I love making my own jewelry. It allows me to make unique pieces that show off my personal style. I have been jewelry making for quite a few years now, however, these days it is often difficult to do much in the way of complex pieces with two small children running around. That’s why I love pieces that are unique, and also easy to make.
These epoxy clay bead chip jewelry pieces are so easy to make and they are unique too!
Making Epoxy Clay Chip Bead Jewelry
Materials:
- Crystal Clay epoxy clay
- Strand of chip beads
- Bezel setting
- Rubber gloves
- Jump ring
You will want to wear gloves while mixing the clay. You want to take two equal parts of the clay and mix them until they are uniform in color. You will want to press the clay into the bezel, and lightly push it so that it will fill the entire area.
You want to make sure that the clay is slightly lower than the edges of the bezel so that the bead chips will sit correctly. If you have too much clay you can always pinch off a small piece and pat the rest flat.
You will have about two hours of working time before the clay begins to set. Place the individual chips into the clay, so that the bead holes are not facing out but also so that you can see very little of the clay underneath. You may have to position and then reposition the beads several times.
Once you have the stones where you want them, press the stones down gently into the epoxy clay. All of the bead chips need to be in the clay in order to avoid loose chips.
Before the clay completely sets you will want to wipe away any excess clay. This includes the tops of the beads as well as any clay that is on the bezel. Once the clay has cured, it will be very difficult to get it off.
The clay will be fully cured within 24 hours.
Once the clay has completely cured, you will want to test the strength of the bond. Rub across the stones fairly hard with your fingers or a rag. If any stones come loose, you can roll a tiny piece of clay and press it down into the gap. Reset the stone and then let it cure.
After you have finished with the bezel and the stones, you will want to add a jump ring to bezel’s loop. This will make sure that the pendant lays flat.
Then, string a chain of your choice through the jump ring and you are ready to go!
