Author: Carmi Cimicata

Transfer Technique With Apoxie Sculpt Bracelet

It is hard to believe that this bezel featuring a bird, flowers and crystals can be created with Apoxie Sculpt and some photocopies.

For the project I made myself a cup of coffee (optional) and a small ball of White Apoxie Sculpt clay.  I also selected some toner photocopy (not ink jet) images to work with.

I filled my Metal Complex silver plated bracelet link bezel with white Apoxie Sculpt.  Then I cut the image I wanted to the approximate size of the bezel surface.

I burnished this in place for about five minutes using my fingers.  You need to make sure you have a good adhesion between the paper and the Apoxie Sculpt surface.

Then I wet the paper.  I do this so I can see the images.  I removed the paper from the edges too so I could add some crystals to the Apoxie Sculpt before it cured.

Here is what my piece looked like at this point.  I let everything cure for 24 hours.  That is hard to do! You don’t know if the transfer worked and you can’t peak.

After the clay was cured I dropped this bezel into warm water and careful removed all the paper from the surface.  You just carefully rub all the paper pulp away.  You may need to do this a few times.  On the picture above I still had paper clinging to the surface.  What you are leaving is the toner from the copy which is now transferred onto the clay.

A final coat of spray sealer or varnish helps to make the image pop again.  I added my Metal Complex interchangeable bracelet and it is ready to wear!

Steampunk Style Pendant With Apoxie Sculpt

The more experiments I run with Apoxie Sculpt the better I like it!

For my steampunk pendant, I started with a thick layer of pink Apoxie Sculpt.  I used a roller to create this shape and I choose not to trim it so my edges would look distressed.  I let the Apoxie “rest” like this for 30 minutes.  It makes it less sticky for the next technique.

I pressed the clay into one of my rubber stamps.  The letters impressed beautifully.  Then it was up to me to choose from my stash of odds and ends.  I pressed all of the findings you see into the Apoxie.  No additional glue or tools were needed.

24 hour later my Apoxie was cured and super hard!  I used a tiny drill to make a few holes so I could attach one additional steampunk item; a tiny glass component.

My final step was to attach a small bail with glue to the back of the pendant.  Once again I have a one of a kind piece of jewelry to wear because of Apoxie Sculpt.

Eygpt Embellishment With Apoxie Clay

Did I think I would have an Egyptian embellishment to share with you today? No. I really had no idea how easy this would be to make.

After I made the wire and heart (yesterday’s blog post) I had a little bit of Black Apoxie Sculpt left over.  So I pushed it into a mold I have of an Egyptian mummy and 24 hour later I had this amazing detailed embellishment.  I filed the edges to clean it up a little.

And then I pulled out some acrylic paint.  Since this was a bonus project for me I was prepared to make mistakes.  I wanted to know how acrylic paint would look/adhere to the clay surface.

It is like painting on canvas!  This is only one coat of paint.  The colours all popped from the surface.

So my experiment turned into a keepsake.  I sanded my piece again to make it look a little aged and added a little glitter glue (which also adheres perfectly.)  Lessons learned: you can re-colour anything you make with Apoxie Sculpt!  If I make a white flower and need it to be pink, I’ll paint it!

Key To My Heart – Wire and Apoxie Sculpt

This pendant looks so expensive.  Happily, it is crafted with some inexpensive Dazzle-it aluminum wire, a key, black apoxie sculpt and some Preciosa Pointed Back crystals ab(ca#36204).

It began with a gift.  My friend Nancy teaches an excellent class on wire working.  The last time we were together she gave me this fantastic heart. Now I know it is beautiful as is.  But I asked her if she would mind if I did a little experiment with it.

I have been wanting to try embedding a wire shape into Apoxie Sculpt.  (I have already showed you a piece I made with a broken pin.)  Because Nancy used both thick and thin wire I knew that it would be easy to push the wire shape into the Apoxie.

I made up a batch of Apoxie Sculpt and let it rest for about 30 minutes before I rolled it out.  It is less sticky if you wait and you can use a roller to flatten it. You do have between 1-3 hours of working time with the clay after you mix it.

I trimmed away the excess clay with a blade.

Then I popped in my crystals and let everything cure for 24 hours.

When the Apoxie Sculpt is cured it is solid.  Because Apoxie Sculpt is also an industrial product used in many different ways, it is strong enough to drill through. But that does not mean it is difficult to drill through.  In fact, I made my holes for the jump ring with a small hand drill.

The heart does not need additional embellishment.  I used a simple choker necklace.

Think of all the wire shapes you could come up with.  Thank you to Nancy for the original wired heart and the incentive to make this pendant.

John Bead has lots of wire!

The Dragonfly Dangle Ring

Some days you just need to make yourself something with a little whimsy.  I love rings that are conversation starters.  This ring will definitely make people smile.

To make the ring I needed a few things.

At first I thought I might add a few crystals too.  However the dragonfly pendants were already pretty glittery.

I made up my Black Apoxie Sculpt and put it into the ring bezel.  Then I carefully pushed my cameo into it.  The more I pushed, the more I created this frame which will really lock my cameo into place.  Then I slid six eye pins right into the apoxie as well.  I let this cure for 24 hours.

All I had to do was use my Beadalon Quick Links to attach the dragonflies!

This really took no time at all.  I could make dozens of these rings in an afternoon!

Apoxie Sculpt and Crystal Moon

This pendant makes you want to lean right in to have a closer look.

To make it I used some of the supplies I have been showcasing on the blog for the last two weeks.  I used both Black Apoxie Sculpt and White Apoxie Sculpt, a Metal Complex silver plated round pendant and Preciosa Pointed Back crystals ab(ca#36204).

I have already written several times about how to knead a batch of Apoxie Sculpt. (I have one blog post explaining this linked here.)   The white Apoxie I pushed into a moon face mold where it cured in 24 hours.  The black Apoxie I used to create my final pendant.

After setting my moon face into the black Apoxie I set the ring of crystals.  I still had some extra black Apoxie left over…so I pushed it right into the moon mold.  I never waste one bit of Apoxie Sculpt!

My finished smiling moon looks very elegant!

Apoxie Sculpt and Crystal Key Inspired by Tiffany

Keys are very popular right now in jewelery and mixed media.  I am certain the “key to my heart” symbolism is not lost on those of us who are sentimental or who just love old things.

My husband clipped this newspaper ad for me.    Knowing me well, he knew I would rather make such a key rather than buy one at the store.  I have dozens of vintage keys already in my collection!

So I mixed up some black Black Apoxie Sculpt. Then I carefully covered one side of the key.

All had to do was embed Preciosa Pointed Back crystals ab(ca#36204) into the Apoxie.  I let this cure for 24 hours.

Now I have my own crystal key (at a fraction of the cost) to wear as a pendant!

Apoxie Sculpted Fruit Pendant


This new pendant is a salute to Carmen Miranda!

In order to create the fruit I used some molds and Apoxie Sculpt’s four colour tray.

I did some colour mixing too.  In order to have purple grapes I mixed some red and blue Apoxie.

I had a nice little pile of fruit and leaves on my table but something was missing.  I bet you see it too.  I needed a banana!

So back to the tray I went to use some of the yellow and green to make one more piece of fruit.  Apoxie clay air dries rock solid.  It is so easy to mix and then put into a mold.  I only remove the finished pieces after it has cured in 24 hours. This banana delayed my project by a day.

I did a little filing on my finished fruit pieces to smooth out any rough edges.  Then I selected this Metal Complex silver plated round pendant to work in.  I filled the pendant bezel with black Apoxie Sculpt.

The black apoxie made it easy for me to place all my fruit into and around the pendant.  Everything adhered beautifully but I did have a few open spaces.    A few years ago I bought a grab bag of jewelery pieces at John Bead.  I found quite a few of these crystal ear studs in the bag and these were perfect to add to the pendant.  All I did was push the earring posts right into the apoxie as well.

I was thrilled with the results!! This project was very easy and I can tell you this is the first time I have ever made molded fruit. It did need just one more thing though……..

One simple coat of JB Craft Acrylic Protective Finish gave me the shine I wanted.

I wonder if I could make a hat too…..