Introduction and Materials
Introduction and Materials
I was very nervous about using some gold metal clay given to me for a gift, but I finally got up the nerve and realized that you don't need a ton of gold metal clay to get a lot of bang for your jewelry buck and make some gold earrings. For these gold earrings, I used less then 3 grams of gold metal clay to make the gold charms (actually, they were made from my leftover clay after I had made another jewelry piece with it).
It's amazing how simple it can be to make gold jewelry.
You'll need:
*PMC gold metal clay
15mm Star-shaped cutter
Olive oil
Roller
6 playing cards
Non-stick surface
Corsage pin
Sandpaper or emery board
Hot Pot
Burnishing brush
**2 - 5mm Golden Shadow Swarovski crystal beads
2 - 22-karat gold earring wires (#625722 from www.riogrande.com).
4 inches of 22-karat 22-gauge gold wire
Wire cutters
Round-nosed pliers
Chain-nosed pliers
*You can use the Art Clay equivalent, but you'll need to fire it with a torch rather than a hot pot according to the manufacturer's instructions.
**They came from JSbeads.com, crytal no. 5301.
Make the Gold Star Charms
1. Start by making two gold star charms. The instructions on the packet of clay suggest kneeding the clay a little before opening it. Then, stack three playing cards (3 cards in two piles) on either side of the clay.
2. After dabbing a little olive oil on your roller, roll out the clay, and then cut out two star shapes using the metal star cutter.
3. Use the corsage pin to put a hole through the top of each star.
4. Set this aside to dry. (I normally allow mine to dry overnight).
5. Once the stars are dry, sand any rough areas with fine sand paper or an emery boards.
6. Fire both stars in a hot pot.
7. You may need to use the sand paper again to rough out any lines or rough spots. It's up to you. I liked the look so I left mine as is.
Clean Star/Gather Supplies
8. Use a burnishing brush and some water to clean up your stars. You'll be amazed how bright the gold is at this point. You really don't need to polish them unless you'd prefer a high shine versus more of a matte finish.
9. Get your ear hooks, wire, tools, and beads together to start assembling the earrings.
Add Wire to Gold Star
10. Use wire cutters to cut about 2 inches of gold wire, and with round-nosed pliers, start a wrapped loop.
11. Then slip one of the stars onto the loop.
Note: If you have trouble with the holes in the stars closing up a little after firing, just use a bead reamer to make them a little larger.
Close Wrapped Wire Loop
12. With the help of chain-nosed pliers, wrap the wire loop closed. Gold is much harder than sterling, so if you are used to working with softer metals, you probably will need the chain-nosed pliers rather than trying to use your fingers to wrap the wire.
13. Now add one crystal bead onto the wire.
14. Make another wrapped loop at the top of the wire.
15. Slip the loop of the component you just made onto the ear wire as pictured.
16. Repeat the previous steps to make a second earring so you have a complete pair.
These gold earrings turned out to be much easier to make than I thought, and the gold color is amazing when you have the real deal. I can't make a pair of gold earrings like these every day, but now and then it is nice to spurge.
I was very nervous about using some gold metal clay given to me for a gift, but I finally got up the nerve and realized that you don't need a ton of gold metal clay to get a lot of bang for your jewelry buck and make some gold earrings. For these gold earrings, I used less then 3 grams of gold metal clay to make the gold charms (actually, they were made from my leftover clay after I had made another jewelry piece with it).
It's amazing how simple it can be to make gold jewelry.
You'll need:
*PMC gold metal clay
15mm Star-shaped cutter
Olive oil
Roller
6 playing cards
Non-stick surface
Corsage pin
Sandpaper or emery board
Hot Pot
Burnishing brush
**2 - 5mm Golden Shadow Swarovski crystal beads
2 - 22-karat gold earring wires (#625722 from www.riogrande.com).
4 inches of 22-karat 22-gauge gold wire
Wire cutters
Round-nosed pliers
Chain-nosed pliers
*You can use the Art Clay equivalent, but you'll need to fire it with a torch rather than a hot pot according to the manufacturer's instructions.
**They came from JSbeads.com, crytal no. 5301.
Make the Gold Star Charms
1. Start by making two gold star charms. The instructions on the packet of clay suggest kneeding the clay a little before opening it. Then, stack three playing cards (3 cards in two piles) on either side of the clay.
2. After dabbing a little olive oil on your roller, roll out the clay, and then cut out two star shapes using the metal star cutter.
3. Use the corsage pin to put a hole through the top of each star.
4. Set this aside to dry. (I normally allow mine to dry overnight).
5. Once the stars are dry, sand any rough areas with fine sand paper or an emery boards.
6. Fire both stars in a hot pot.
7. You may need to use the sand paper again to rough out any lines or rough spots. It's up to you. I liked the look so I left mine as is.
Clean Star/Gather Supplies
8. Use a burnishing brush and some water to clean up your stars. You'll be amazed how bright the gold is at this point. You really don't need to polish them unless you'd prefer a high shine versus more of a matte finish.
9. Get your ear hooks, wire, tools, and beads together to start assembling the earrings.
Add Wire to Gold Star
10. Use wire cutters to cut about 2 inches of gold wire, and with round-nosed pliers, start a wrapped loop.
11. Then slip one of the stars onto the loop.
Note: If you have trouble with the holes in the stars closing up a little after firing, just use a bead reamer to make them a little larger.
Close Wrapped Wire Loop
12. With the help of chain-nosed pliers, wrap the wire loop closed. Gold is much harder than sterling, so if you are used to working with softer metals, you probably will need the chain-nosed pliers rather than trying to use your fingers to wrap the wire.
13. Now add one crystal bead onto the wire.
14. Make another wrapped loop at the top of the wire.
15. Slip the loop of the component you just made onto the ear wire as pictured.
16. Repeat the previous steps to make a second earring so you have a complete pair.
These gold earrings turned out to be much easier to make than I thought, and the gold color is amazing when you have the real deal. I can't make a pair of gold earrings like these every day, but now and then it is nice to spurge.
