Dragonfly Pendant Jewelry Necklace – Fimo Rubber Stamping Techniques
Polymer clay instructions: How to transform an embarrassing Fimo pendant mistake, into a beautiful piece of dragonfly jewelry, inked with a rubber stamp design:
Sometimes mistakes can be a beautiful thing! Let me explain… Underneath this pretty dragonfly necklace lies a polymer clay pendant that turned out terrible! But since it's possible to re-bake Premo and Fimo clay, I was able to salvage the ugly pendant and give it a new life!
Creativity is a process of discovery – learning how to do things right, and sometimes, how to do them wrong. So it only makes sense that not everything you make is going to turn out.
The great thing about polymer clay is that you don't have to throw these 'mistakes' away. This is very freeing for the beginner as well as for experienced clayers. Because you don't have to feel like you are wasting your valuable clay when your beads don't turn out as expected.
This was the case with the dragonfly jewellery pendant in the picture above. Underneath is a slightly smaller circle pendant in a color combination that turned out horrible. I originally thought the colors would go well together, but boy was I wrong.
So I covered the ugly clay with a marbled piece of copper and gold Fimo. This looked much better, but was still missing something.
Some red variegated gold leaf was then added to half of the bead, split down the middle 50:50. I liked that and decided to accent further with small dots of gold paint before baking. By the way, if you want more info about how to use gold leaf on polymer clay, here's a couple of reference articles for you: Gold Leaf versus Gold Foil + Foil Paper and Metal Leaf
When my newly covered clay pendant finished baking, the half-and-half gold leaf design looked kind of harsh. So I completely wrapped the piece in a very thin sheet of translucent clay and used a rubber stamping technique to add the inked dragon fly image.
With one more round of baking, it ended up looking real cool! Even the spots where the semi-clear clay didn't stick that well to the baked clay, were fine… giving the pendant a wonderful, mottled and distressed look. The back looked neat too. All layered and iridescent like a polished slab of stone.
To finish off this jewelry pendant, a hole was drilled and a black grommet added to tie in the color of the black ink on the dragonfly. Finally, burnt orange silk cording was strung through the pendant hole along with a glass bead and gold findings.
A piece of original art jewelry was born! All this from a bead that many people would have thrown out in disgust!
So next time you make a polymer clay bead that doesn't turn out so great, just set it aside for later. Because with a little fresh clay and some Fimo rubber stamping techniques… you too can create a professional looking dragonfly pendant jewelry necklace that might just end up becoming your favorite piece!
Filed Under: 05: Techniques, 06: Bead Shapes, 11: Bead Projects by Comment. 
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Comments on Dragonfly Pendant Jewelry Necklace – Fimo Rubber Stamping Techniques
6:34 pm
Have you got any "trash-to-treasure" polymer clay stories. Please do share them in the comments section below.
Cindy Lietz's last blog post..Polymer Clay Tube Beads for Jewelry Making
9:49 pm
I am new at making polymer clay beads for jewelry, this article has allowed me to get over the jitters about wasting clay in my efforts.
It is really about giving yourself permission to make mistakes and learn something new.
The art is in the serendipity of the process.
2:06 pm
Our Daughter came down from Wisconsin (to Illinois) for the weekend. We spent the whole time she was here "playing with polymer clay". What a great time we had, it was her first time. We did say how you could pretty much fix anything before the clay was baked. Now I can tell her we can fix it after it is baked, too. But, how come the clay that is already baked does not burn when you put in back in for a second or third baking?
Thanks,
Marianne
4:56 pm
@Lisa: I love your comment Lisa and I'm glad you are not so nervous anymore.
Nothing about any type of art should be scary. You are just making something for the pleasure of making it. If during that process you end up with something you don't like, look at it carefully.
What is it you don't like about it and don't do that next time… That's all.
@Marianne: With polymer clay, it's not the length of time it's in the oven… it's the temp. Weird I know. But it's plastic… A lot of things about plastic is weird!
Cindy Lietz's last blog post..Tube Beads for Jewelry Making using Gold Leaf and Fimo Polymer Clay
8:30 pm
I HAD PURCHASED SARA SHIVERS DVD INTRICATE KALEIDOSCOPE CANING. I PICKED SOME COLORS I THOUGHT WOULD LOOK GOOD TOGETHER AND WHEN I FINISHED THE CANE THEY LOOKED AWFUL. SO I REDUCED IT AND RECONFIGURED IT, DID THE KALEIDOSCOPE TECH. AGAIN AND IT TURNED OUT BEAUTIFUL. LYNN
6:21 pm
That sounds like you found the perfect way to solve your design problem Lynn! Way to go!
For those of you that have no idea what a Kaleidoscope Cane is click the link by my name to see a pillow bead made with one.
2:18 pm
That is a really pretty pendant!
I have a question of how did you got the rubber stamp on the pendant?
I have tried to rubber stamp some clay with gold leaf and the leaf stuck to the stamp. The only way I can think that you did it is you stamped the translucent clay, then placed the stamped side down on the pendant so the stamped image is protected under the translucent making a reverse stamped image. Did that make sence? Is this how is was done?
Thanks :)
Jennifer
10:07 am
Sorry Jen for taking so long to answer, getting a little backed up lately!
I put a super thin layer of translucent clay over the gold leaf. The rubber stamped image was stamped after the pendant was baked, sanded and polished with a permanent ink.
I showed how to get the ultra thin sheet of translucent in a tutorial video on crackled gold leaf and ink. Click the link by my name for more info on that.
2:25 pm
Hi Cindy,
Can you tell me where to find the grommet like the one you used to make the dragonfly pendant? Is it a standard sized grommet that's available on the office supply aisle or is it specifically used for making jewelry? I've found that I need a bit more structure/support for the wire holes on some of my earrings.
Also, I'm an avvid fan and subscriber. Thanks for sharing your insight!!
5:23 pm
That's sweet Jo! The grommet in the photo is your standard office supply type grommet or eyelet. You can also use the ones you find in a scrapbooking store in any size you choose. I bake mine in the piece, then remove it and glue it back in with Weld bond or Krazy Glue. If you try and hammer it you need to be careful that you don't crack your bead. They work excellent for reinforcing holes!
11:21 am
I need to know how to mix my clay to look like the red Jaspar with the green sparsed thru it. I am not sure how to get the mottled effect I need without ending up with mud? Thank you.
9:28 am
FYI: Cherie Sagmiller's Question was reposted and answered in another thread. Follow the link by my name for more info.