Liquid Sculpey® Glittery Bezel Earrings

Getting Started with Liquid Sculpey®:

Please make sure your work area is covered and you are not working on an unprotected surface. We recommend working on the Sculpey® Oven Safe Work Mat, wax paper, metal baking sheet, or disposable foil. Uncured Liquid Polymer Clay may damage unprotected furniture or finished surfaces. Be sure to cover your crafting area appropriately. - Stir Liquid Sculpey® completely. Thin with Sculpey® Liquid Clay Softener as needed - Wash hands after use (we have found that baby wipes work best)

Baking:
• -It is important to use oven thermometer when you bake the liquids so that you can ensure your oven is at the correct temperature.
• -Do not microwave the liquids. They must be baked in a Preheated oven at 275 ºF (130 ºC) for liquid colors and 300 ºF (149 ºC) for Clear – Do not exceed baking temperatures.
• -If your piece is less than 1/4” bake for 15 minutes. For thicker pieces that are 1/4” or above bake for 30 minutes.
• -If your liquid project has become yellowed or discolored in the oven, when you remake it, tent it by placing either – folding an index card in half and placing your project under it by using aluminum foil over your project.

Here’s a tip for baking perfectly in silicone molds. Dampen a dish towel with water and wring out as much of the water as you can. Fold the damp towel so that the molds can sit level on top of it. The damp towel will slow down the curing process so that the LS will cure evenly throughout and avoid warping.

When using Liquid Sculpey (LS) in Translucent colors in thin layers, like this Translucent Lavender, the translucent will have a little more fullness of color if you add just a drop of White LS to it.

Place a quarter sized puddle of Translucent Lavender in the bottom of a silicone cupcake liner and add one drop of White LS. Stir the White in completely. I like to use the purple tool here that has a very flat angled end from the Sculpey Bake Shop® Modeling Tools for stirring. Clean tools with paper towel.

Add chunky or mylar glitter in analogous (similar) colors. I’ve chosen blue, purple, and pink. The shape of this glitter is like little sticks.

Stir the glitter in completely.
Clean tools with paper towel.

Place the open bezels on a piece of glass or silicone baking tray.
This piece of glass just happens to have a grid on it, the grid is not essential.

Carefully drip the glittery LS into the bezel to fill it. Any of the purple tools is good for this.

This is another style of bezel that I tried. I wanted to point out that if you have drips or over-fill areas, as in this photo, you can clean them up after baking.

It’s also important to note that the deeper bezels work better than thin ones. The bezel pictured here is about 1/2 the thickness of the one I settled on.

Bake the bezels following the baking instructions for Liquid Sculpey® on the glass baking surface.
Allow to cool completely before handling. Then carefully pop them off of the baking surface with your fingernail.
Use small scissors to remove excess baked LS from the outside of the bezels.

Assemble with ear wires using flat nose pliers.
If your bezels have an eye connector that is perpendicular to the bezel face, use a 4 mm jump ring between the bezel and the ear wire to orient the artwork forward.