Preciosa Crystals and Jewelry Clay Heart

 This crystal heart will catch your eye in any room.
 I really want you to see that this is the easiest project ever!  
You can make this heart in under 30 minutes!
 My supply list includes our new Envirotex Jewelry Clay, Embellie Gellie pick-up stick, Pearl-Ex, a heart shaped bezel and small and medium sized Preciosa Chaton crystals.
 To begin I made a small batch of Jewelry Clay.  To learn more about the clay you can watch the video.  The two balls of clay you see here mix to form a professional jewels grade clay that has excellent adhesion for projects involving crystals.
 Here is my clay in the heart bezel.  It does have a smooth surface and I have about three hours of working time.
 My Embellie Gellie pick up stick is what makes this project so easy to complete.  You can see how it picks up tiny crystals allowing me to place them in the clay where I want them.
 Here is a little tip from me.  When I place crystals for a project like this I don't push them all the way into the clay until the clay touches the crystal edge.  This way if I need to move a crystal later I can easily pop it out with a tooth pick without digging into the clay around it.
 When I was happy with the placement of all the crystals I patted each crystal to ensure the pointed backs were all in the clay evenly.  I used my finger tip to do that.
 Jewelry Clay is already a light colour but I chose to apply some Pearl-Ex Interference Gold to the clay.  To do this I lightly "pounce" a generous amount of powder all over the surface.  Pouncing also ensures that each crystal is embedded into the clay.
 The powder will only cling to the clay so don't worry about how it looks at this point.  I let my bezel and clay cure for five hours before brushing the excess powder away.  After five hours the clay is hard to the touch and you can move your projects.
If you have accidentally smeared clay on the edge or reverse of the bezel you can simply wipe it away with an alcohol swab before it cures in place.  These swabs are also great to clean your table top or any tools you may have used that came into contact with the clay.
A soft brush removes all the extra Pearl-Ex from your project.  Your crystals are permanently embedded and in 24 hours this heart is good to wear!
 
Are you imagining all the possibilities now?

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