Number Jewelry Made with Metal Scrapbook Embellishments and Fimo

Combining Craft Supplies From Different Sources To Make Unique Handmade Jewelry:

Today's post shows how to combine scrapbooking supplies not normally used with polymer clay, to make a cute number necklace for a 12 year old (my daughter).

The project is a result of the wonderful prize package I recently won from Tim Holtz, in a giveaway contest he held at his blog. Click on the following link to read the full story about everything that was in the package: Tim Holtz Ideology Scrapbooking Supplies

In a thank you note to Tim, I promised that I would figure out how to combine his products with some of my polymer clay techniques, and then post about it here at my blog.

Now if he had sent me distress ink, embossing powder, rubber stamps or maybe one of his new masks… any one of those things would have been easy to work into a polymer clay project.

But I received none of the above. Instead, Tim sent several packages of wonderful scrapbook embellishment products. Wow! I had no idea he was planning to give me so much cool stuff!

Having a fair amount of experience with paper crafts, I knew exactly how I could use these things for scrapbooking. But figuring out how to combine them with polymer clay, wasn't as easy.

Like every creative idea, it can take a little time to brew. Surrounding yourself with the materials is the first step to triggering some visual sparks.

Most artist and craft studios I've seen (including mine), have all kinds of photos items and materials laid out where they can be seen for inspiration. It may appear as complete chaos to non-creative folks, but it's how many great projects begin.

Well in the case of my Number 12 Necklace pictured above, I dumped out a pile of the metal numbers (Numerals – Tim Holtz' Idea-ology line) on my work table. I also spread out the other items Tim sent… and of course a few polymer clay canes, beads and inks from the last project I had worked on.

It was the holes in the numbers that started the ideas flowing for me. When any item has a hole, it has the potential to be a charm or pendant.

So which number(s) to choose? It had to be of some significance to make any sense. A favorite number, an age, something important. I wouldn't want to wear 42 around my neck, but my daughter doesn't mind showing off her age. So 12 was the number I picked.

On the desk was a left over piece of a Mod Cane… perfect for this project. Taking some slices of the cane and piecing them together into a thin sheet, I covered the surface of the metal Numeral 1.

To cover the Number 2, I took a thicker chunk of the cane and ran it through the pasta machine to make a striped sheet in the same colors.

Both numbers were then baked in the oven, popped off the metal and glued back onto the metal again with Krazy Glue.

They were then sanded and buffed just like any polymer clay bead or pendant… making sure the metal edges were smooth as well, since the piece would be worn as jewelry against the skin.

To make the numbers look more dimensional and really have them pop, alcohol inks in Butterscotch and Wild Plum were dabbed around the edges with a Q-Tip.

Jump rings were added to the top holes for hanging. And the brads included in the Numerals product package were used to fill the lower holes.

All in all, this necklace turned out pretty cool! Willow (my daughter) loves it. And the 2 can always be changed to a 3 later this year when she has her next birthday.

I can see all kinds of design possibilities here… how about you?