How to Make a Beautiful Transfer Vintage Pendant

A guest post by Kira Slye

I was going through my jewelry stash to remind myself of all the great findings I’ve collected over the years, and perhaps use some of them in a creative project. When I saw this ready-made chain and large circular link with flowers on it, I knew they would be perfect together! With some polymer clay and an image transfer of words from an old dictionary, the whole thing takes on a vintage flair and looks perfect–aged, textured and beautiful.

What you will need:

-Premo Polymer Clay: a small bit of Pearl and Silver
-Ranger Rock Candy Crackle paint in Soot and Clear
-Pearlex powder in Antique Silver
-A large metal textured link (this was from Michael’s)
-Ready-made chain (this was from Hobby Lobby)
-An image transfer (this is on Magic Transfer Paper, and the image is from GreenValley.etsy.com)
-Circular cookie cutters in graduated sizes
-Soft paintbrushes
-Work surface that can go into the oven- a glazed tile or piece of teflon baking fabric

Condition and roll out your clay into two thin pieces. You can use a pasta machine or roller to do this.

Cut a large circle from the silver clay, and a smaller circle from the pearl clay. Try to match the size of the pearl colored circle to the size of the silver link which you will use as a frame, and to the size of your transfer image.

Prepare the image by printing onto Magic Transfer Paper backwards with a laser printer, then cut out the section that will fit onto the pearl clay circle. Rub face-down onto the clay, let it sit for a moment, then run gently under water to release the paper. Do a Google search for “Magic Transfer Paper” to find free video demonstrations on the proper technique.

Let the transferred clay dry completely.

Stack the pearl circle on top of the silver circle. Press lightly.

Then take the large metal link and place it over the edge of the pearl circle of clay, and press very firmly around the edges until it feels securely stuck into the clay, creating a frame for the words.

Use a paintbrush to coat the pearl clay with the words on it with Clear Rock Candy paint. Use a medium-thick coat (not too blobby, but not thin). The thicker the paint, the larger the cracks.

Rinse your brush and apply Soot (black) crackle paint to the edges of the pendant, going over the silver clay and up to the edge of the silver link. You can cover the edges of the pendant too for a finished look.

Poke a hole at the top of the pendant for stringing.

Allow the paint to dry completely, then dust a liberal sprinkling of antique silver powder into the cracks to help them look aged.

Bake for 30 minutes at 275 degrees F.

Attach the cooled pendant to the chain with a large jump ring, and enjoy!

Kira Slye is a sculptural mixed-media and jewelry artist with a B.S. in Art Education. She has taught art her whole life, since her very first job at a ceramics studio when she was 15, to her last “corporate” job teaching high school art. Kira is inspired by nature themes and the mechanized style of steampunk. Birds, wings, faces leaves, flowers, and a tropical color palette are often found in her work. She has been podcasting about polymer clay with her business partner Ilysa Ginsburg on PolymerClayTV since 2007, and the two recently co-authored the book Polymer Clay Art Jewelry – How to make polymer clay jewelry projects using new techniques.

Links:
www.KyraByrd.com- Blog
www.PolymerClayTV.com
www.CraftyLink.com- Community

Check out Kira’s new book, co-authored with Ilysa Ginsburg. Find out more about Polymer Clay Art Jewelry here.