Twice Textured Earrings

I recently shared that I had an article in the Fall issue of The Polymer Arts Magazine!  This issue is packed with amazing texture ideas!  My article highlights some unique ways to add texture to your projects, but the sample projects featured do not have tutorials.  I thought it would be fun to share some of the tutorials themselves. 

These “twice textured” earrings are just one of the many options I’ve explored.  I chose two shades of clay with autumn tones as I thought the colors paired well with the somewhat “organic” feel of the combination of textures.  You could use any colors of clay, any shape, etc. and the same texturing techniques for a totally different effect.

Materials: 

Makin’s Clay® - Merlot, Straw 

Makin’s® Clay Cutters - Rectangles

Clay roller 

Sisal rope 

Aluminum foil 

Krylon® 14K Gold Leafing Pen 

DecoArt® Metallic Lustre® - Gold Rush

Gold jump rings, beads, French earring wires 

Jewelry pliers

Instructions:

Roll Merlot and Straw clay to a little less than 1/4” thick.

Use largest rectangular clay cutter from 3 piece set to cut two rectangles from Merlot clay. 

Gently crumple ball of aluminum foil and use to gently impress texture onto the rectangles. 

Place sisal rope onto sheet of Straw clay and slowly roll, while applying pressure, to transfer texture to the clay.  The result is a great, texture with an organic feel, and an unexpected diamond pattern.

Use medium rectangular cutter from 3 piece set to cut two rectangles from sisal rope textured clay. 

Apply Krylon gold leafing pen to outside edges of each rectangle.  When leafing pen is dry, place the Straw pieces centered over the Merlot pieces.  

Make a small hole in the Merlot rectangles at the top center for jump rings. 

Let dry 24 hours. 

Add jump ring, one gold bead, and French wire to each earring  

I decided I wanted to ad a bit more gold accent to the sisal texture, so I used my fingertip to apply a very light touch of Gold Rush DecoArt® Metallic Lustre to the surface of each piece.