About the author
Roberta Ponte (TheRollys)
Roberta Ponte, aka TheRollyS, is an Italian artist. Since childhood, she likes to play with colours, especially with markers and watercolours. Growing up, her drawings were quite influenced by fantasy art and from this combination, she created her first jewelry collection made of recycled cardboard and then hand-painted. She discovered polymer clay some years ago and it was a real game-changer as she starts to develop a new personal style. Her creations combine woman faces, animals or abstract shapes with intricate lines and play of colors.
Materials and tools:
• White and black polymer clay
• Chalk pastels or pigments like Pan Pastels
• Gold Pigment (Optional)
• Antiquing Patina
• Wax
• Flexible blade (for example, LC Handy Blade)
• Small round cutters
• Needle tool
• Textures of your choice
• Pasta Machine
• Rolling Pin
• Small Brush
Step 1
Run conditioned white clay through your Pasta Machine at the setting Number 3 (4 cards) and then cut a rectangle approximately 6x12cm/2.36”x2.36”. Choose 2 butterflies and place them on the clay. With a needle make a contour inside and outside the butterflies. With a small dotting tool make the contour deeper.
Step 2
Using small round cutters, try to imitate abstract flowers.
Step 3
With a flexible blade, cut the piece as you prefer. I like irregular pieces so, I fold the blade without caring much about the result. 🙂
Step 4
And now the funny part is coming: take your chalk pastels or pigments and, with a small brush, start to put colours of your choice on the piece. It’s not important to respect the borders, as some imprecisions will make your creation more original. Cure the piece at 130°C/266°F for 30 minutes.
Step 5
After cooling your piece, strew it with the antiquing patina and make it enter the grooves. Then gently remove it with a paper napkin. If it is too dark, use some wax to gently remove more patina. Now you can leave the piece like this or you can give it some soft touches of gold pigment.
Step 6
Use your piece to draw a template.
Step 7
Run conditioned black clay through the Pasta Machine at the setting Nr.3 and then if you like, texture it on both sides. Use the template to cut the base for your pendant.
Step 8
Mirror reverse the base and the piece and then glue on it your pendant. I’m using Poly Paste to fix it better but you can use any liquid clay. Do not forget to create a loop for the cord. You can fix it later using some epoxy glue.
Step 9
After cooling down, you can cover the piece with some transparent wax or fixing varnish. I’m using Cernit Matte.
Download PDF tutorial for free: Butterflies-Pendant-roberta-ponte
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