Textured Clay Pendant using stamps and Powertex

This was one of my first attempts at making jewellery using clay and Powertex. I used an air dry clay from my stash and rolled it out into a sheet of approx. 5-6mm deep. The headdress area of the Katya stamp (from Chocolate Baroque) was used to impress the pattern texture.  The shape was then trimmed out with a craft knife and attachment holes made using a small ball tool.

After drying this clay was very porous with a slight powdery surface, and was quite fragile if rolled too thin. I added a coat of Bronze Powertex to give it a good base colour for gilding, and with the hope of hardening the clay. The porous clay soaked up the Powertex really well and considerably strengthened the clay.  Pebeo Gilding Wax (several different shades of gold) was rubbed over the surface to give an aged metallic finish. I attached a recycled gold plated necklace chain using 0.8mm copper wire.

I have since experimented with a few different air dry clays (water based paper and craft clays) and their suitability for jewellery making. Some are far too brittle when rolled out to make thinner items, others too light (e.g. paper clays) to make pendants that hang nicely. It is worth experimenting with what you have in your stash. If using to make embellishments which will be glued down onto canvases or cards Powertex is ideal for sealing and making them more robust.

If you are making items for outdoors then Powertex Stone Art Clay is the best option. It has been designed to be weatherproof and won’t crack. Stone Art Clay is also brilliant for jewellery making. It is strong, water resistant, and it is a perfect weight; not too heavy but with enough weight for jewellery pieces to hang well.