I am not a user of polymer clay but I thought the technique definitely deserved trying out so I bought some translucent clay to have a go.
The clay has to be conditioned which means working it until it become really pliable and smooth. This took quite a bit longer than I was expecting but after a little bit of work I had a thin smooth piece.
Then I sprinkled some jewel enamel onto the surface and worked it in adding extra in small amounts until I had a pale even colour. It was a bit like trying to work sugar into dense pastry, bits kept falling out but I presevered and eventually had an even coloured piece.
I started with a turquoise mix using aquamarine and apatite jewel enamel
once the jewel enamel granules were worked right through the polymer clay I divided it up and made small balls which I flattened and then using a straw cut a hole in the middle to create a donut
I then made some deep blue using Lapis Blue jewel enamel
and finally I made a subtle green using Apatite
I put all the donuts on a piece of baking paper and popped them into the oven at 120C for 15 minutes
At the end of this time I saw that the jewel enamel had not actually melted so I turned the oven up to 140C and returned the clay for another 5 minutes but watched carefully - I didn't want to burn the clay.
This time the jewel enamel had melted and the colour of the clay had darkened considerably.
The clay had a matte finish and looked a little like sea glass. However I decided to let it cool and apply a glaze which really brought out the colours
I have some suede cord and silver tribal spacer beads so I think I will make a necklace. Watch this space for the finished piece!!
