Simplicity, Making Polymer Clay Jewelry that Gets Worn More Often

Torn Paper Watercolor Bead Pendant “So the other
day I throw on a
little trinket I absolutely threw together. And sure enough…” ~Laurel-B

Sometimes it’s good to keep things simple, like I did with this polymer clay pendant made with three football shaped, torn paper watercolor beads, mounted on a handmade copper headpin.

I’ll add a large hammered copper jump ring as a bail, and then include this pendant as part of the Polymer Clay Christmas Gift for my Mom. The design is casual and clean, and it gives off a friendly pink pearl shimmer. Very wearable.

Speaking of wearable, some of the polymer clay jewelry pieces I’ve seen lately are huge, elaborate and  gorgeous… but not very wearable… unless you’re on a fashion runway.

They are the kind of show stopping pieces that people ooh and awe over, but rarely buy. The kind of thing that looks incredible on a jewelry bust, but a little weird when you wear it with jeans and a T-shirt.

So when you’re thinking of giving someone a gift of your polymer clay jewelry, it’s not a bad thing to think simple. The recipient will love it just as much as something that is elaborate. And perhaps more importantly, they will actually wear it more often. Yes… keeping it simple is often times the way to go.

I have been wearing a lot of my jewelry that I make to work. I have worn many a pendant tediously and carefully wire wrapped and baubles made with polymer clay that have been hand formed, sanded, buffed and coated with hours of work on every detail. Most times I hear not a word about these treasures from my co-workers. So the other day I throw on a little trinket I absolutely threw together. And sure enough, I get a comment about how pretty/cool my necklace is. Go figure!!! LOL ~Laurel-B

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  1. sarahwww, 20 December, 2009

    Laurel — I find exactly the same thing. Some times I may have worn something several times with no comment and then suddenly is it like everyone notices. LOL!

  2. Elizabeth S., 20 December, 2009

    Like I said yesterday, lucky mom!

  3. Carol, 27 December, 2009

    How do you become a member? I see library items I’d love to look at. I did join at your 3 Free Video, where do I go from here? At age 81, am I too old a dog to learn some new tricks? Also, is it possible to buy single videos of techniques?

  4. Cindy Lietz, 27 December, 2009

    Hi Carol,

    Thanks for your interest in my videos. I don’t think you are “…too old a dog to learn some new tricks.” It is so great to see that you are wanting to expand your horizons. Here is the link to become a member.

    And to purchase videos without becoming an ongoing subscriber, this is the link:
    Polymer Clay Back Issues

    Each Back Issue Volume contains 4 videos and 4 A-Series color recipes. They come as a package. At this time, I do not have a way for you to purchase single videos from a particular volume. That is just one of the many items on my list of things to get done by the time I get to be your age :-)

    Thanks for being part of the community Carol.

  5. Tiffany, 29 December, 2009

    Hi ! my name is Tiffany.
    I’m Korean. I was in Korea I made some polymer beads.
    korea and america patten are little different. I really interested in amerecan method.
    I’m in anannadale in virginia.
    is there any polymer club ?
    if there is have that club, I really waat to meet that people and joint them.
    and your product are really good!
    Thank you

  6. Cindy Lietz, 29 December, 2009

    Hi Tiffany,

    You are the first person from Korea (that I am aware of), who has commented here at the blog. So I would like to extend a big Welcome! Your English is very understandable, which is great, because unfortunately I am not able to communicate in your Korean language.

    Anyway, I am not aware of club in Virginia to suggest but now that your message is posted here, perhaps someone else who lives in Virginia may be able to offer some advice.

    I did provide a link by my name to another comment where someone else (Nancy Lancaster) was discussing where she purchased some supplies in Virginia.

    You can also use Virginia as a keyword in the search box at the top of this page to find other references.

  7. Barbara Sloan, 29 December, 2009

    Ho do you make beads with dried flowers?

  8. Cindy Lietz, 29 December, 2009

    Hi Barbara – You are in luck because I just addressed your question in a full article just a few days ago. The “Polymer Clay Memorial Jewelry” link by my name will take you to the article.

  9. Sandy Triplett, 11 January, 2010

    What great work you do, thank you! I am new to polymer clay. I notice that you use Premo in your recipes. I have purchased lots of clay from various mfg’s. Do you know if there is a color conversion chart available?

  10. Cindy Lietz, 16 January, 2010

    Thank you Sandy for the Question! I have used many different brands of clay and really do prefer Premo. As far as a color comparison chart between brands, there really isn’t one because each company uses different color pigment recipes. Although colors between brands may look similar to each other, they will not necessarily mix the same way. The nice thing about using Premo is that it is based on an artist pigment palette that is typically used in acrylic and oil paints, so the color mixing is predictable. The other brands colors are not based on artist palettes. Kato Polyclay does use a spectrum based color system that works well for color mixing but the clay isn’t as widely available as the Premo is.

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