Epoxy Clay and Crackled Gilding Flake Rings, Earrings and Pendants

Gilding Flakes are one of my new favorite obsessions. In this simple and fast tutorial using Epoxy Clay and Gilding Flakes you can see first hand the making of a ring. The Gilding Flakes adhere completely to the Epoxy Clay and do not require a coat of Nunn Design Resin over the top.

Here is what you will learn in this tutorial:

How to mix Epoxy Clay
How to mix and embed Gilding Flakes in Epoxy Clay and embed into a Nunn Design Bezels
How to mix Nunn Design Resin
How to apply the Nunn Design Resin

Supplies Needed: 

Nunn Design Ring Adjustable 13mm
Nunn Design Earring Post Itsy Circle
Nunn Design Open Frame Mini Circle
Epoxy Clay-Black
 Gilding Flakes

Other Supplies:  

Rubbing Alcohol
Q-Tips
 Wet-wipes
Toothpicks
Gloves
Business Cards or glossy card stock

Tools:

  Needle Nose Pliers
Tweezers (optional)

Mixing and Applying the Epoxy Clay

1. The Nunn Design Findings are oxidized to provide the aged look to the precious metal plating. The oxidization, when it comes into contact with the Epoxy Clay could change the color of the clay. To avoid this, clean the findings thoroughly prior to applying the clay. Get the tip of a Q-Tip wet with rubbing alcohol and clean away any of the blackened oxidization on both sizes of the finding.

2.  Epoxy Clay is epoxy clay that air-dries. It sets in 2 hours and continues to cure 14-16 hours. There is no baking required, no shrinkage and in this tutorial, I don’t even let it dry before applying the resin!

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the handling and mixing of the Epoxy Clay. While wearing gloves, pinch off two equal sized balls of Part A and Part B and blend together fully until the clay is no longer marbled and uniform in color. You have approximately 90-120 minutes of working time before the clay starts to harden, so take your time. Once the clay is thoroughly mixed, remove your gloves to make it easier to work with the clay.

3. Pinch off a section of the mixed Epoxy Clay and roll it into a smooth ball using the palms of your hands. To get an idea if you have just the right amount of clay, place the ball onto the Adjustable Ring 13mm pad or within the bezel. If it looks like the ball of Epoxy Clay once pressed onto or into the bezel is going to have a very high dome, pinch off some of the ball and roll it again in the palms of your hands until the clay is smooth again. If it looks like there isn’t enough clay, add some more and roll until smooth.

4. Use a toothpick or a pair of tweezers to pick-up gilding flakes and lay the flakes down on your work surface. Place the round ball of uncured wet Epoxy Clay onto the gilding flakes and roll gently picking up the gilding flakes and having them adhere to the ball. Once you have the gilding flakes embedded into the clay and in the position that you want, use your fingertips to press, rub and smooth the flakes down into the clay.

5. Roll the gilded flake covered ball of Epoxy Clay with your fingertip in the palm of your hand until round. Continue rolling until the gilding flakes are smooth and fully adhered to the Epoxy Clay.

6. Sculpt the shape of the ball with your fingers until you have the desired effect that you would like. For the Adjustable Ring, make sure that you press the Epoxy Clay down firmly onto the 13mm flat pad.

Curing & Clean Up:

7. Use a wet-wipe to clean away any excess clay from the sidewalls of the ring or bezels.

8.  Let the Epoxy Clay cure. It will start to be hard to the touch as early as 12 hours, but the resin will continue to cure up to 72 hours.

Design Options:

Follow the same steps in different bezels and findings!

Here, the technique was used in itsy post circle earrings.

Another option. Try rolling the clay into a ball and pressing through a Nunn Design Open Bezel.

Tip: An easy way to have the Epoxy Clay cure in this technique is to thread a toothpick through the loops of the Open Back Bezels and placed them in resin mixing cups to hang. This allows the Epoxy Clay to cure without disturbing the shape of the soft clay.

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