Clay Pendants

How to Make a One of a Kind Pendant

Hello,

My husband recently purchased a really cool necklace for me for Mother's Day.

He stamped my children's handprints onto a piece of paper, emailed it to a girl and she shrunk it down and put it onto a small porcelain circle tile/stone.

It's precious and I'd love to make them myself for gifts for my family. At $25 a pop, I'd prefer to make them myself if I can.

Would you be able to steer me in the right direction on the best supplies to use for this kind of craft?

I know the girl used some kind of decal and also used a kiln at 800 degrees to ensure longevity.

Any suggestions? Thanks so much for any help you can offer me!

Jennifer

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I found the precious porcelain necklaces you refer to at Lisa Newport Stevens' SeaUrchin etsy shop.

You are the proud owner of a one-of-a-kind piece by a rather well-known ceramic artist and sculptor.

Lisa Newport was a senior sculptor at Aardman Animations, the producers of the "Wallace and Gromit" stop action animation films, among others.

Lisa left Aardman to have her baby and is now happily following her muse into other avenues of ceramic art. You've already seen her jewelry on etsy.

She also makes unusual and beautiful plates and pots like the one shown here. You can see more of these at Lisa's website.

How Baby Hand or Footprint Ceramic Pendants are Made

Porcelain clay pots and pendants must be high-fired to over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.

A transferred surface design, to decorate a plate or pendant, is fired on later at a lower temperature. Lisa fires her transfers to 800 degrees Celsius which is almost 1500 degrees F.

To make a pendant such as yours, Lisa requires a digital photo or scan of your baby's hand or footprints. Using digital graphic software, she reduces the size to fit an already fired pendant and adds any text that is requested.

The design is screen-printed with ceramic glazes onto waterslide decals designed to withstand kiln-firing.

The printed transfer is soaked until the design can be slid off onto the porcelain and positioned. The piece is then fired in a kiln to 800 C (1472 F).

During firing, the transfer medium evaporates and the glaze fuses onto the porcelain just as it would if painted directly and fired.

Though this sounds very high tech and automated, there is still as much art as science to the process.

Glazes are tricky compounds. Too much heat and the color can change; not enough and fusion does not occur.

Because minerals and precious metals are still components, the consistency of glazes cannot be known until they are fired. Quality control depends largely on the skill and experience of the artist.

How to Make One-of-a-Kind Polymer Clay Pendants

You can make foot or hand print pendants - or any design you please for that matter - using Sculpey Polymer Clay and Lazertran Waterslide Decals.

Polymer clay bakes quickly in your home oven; no kiln required. You'll find my tutorial here.

Be sure to read my other articles about Home Cured Modeling Clays