Striking silver and Faux Bone™ earrings
These earrings are made using the new medium Faux Bone™ combined with 7 grams of Art Clay Silver.
By Lesley Messam
To make life easy for yourself use cookie cutters to cut out the silver clay shapes required to make these earrings. If you’re not into silver clay then omit this step and cut out two similar shapes from Sterling silver, file and sand to a fine finish and then rivet them onto the Faux Bone™
designer tips
- Ensure that you fit the blade of the saw so that the teeth of the blade are facing downwards
- Badger balm your texture sheet this will prevent the clay sticking
- For small pieces of silver clay a blow torch can be used to fire it
Tools & Materials
- 10grams of Art Clay
- Spacers 1.5mm
- 4 playing cards
- Roller
- Badger balm
- Work surface, texture sheet or a piece of interesting net curtain
- Rubber block
- Set of sanding pads
- Blow torch or kiln
- Firing block, brass brush
- Engraving tool or a drill with an engraving bit
- 2 cut half round file
- 1.2mm drill bit
- 2 cookie cutters
- Needle file
- Liver of sulphur
- Faux Bone™
- Bench peg
- Piercing saw and blade
- Wet and dry 340/400/600
- Ball pien hammer
- 1.2mm silver wire
- Steel block
- Acrylic paint burnt umber or brown shoe polish
- Renaissance wax
- Side cutters
- A vice
Step 1
Roll out the clay with two playing cards under each 1mm spacer. Once your clay is rolled out remove the cards and pick the clay up then place the texture sheet on your tile, the clay on the texture and then place the spacers on the texture. Now roll to ensure a perfect texture every time.
Step 2
Choose two cookie cutters that match but one being larger then the other. Use the small one to cut out four shapes from the textured clay. Take a needle file and put a small hole at each end of the four clay pieces.
Step 3
Once the four sections are completely dry, start sanding, using sanding pads. Begin with 180, 220, 280 remembering that the more effort put in at this point the better your finish will be.
Step 4
Fire the Art Clay sections in a kiln for 15 minutes at 780°C or blow torch each piece for two minutes. Once fired and cooled sand once again going through all the grades.
Step 5
Use a silver cloth loaded with silver polish and rub vigorously to achieve a high shine. Make a weak solution of liver of sulphur to patina the silver.
Step 6
Faux Bone™ comes in three different widths. We are using the thinnest piece of Faux Bone™. With a permanent marker draw a template around the edges of the larger cookie cutter. Make sure you draw two.
Step 7
Set up your bench peg and take a piercing saw with a course blade, this blade is suitable for the bone. Saw both sections out of the bone.
Step 8
Place the bone in the v of the bench peg and file the edges using a second cut, half round, metal file. (Tip: Do not file back and forth as the file only cuts on the push stroke). Do this on both sides to make a neat bevelled edge. Using wet and dry sanding paper, making sure it is wet, sand through the grades 320/400/600.
Step 9
With a hand drill fitted with a 1.2mm drill bit, drill a hole for the ear wire near to the top. Now tape the silver section to the bone and drill the two holes that you have made in the silver. Do this to both pieces.
Step 10
Place your 1.2mm Sterling silver wire in a vice and rivet over one end using a ball pien hammer. Thread this through the Art Clay piece then the Faux Bone™ and then the next piece of Art Clay. Cut the silver so it’s longer then needed, using two playing cards with a small hole punched out. Place this over the silver wire and cut. This gives the exact depth needed to rivet. File the burr that the cutters leave. On a steel block rivet the pieces together.
Step 11
If you have an engraving tool use a fine engraving tip to engrave fine lines, in no particular order, on the bone, making sure to engrave the back and the front of both earrings. Alternatively you can use a drill, which will work with an engraving bit attached.
Step 12
Use some burnt umber acrylic paint to add the patina, squeeze a small amount out and rub all over the Faux Bone™, then leave it to dry. Rub the bone with a cloth to take the excess away. Finally rub over with some renaissance wax.
fashion tips
These stylish earrings will work with both day and eveningwear. Braided hair is very much in vogue this winter. Style your hair so that the earrings are a focal point. Hold your braids in place with a decorative clip and flexible hairspray. Avoid perfume or hair care products from coming into contact with the earrings as it could cause them to tarnish
Red handbag £39.99 Clark
Studded heart clips £6 Accessorize
Coat £65, jumper £12.50, jeggings £20 M&Co