"Leopard & Leather" Necklace by Cindi McGee

Leopard & Leather Necklace made with Makin's Clay® by Cindi McGee

LEOPARD & LEATHER NECKLACE
Designed by Cindi McGee

Materials:

Makin’s Clay® - Black, Persimmon, Brown 

Makin’s® Clay Tools 

Makin’s Professional® Clay Tools 

Makin’s® Cutting Mat 

Aluminum foil 

JudiKins™ Diamond Glaze™

Beacon® Power Tac Adhesive 

Black leather cording 

Copper jewelry closure 

Jewelry pliers, scissors 

Instructions:

Roll Brown clay into a tube about 1/2” in diameter.  

Roll Black clay into a tube the same length as the brown tube, flatten with clay roller to about 1/8”. 

Place brown clay tube over rolled black clay, wrap black clay up and around brown tube.  I intentionally allowed some areas of the brown tube to not be covered by the black clay.

Roll Persimmon clay 1/8” and to the same length as the first pieces.

Place brown/black clay tube over Persimmon clay and wrap Persimmon clay up and around it. 

Use fingers to gently “squish” all pieces together and then begin rolling tube.  Roll back to about 1/4”. 

Use scissors to cut pieces of tube about 1/4” thick.  

Place slices of tube adjacent to each other on cutting mat. 

Roll with clay roller to flatten to about 1/8”.  

Freeform cut, or cut out a template and cut around it, to make shape for necklace.  Cut out shape from leopard print clay.  

Cut into 3 pieces as shown.  Let dry 24 hours. 

Roll black clay to about 1/8”.  Cut out same shape about 1/4” larger on all sides.  Cut black clay into three pieces to place beneath leopard print pieces.  

Crumple small piece of foil, push against edges of black clay to simulate black leather.

Use clay tool to make two holes, on on each side of top of black pieces, for cording.  

Carefully string black leather cording through holes as shown. 

Use Power Tac to mount leopard pieces over black pieces.  

Apply Diamond Glaze over leopard pieces.  Let dry. 

Add copper closure. 

Finished Leopard & Leather Necklace made with Makin's Clay®

Makin's Clay® Faux Stone Heart Pendant

This is one of the projects I taught to a group of students recently at New Port Sales/Avanti in Puerto Rico.  I've seen the technique before with oven bake clays - this Pin on Pinterest was what inspired me - but wanted to try it with Makin's Clay® and I was really pleased with the results.   It's a fairly simple technique but there are lots of options for altering these faux stone beads, and lots of shapes you could create from basic beads to obelisks, hearts, arrowheads and more. 

- Cindi

Materials: 

Makin’s Clay® - White, Black 

Makin’s® Professional™ clay tools 

Dryer lint 

Leather cording, jewelry closure, jewelry pliers, toothpick

Westcott® Craft Titanium Non-Stick Scissors, Self-Healing Mat  

Instructions: 

Step 1 - 3:  Mix approximately 3 parts white Makin’s Clay®, one part black Makin’s Clay® clay, and a small amount of fine dryer lint until lint is mixed with clay and clay is a variated gray shade with touches of white and black still showing.  Tip:  Place unused clay in a zip lock bag with a damp paper towel to keep fresh. 

The dryer lint adds a subtle texture to your finished faux stones. You can add more or less as desired.  Experiment with adding a touch of brown or tan clay from the Vineyard Tones or Earth Tones to create stones of various colors. 

Step 4:  Create desired shape beads, gently scratch surface of bead with clay tool, then use finger to rub over scratched areas to blend an soften any edges.  The result will be a slightly distressed surface to your faux stones.  

Step 5:  Make hole through beads with toothpick.  Allow to dry 24 hours.

Step 6:  String onto leather cording, add jewelry closure.

Another Amazing Creation by Lex Sorrentino featuring Makin's Clay®

Lex Sorrentino never ceases to amaze us with her breathtaking pieces of art.  We love how she incorporates Makin's Clay® into her work.   To see many more of her unique and beautifully detailed pieces visit here. - Cindi