Step 13
Taking each of the little clay
rectangles in turn, wrap them up around a wooden toothpick to make two
little accent beads for the earrings. Twist the beads so they turn freely on
the toothpick and then set aside ready for baking.
|
Step 14
Leave the hearts and beads in place on
the ceramic tile and bake in a pre-heated oven following the baking
instructions for whatever clay you used. For Fimo Classic this will be around
30-40 minutes at 130º C / 265º F
|
Step 15
Ok - the hearts and beads are baked!
Let them cool and then varnish to protect the foil decoration. I like to
varnish just the foil and leave the black border around the hearts matte.
Notice I have taken the beads off the toothpicks and just propped them on
the end for varnishing. They are stabbed into a blob of unbaked clay while
they dry. |
Step 16
While the varnish is drying, we can talk tools and stuff. To make the
earrings you will need some round and flat nosed pliers plus some wire
cutters - I like flush cutters as they cut the wire neatly and don't leave
little scratchy burs. You can use any type of wire, either sterling or
plated. Finally you will need earring findings. I like to use Titanium as
they are truly hypo-allergenic and look nice!
|
Step 17
Cut a length of wire, about 12 cm should be enough. About two-thirds of the way down, form a large loop, working
around the base of the jaws on the round-nose pliers.
|
Step18
Open the loop a little and carefully
thread on the baked heart. Hold the long tail-end of wire
out perpendicular to the earring. Grab the loop securely with the pliers and
then bend the remaining short tail-end of wire out at 90 degrees, ready to
form a wrapped loop.
|
Step 19
Wrap the short wire tightly around the
long perpendicular wire, spiralling it around twice. You may prefer to hold
the short wire with another pair of pliers to get a good grip and be able to
pull it nice and tight. Finish the wrap on the backside of the earring for
neatness. |
Step 20
Snip off the remaining wire at the back
of the earring, cutting as close to the wrapped loop as possible. Be sure to
cut the correct wire now - you want to trim the wire you were doing the wrapping
with, not the wire you were doing the wrapping to! Else
- BOOM! - you've seen the movies right?
|
Step 21
Thread on one of the accent beads. Leave
a small gap of a millimetre or two and then bend the remaining wire out at a
90 degree angle to one side. The gap is left to accommodate the spiralled
wire as we finish the earring with a second wrapped loop
|
Step 22
Form a small loop at
the bend in the wire, using the round nosed pliers. Wrap the tail end of the
wire back around the earring below the hanging loop to secure, until the gap
you left is filled. Finish the
wrap at the back of the earring as before and trim away the leftover wire.
|
Step 23
All the remains now is
to carefully open the loop on the Titanium earring finding and attach it to
the earring, closing the loop securely after. And - of course -
to complete the other earring in the pair. |
Don't forget - if you make a
pair of these earrings, or anything else using EJR Beads products, I would
love to feature a photo of them in the Customer's Gallery!
Text & Images © Emma Ralph
2005. May not be printed, distributed or reproduced electronically without
the author's written permission.
<<<< Back to page one |
