Guest Valentine Project: Hearts of Many Dimensions

The very talented Marie Segal shares her project for creating Valentine sweethearts with polymer clay. The hearts become sweet earrings with a little hardware.

Materials:

Cernit Polymer Clay

• Opaque White- 029
• Neon Pink-213
• Glamour white-110
• Lilac- 014
• Light green- 019

Other supplies

• Clay Blade- AKTBLA
• Makin’s Clay Heart set- 35011
• Needle tool- RNT or ABUG
• Small Knife- I used the one on the RNT2 tool
• 3/16” kemper teardrop cutter
• 5/16” kemper teardrop cutter
• Makin’s Clay Machine- 35054
• 10 mm posts and backs
• Eye hooks for dangle earrings-2
• Fish hook ear wires
• Chain nose pliers
• Cyanoacrylate glue

These supplies can be found at Marie's husband's store, Clay Factory.
 

Instructions:

1. Condition white clay until smooth consistency and roll out the white clay on the thickest setting in the clay machine.
    
2. Cut out 2- white hearts with the medium cutter in the three piece set.
   
   
    
3. Mix some neon pink clay and glamour white clay together 1 to 1n and roll out the pink clay on the 3rd thickest setting and cut out one small heart, place the cutter on top, in the middle of the white clay heart, do not press down but pull back the cutter quickly and the pink heart should stay on the white heart. This does take some practice but once you get it, it is the best way to get the heart out of the cutter with out making marks on the heart. Do the same thing with the other white heart. Press both pink hearts on to the white hearts with out smashing them.
   
   
    
4. Place finger gently on pink heart and press gently to hold heart in place, take the needle tool and hold perpendicular to the hearts and make marks in the white heart on the outside about 1/8” apart and about 1/16” deep. As you do this, bring point of needle tool towards pink heart keeping it straight up and down vertically to make the mark. Make marks all the way around the outside of the white heart.
   
   
    
5. With the point of the needle tool make 3 dots between each mark. The one dot will be on the outside of the heart and the 2 dots in a line will be on the inside of the white heart closest to the pink heart all the way around.
   
   
    
6. Condition a small piece of light green clay and roll through the clay machine on the 5th thickest setting. Cut out a 3/16” teardrop and place on the pink heart with the point of the teardrop facing the outside of the heart at the top and pull back the cutter really fast to pull out the green leaf from the cutter. Put one opposite this one on the other side of the pink heart and do this with the other white and pink heart so they are both the same. Gently press the green leaves in to place.
   
   
   
   With the knife tool mark the center vein on each leaf or teardrop.
   
   
   
   With the point of the 5/16” teardrop, place the point into the center mark and mark both veins on the sides of the center vein at the same time with the point of the teardrop. Make 2 of these marks on each leaf.
   
   
    
7. Condition the lilac clay and roll out on the thickest setting in the clay machine. Cut out 2 of the 5/16” teardrops and press out of the cutter,(you are doing this to measure the size and keep the clay the same size for both flowers. Roll both of the cut outs in to balls. Then roll each of those balls in to cones about ¾” long. Flatten with your finger. Roll each of these from the thick end of the cone to the thin point of the cone to form a spiral bud.
   
   
   
   Place the point of this spiral in between each set of leaves and gently press onto the pink hearts.
   
   
    
8. If you want dangles place the eye hooks into the white hearts between the top lobes of each heart. When they are baked pull them out with chain nose pliers and with just a little bit of Cyanoacrylate glue on to the post of the hook and place back into the hole you made with the hook before baking. Add the fish hook ear wires or don't and glue the posts to the back after baking.
   
   
    
9. Place on to a piece of corrugated cardboard box.
    
10. Bake these in the oven at the manufacturer’s temperature 265 degrees for 20- 30 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool completely, glue earring backs with Cyanoacrylate glue. Let dry completely.