set to cut out the center of the large ovals. 

I also used the medium sized oval cutter from the Makin’s® 3 piece oval cutter set to cut two ovals from the veneer.  

I pinched the top of the oval to form petal shapes.

I still had a small amount of veneer left.  So, I used the smallest flower cutter from the Makin’s® 3 piece flower cutter set to cut  2 flowers from the veneer.

I allowed all the shapes to thoroughly dry for 24 hours. Then I sanded the edges with 400 grit sandpaper.  Please note, Makin’s Clay® should NOT be wet sanded.  It needs to be dry sanded.  And, a dust mask should be worn when sanding any material. 

After sanding, I assembled all the shapes into finished earrings and a pendant. First, I used a 1/16 drill bit to drill holes in the tops of the petal shapes

Then, I used the paint pen to apply gold to the edges of the petals.  

Finally, I used 6 mm jump rings to attach the petals to ear wires.

I also created earrings from the oval shapes.  I began by drilling holes in the large ovals. Then, I drilled the smaller ovals.  

I used 4 mm and 6 mm jump rings to attach the shapes to each other and to ear wires. 

 

The flower shapes became another set of earrings.  First, I drilled holes in them.  Then, I added gold paint pen to the edges.

I used four 4 mm jump rings to create dangles that I attached to ear wires.  

 

The leaf pendant and matching earrings were super easy to construct!  I simply used 6 mm jump rings to attach the shapes to ear wires and a pendant cord.

I am totally in love with Makin’s® Texture Sheets – Set H!  The “Abstract B” sheet is my absolute favorite.  I think the texture allowed me to turn simple shapes into hip, cutting edge designs.