1. Each pack of crystal clay comes with a part A and part B. You want to pinch off a piece from each, roll each into a ball, and make sure they are as close to same size as possible. You may want to wear gloves. This clay contains epoxy and can irritate sensitive skin.
*Tip- if it seems sticky, use a tiny bit of olive oil on your glove or finger tip, just a tiny bit! It will make it smoother to play with. *
2. Once you have the two balls rolled out, mix them together. This will take a few minutes to do because it needs to be VERY mixed. You should not see any marbling at all.
*Tip- rolling the balls into "snakes" and then mixing together makes mixing a little easier.*
3. Now place the epoxy clay into or onto whatever surface you are working with. We used a pendant tray. Press it firmly into place to be sure the clay is very secure.
4. Now it's time to decorate! Grab your little beeswax tool. You will use this to pick up the crystal chatons. The tool should come with the crystal clay. If you huff warm breath on the wax, it works better. Pick up chatons with wax end and place where desired.
5. Once in place, use the other end to tap them firmly down, to be sure the epoxy clay has a firm hold on the crystals.
6. Once you have a design done, you are free to set aside and wait for the crystal clay to cure. It hardens in just an hour or two, but takes 24 hours for the crystal clay to completely cure.
Orrrrrrrrrr...... You can add some color to the clay!
Now, there is pigment powder made just for crystal clay. However, if you don't happen to have any on hand and still want some color, you can do what we did..... Eyeshadow!
***This is for risk takers only. This is NOT the official way to add color. But, I happen to have a whole lot of colors that looked terrible on me but so pretty in the container! Soooo, I tried it, many different times now, and works like a charm for me. It has even stayed on the clay after being submerged in water. But, IF you do try this, you will not want to use that eyeshadow or brush on yourself or others again. They should be considered contaminated from crafts. 😄******
Use a generous amount and pounce it on. You need to be firm enough that it will stick to the jewelry clay, but don't smash so hard you ruin the structure of your design. Here is our example.
7. At this point, we set the piece aside for 20-24 hours, just to be safe. But remember to be sure you completely covered your item in whatever type of colored powder you use!
Once the cure time has past, gently dust off the excess powder. We use a soft cloth to polish up the crystals and setting as well. Add a necklace and ta-da! Done!
We hope you enjoy! You can find crystal clay in all sorts of colors at either of our shops:
Www.williowruncrafts.com Or www.etsy.com/shop/karenscraftsupplies
As well as the organza necklaces and a variety of pendant trays!
