This article will discuss in detail the process of creating unique earrings, which will be made using the “translation” technique.
This technique involves transferring any image onto polymer clay without losing its brightness and clarity. This technique allows you to create amazing jewelry and souvenirs, but pendants with photographs of people who are dear to its owner look especially impressive.
Amazing objects are created from plastic using the “translation” technique. presentthat are remembered for a lifetime.
Let's move on to creating earrings.
We will need:
- a small block of white plastic
- image printed on a laser(!) printer in mirror image
- accessories (2 earrings, 2 pins and 2 connecting rings)
- blade
- water
- cotton wool
- rolling pin or any object that can be used for rolling
- modeling board
These items are clearly visible in the photo:
Step 1.
If the plastic is still cold, then it is hard and kneads very poorly, so you need to warm it up in your hands and knead it, then it will become pliable. First, you need to cut two small pieces from a plastic bar and, after kneading them, shape them into a ball.
Step 2.
Now you need to roll these balls into a layer with a uniform thickness of 2-3 mm. Professionals use special pasta machines for this purpose, but we will use a rolling pin the old fashioned way.
Tip 1: to prevent the clay from sticking and tearing, it needs to be moistened with water.
Tip 2: plastic, especially white, “collects” all the smallest dust from hands and tools, so before handling it, you need to wash your hands thoroughly, because even the smallest speck will be visible on the clay.
Step 3.
When the plastic is rolled out into a “pancake”, you can proceed directly to the process of transferring the prepared image onto it. It should be noted that the size of the clay layer should be slightly larger than the image.
How to translate a drawing? To do this, take a picture printed and cut out along the contour and apply it with the front (!) side to the plastic and roll it a little with a rolling pin.
To transfer an image, we need to wet it with water and wait until it saturates the top layer so that we can remove it, leaving only the drawing itself on the “pancake”. To speed up the impregnation process, you need to carefully roll the workpieces with a rolling pin.
When the paper becomes transparent and the drawing is visible through it, it’s time! To remove the top layer of paper, you need to run your fingers over it, rolling the top layer into “pellets.” This is the most crucial moment - after all, along with the paper, you can remove the drawing itself, which will ruin the work.What the finished product should look like:
Step 4.
Now you need to carefully trim off the excess clay with a blade without damaging the product itself.
Step 5.
Next comes the turn of the fittings: first you should carefully screw the pins into the top of the products
Step 6.
Now you can go to the oven! The oven should be preheated to 160-180 degrees and the product should be kept there for about 10-15 minutes.
When the earrings have baked and cooled, you can begin the final assembly - fastening the earrings.
As a result, we received unique earrings that no one else has!
The manufacturing process took 30 minutes.
