These easy earrings are great to make because they require very little clay to make about 2 -3 pairs of earrings. And use the scrap to make my easy heishi!
You will need the following:
Clay dedicated pasta machine
Clay blade
Square cutter or cut by hand. Mine is 2×2
Cutter for your final shape – mine is Sculpey nested Teardrop cutter and nested Circle cutters
Jewelry hardware – jumprings (4) and earwires(2) and jewelry pliers
These are 2 each medium thickness layers from my pasta machine (see note below). I’m using Soufflé Cherry Pie, Cornflower and Igloo to make some July 4th earrings for a friend of mine. NOTE: You should plan for an accent color between your two darker (or lighter) colors. In this color scheme, the Igloo is my accent color. YOU WILL NEED 3 SQUARES OF YOUR ACCENT COLOR.Stack the colors as shown, making sure that you have a layer of the accent color on the outside of the stack. Press the stack LIGHTLY together. Cut the stack in half as shown.Restack the two pieces together, keeping the pattern. (THAT’S why we need that extra layer of the accent color!) Press the new stack together lightly.Cut slices of this stack. Mine are slightly thicker than my widest on my pasta machine. It helps me to set the stack at a slight angle so I can watch the blade travel through the stack. Don’t worry if they aren’t quite even!Place two slices next to each other and use your acrylic roller to help seal the two pieces together. Pay extra attention to the ends!Roll slowly through the pasta machine on the widest setting. THE STRIPES SHOULD BE VERTICAL TO THE ROLLERS! Then step through the next thinner setting. You can stop here or make your earring thinner if you wish.Use the cutter of your choice to cut out two earrings from this slice. (try to line up your cutter!) I’m using the Sculpey teardrop cutter set. Set these pieces aside. Keep the remaining part of the sheet to cut out small elements for the earring (or smaller earrings!) Repeat with your other slices, cutting out your main shape first from each slice.Got a piece that didn’t quite bond together? Use this portion and your selvage to cut out the smaller pieces for your design or just smaller earrings – not everyone likes big earrings!I like to cut thin pieces from the selvage and trail them down the center of the earring. YES, the trick to to make them mirror match on both earrings. ALSO, it helps if you can keep this piece from the exact center of the top of the earring where you will want to place your hole.Note that my top pieces are slightly off center from where I will place my hole to assemble the earring! Trim the ends to the original teardrop pattern. If you drill your holes before baking, you can do so NOW. Bake your earrings. YES, I DO follow the package directions for baking and I DO use a separate thermometer in my oven that will beep me if the oven rises above 290F or drops below 270F.Add your jump ring to connect the two pieces and your ear wires!You can use your scraps to make heishi jewelry as well! These are created with Soufflé Yellow Ochre, Raspberry and Robins Egg. Odd color combinations that really pop work really well with this!
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