Might Sculpey be too heavy for earrings?

Question

I'd like to make earrings with it, but I worry that it might be too heavy for my ears. Would it depend on the size? I've never used Sculpey before.

Answer 1

Sculpey (or other polymer clay brands**) are used to make earrings all the time, so as mentioned it's more a matter of how large and/or solid you make them, plus your individual discomfort level or earlobes.

If you do want to make larger earrings, you can do several things to make them lighter:
...make them flattish
...use a permanent armature underneath or inside the clay that's lightweight (like tightly-scrunched aluminum foil, wire mesh, ping pong balls , or other things)
...use a temporary armature underneath or inside, then remove it after baking
...some shapes can also be made hollow by making two halves separately, sanding their rims smooth, then joining
...use the clay along with some other lightweight materials (mix media) that would show

There's info about all those things, on these pages:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/jewelry.htm
(...click on the subcategory "Earrings"...)

http://glassattic.com/polymer/beads.htm
(... click on "Hollow"...)
http://glassattic.com/polymer/armatures-temp.htm

http://glassattic.com/polymer/armatures-perm.htm
http://glassattic.com/polymer/covering.htm

Also, since you haven't used polymer clay before, you might want to check out some of the other pages at my website too, like the one on Baking the clay... check out all the pages from here:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/contents.htm
(scroll all the way down, then click on any page's name from the alphabetical navigation bar to go there)


**Sculpey, and to a lesser extent FimoSoft, may not be the best clay brand to use, depending on the shape of the earring you want to make... those are weaker brands after baking in any thin or projecting areas, so they are more likely to break with stress than the stronger brands --Premo, FimoClassic, Kato Polyclay, and Cernit


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 2

Sculpey Earrings

Answer 3

If you use Sculpey and make the design smaller in size then it should be fine for earrings, or you can use a "armature" which is form to shape the clay over, you can use wire or aluminum foilor even window screen cut to size! if you need more infor go to the Sculpy web site.

Answer 4

I've used sculpey for earrings and have liked it just fine. Don't make them real big and they shouldn't be too heavy even for sensative ears.

Answer 5

It depends on the size and thickness. It is lighter than glass and consider the glass beads used. Consider the heaviest pair you can tolerate and keep yours lighter.