June Pavelka Project

Polymer Clay Inro Amulet Tutorial

Welcome back for month 6 of our project. For you mixed media and jewelry lovers out there, this polymer clay Inro Amulet project is sure to be a winner.

Polymer Clay Inro Amulet Tutorial

The Project:

• Book Being Used: The Complete Book of Polymer Clay by Lisa Pavelka
  • Page: 176-181
• Project: Inro Amulet
• Project Due Date: June 30, 2015

Materials Needed:

• The Complete Book of Polymer Clay
• Your choice of polymer clay
• Mica Powders
• Image Transfers (Waterslide Transfers by Lisa Pavelka)
• Transluscent Liquid Clay
• Leftover Canes
• Texturing Stamp
• Heat Gun
• *Magic Glos or other Resin to cover & coat your pendants
• *UV Light to cure resin
• Necklace cording or chain
• Embroidery Floss to make a tassel
• Baby wipes or soft sponge
• *Metal Craft Wire (I prefer 24-28gauge but any flexible soft wire will do)
• Sculpting tools
• Varnish
• *Salt scrub to clean your hands (Get my recipe HERE)

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What Is An Inro Amulet?

That’s a great question and I’m glad you asked! Inro is originally a Japanese form of art made of a box with a sliding lid. Sometimes the boxes are stacked. Originally they were made to carry small objects such as medicinal herbs and were attached to kimonos as they lacked pockets. Traditionally the inro’s were made of ivory or bone. Today inro’s are often made as necklaces to wear around the neck as a element of decor. Traditionally these small boxes would be a complete shape (think square box, round cylinder), but for our purposes today we are making them flat-backed … a little amulet!

Unlike previous months, this tutorial is almost identical to the one presented in Lisa’s book. Please refer to her complete tutorial on page 176-180 in The Complete Book of Polymer Clay.

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Polymer Clay Inro Amulet Tutorial

Part 1: Making the Body of the Inro

• Turn your oven on to let it preheat.
• Condition some black polymer clay on the 2nd thickest setting of your pasta machine.
• Trim LARGER than you want your final pendant to be.
• Wrap your sheet around a bottle or other rounded object.
• Add mica powder to the surface of a texture stamp using your finger.
• Place the texture stamp down firmly on top of the clay and press onto the side of the bottle.
• This will cause your clay to distort slightly.
• Use your blade & trim your clay to the size you’d like now.
• Add an image (I chose a waterslide transfer from Lisa’s fine art series) to your shape.
• As I “bent” my image to fit on the curve, it cracked slightly. I thought this gave a great vintage look to it.
• Gather some old petal and leaf canes (or make new color coordinating ones like I did).
• Add all around your center design to add balance & interest.
• Top your image transfer with a thin layer of liquid clay (I chose fimo as it dries crystal clear).
• Quick set your liquid clay with a heat gun while gently holding the bottle. (Note: You are NOT baking the clay here. You are simply heat setting the liquid clay so it won’t drip as it bakes.)
• Now pre-bake this portion of your pendant in the oven for 10 minutes. This will secure everything so you don’t squish it in the following steps.

Part 2: Finishing the Amulet

• Once your piece has cooled from the oven (remember that we will bake it longer in the end, this is just to firm up the curve & arched design.
• Now place your curved piece down onto another sheet of black clay.
• Trim to fit.
• Join the seams.
• Bake for another 10 minutes.
• While this piece is baking, go ahead and make your tassel using embroidery floss in matching colors. There are free tutorials all over the internet if you do not know how to do this on your own.
• Now cut & measure two components for both the top & bottom portions of your necklace.
• Cut an inside piece just slightly smaller than the outside for the top.
• Add holes in both the top & bottom pieces to add your string.
• You will need 2 holes in each piece and they will need to be centered for balance & wearability.
• Finish decorating your amulet with your cane slices or any other components that you might have little around.
• Do not forget to use your cane scraps to make several beads for your project too!
• Bake the entire piece (without tassel) in the oven for 45 minutes.
• When your piece is baked & cooled you may choose to seal it with a protective coat of varnish.
• Make sure your beads were drilled properly. If not, redrill them now.
• String your amulet & beads onto necklace cording of your choice.

A Note on Time: Due to the time involved in this piece & the multiple bakes. Including additional bake time, this piece took me 3.5 hours to make (but I made the canes new & fresh too)…

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The Pavelka Project

The Pavelka Project is done in conjunction with Lisa Pavelka. All tutorials are retaught here with her expressed permission. Please make sure to read the FAQS here.

Until next time, Happy Claying,