Enameled Pendant & Polymer Clay Necklace

by Anna Garner.
(Northern California  USA)

I received this blazing scarlet enameled copper leaf pendant from the artisan who made it. I wanted to use it as the focus of a necklace that I had in mind.

Handmade Enameled Scarlet and Copper Leaf Pendant, Handmade Signed Necklace

But I chose to make it monochrome. So I had to mix polymer clay to harmonize with the leaf pendant. I hand sculpted four thick disk beads. rounding the sides, but leaving a flat surface front and back.

I carefully stamped front and back with an abstract floral design before heat-curing the beads. I also made the roundish tubular beads to fill in the remainder of the string of beads.

After curing the polymer clay beads that I had made, I antiqued them with a jeweler’s wax that is specially made for that purpose.

As spacer beads and for the toggle clasp, I used the same patinated copper as the leaf base. The translucent resin beads serve as a relief from the heat of the scarlet pendant and art clay beads, both of which are dense and opaque.

Fortunately, I had the just the right tone of reddish brown resin beads to add a sparkle to the necklace.

Anna Garner
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