Modern Art Polymer Clay Earring Tutorial

My Modern Art Polymer Clay Earrings Tutorial Step by Step

• To start you’ll need a sheet of white clay rolled out on the thickest setting of your pasta machine.
• Measure the clay out using your chosen cutter and trim away any excess so as not to waste any.
• You will also need some metallic clays. I am using Cernit today (Copper, antique bronze, hematite, champagne, gold, rust, bronze).
• Roll out some little balls from each color and lay on your work surface.
• Clean your hands well then randomly dot the metallic clay over your white sheet.
• Cover with a piece of Deli paper. Press down with your fingertips on each piece.
• Lift your deli paper, flip it over and burnish using your hand. Finish off with the roller.
• Roll out a sheet of pearl white at about 1mm. Lay it on your tile and lay your dotted sheet over it. Burnish together and press firmly onto the tile.
• Cut your earring pieces out using your chosen cutter. I am using my smallest number 5 donut from my Etsy shop.
• Smooth over any fingerprints.
• I am setting my pieces using a heatgun so that the shape doesn't distort when I move it. You can also do this by placing your pieces in the oven for 15 minutes.
• Leave to cool.
• Once cool lift up your pieces, carefully scraping away any left overs.
• Smooth the edges with your fingertips.

• I'm going to be making two pairs of polymer clay earrings. One using the donuts and the other using the circle centers.
• Roll out a sheet of Hematite Cernit Metallic on your thickest setting and burnish it onto your tile.
• Texture using a texture of your choice. I am using my sand texture.
• To go with the dotty rounds I am going to cut out two half ovals using my half oval cutters.
• To go with the donuts I am going to cut out two small circles using the largest cutter from my mini circle set.
• I am setting my pieces using a heatgun so that the shape doesn't distort when I move it. You can also do this by placing your pieces in the oven for 15 minutes.
• Leave to cool.
• Once cool lift up your pieces, carefully scraping away any left overs.
• Smooth the edges with your fingertips.
• Press down onto a piece of deli paper. Flip it over and use your fingertips to burnish until smooth.
• Bake all of your pieces on the deli sheet for an hour at your brand's recommended temperature.

• Roll out a sheet of black clay to about 1mm thick and stick your Hematite pieces onto it.
• Trim around using your craft knife and remove the excess.
• Smooth the edges with your fingertips and smooth away any fingerprints.
• Bake again for half an hour at the brand's recommended temperature.

• Sand the fronts, backs and sides well with wet/dry sandpaper starting from a 400 up to a 1200 grit. Then Finish off with polishing papers sanding from 400 all the way up to 8000.
• Buff your pieces using a rotary buffing tool, or a soft polishing cloth.
• Apply a light layer of Renaissance wax to each piece and buff again.

• Use a pin drill to drill a hole through your half ovals near the top.
• Position your small dotty circles next to the half ovals and find the right spot to drill through your circle pieces.
• Drill again through the opposite side of the circles for the earring wire.
• Use a pin drill to drill a hole through the top of each donut.
• Position your small Hematite circles next to the donuts and find the right spot to drill through your circle pieces.
• Join your donuts to your small hematite circles using jumprings. Add an earring wire to the top using another jumpring.
• Repeat for the other earring pair.