Sculpey Soufflé™ Marble Magic Earrings

Getting Started:

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 clay may damage unprotected furniture or finished surfaces. Be sure to cover your crafting area appropriately.

Start with clean hands, unwrap and knead clay until soft and smooth, or condition by running clay though a Pasta Machine. We recommend using a designated machine for clay purposes only. When working with multiple colors, clean hands with soap and water or baby wipes (we have found that baby wipes work best) before switching colors. Shape clay, pressing pieces firmly together. Wash hands after use.

Baking (also called Curing):

Begin by preheating oven to 275 °F (130 °C). After you are done creating; for best results bake/cure clay on an oven-proof surface such metal, aluminum foil, an index card or the Sculpey® Clay Mat at 275°F (130 °C) for 30 minutes per 1/4" (6 mm) thickness according to package directions. Oven safe glass or ceramic surfaces are also acceptable for baking/curing; however please note that the baking/curing times may take longer as the glass or ceramic surfaces take longer to heat up. For best baking results, use an oven thermometer. DO NOT USE MICROWAVE OVEN. DO NOT EXCEED THE ABOVE TEMPERATURE OR RECOMMENDED BAKING TIME.

Start by mixing up the water and medium because the medium will need to set up for 30 minutes before using.
I used a shallow container as shown with 2 cups of warm water and 1 teaspoon of medium.
Follow the directions carefully on the canister DecoArt Water Marbling Magic Medium completely to make the fluid for water marbling.

Stir the medium in as well as you can. You can see that some of the medium does not mix in completely but will after the setting time of 30 minutes.

While the water and medium set, make two large teardrops for each pair of earrings that you want to make from Sculpey Soufflé™ Igloo. I made several pairs because this was my first time using the marbling material and I wanted to have several samples to choose from.

Use the Needle Tool or the Blunt Point Tool to poke holes in the top of each clay teardrop. Bake the teardrop pieces following the baking instructions for Sculpey Soufflé™ and allow to cool completely before handling.

After the fluid medium has been allowed to set for 30 minutes, stir it again. The remaining lumps from the previous mixing will easily stir in now.

Set up your work area. You will need paper towels spread out flat next to the water basin. I have an additional styrofoam tray in this photo, which I did not end up needing.

The DecoArt website gives many inspirations for colors and paint dripping techniques and I would suggest looking at the website for ideas before dripping colors on the surface of the water.

I tried both a rainbow technique and a three-color technique.

In this tutorial I’m showing you how I did both techniques using the same fluid and finishing both styles of earrings.

Start with dots of color onto the surface of the water as you like. I started with red.

Then I added orange drops into the center of the red. You can see that each color you add pushes the original color drops out.

Here’s a look after I added both yellow and then bright green always dripping from the center of each area.

Finally, I added blue dots of color in the centers of each green area.

Use the Needle Tool to drag through the colors creating a marbled effect to your liking.
Dip the face of the baked Soufflé™ pieces into the color

Immediately flip the marbled clay pieces (face up) onto the paper towel and allow them to dry completely.

I dipped several pieces into the rainbow marbling fluid that I had created and set them aside to dry.

As you dip the pieces into the color fluid, much of the paint will be removed leaving blank spaces in the fluid.

I added drips of purple and teal Water Marbling Acrylics into these blank spaces. Then I dragged the Needle Tool through again to create more patterns.

Then I dipped additional baked Soufflé™ pieces into this color combination as well and set the pieces aside to dry completely.

After the paint was completely dry, I carefully glazed the painted surfaces using a paintbrush with Sculpey® Glossy Glaze and allowed it to dry completely.

Here’s the earring layout for the red/teal/purple earrings.

Use flat nose pliers to open and close jump rings and ear wires assembling finished earrings.

I repeated the layout and assembly for the rainbow dipped earrings as well