Custom Jewelry Dish (Geometric)

About

You Will Need (5 things)

Steps (3 steps, 1560 minutes)

1. 1

   Using a clear plastic as base roll out the air dry clay. You could make the clay layer anywhere between 3 mm to 4 mm. If the layer is too thin it will tend to break easily and if it is thicker it will be harder to mold into shape. The magenta dish is 5 mm and that’s why you can see a bit of uneven molding, whereas the pink dish is 3.5 mm and has molded beautifully. The white dish is less than 3 mm and even though it has survived over a month of use, it does seem fragile. Also turn between the two sides while rolling out the clay to give both sides a even surface.

   Please read the instructions on the air dry clay packet very carefully. The air clay I used needed to be sealed properly between uses to retain it’s moisture (the same was also written on the packing of the clay).

2. 2

   There are 3 ways you can use the plastic alphabet to make an impression on the clay. First is debossing like I did, using the raised surface of the plastic alphabet make an impression into the clay. Next is embossing by pressing the hollow side of the plastic alphabet into the clay, this leaves you with not a complete emboss but an embossed impression by hollowing the outlines of the alphabet. The third style is to lightly press the hollow side into the clay and then using the back of the paintbrush to trace around the outline. You can try all three on a small piece of clay and choose what you like the best. I personally loved the debossing with the metallic paint.

   You can even completely use the back of a paintbrush or other stamping tools to create various textures and patterns in the clay. Using the back of the paintbrush I debossed the heart free-hand into the clay. If you do go wrong somewhere you can easily manipulate by using a super thin layer of clay onto the mistake and blending it into the original clay layer. The ease of making changes, while clay is wet, is the biggest pros of using clay for the custom jewelry dish.

3. 3

   Now starts your painting process. Using acrylic paint color the dish, including the alphabet impressions. First paint the front and edges of the jewelry dish and then paint the backside. You will need 2-3 coats depending on the color and consistency of the acrylic paint. I had to use 2 coats for the magenta and pink custom jewelry dish and 3 coats for the white trinket dish. The drying time between coats was very short, approx 15 minutes each.

   P.S: I first wanted to do stripes but the masking tape took parts of the acrylic paint leaving me with uneven lines. I sanded off the entire layer and used a fresh coat of paint allover.