Frida Khalo-esque My Bloody Valentine DIY Human Heart & Roses Necklace in Polymer Clay

I admit, this necklace is not for the faint of heart (pun intended ;-)) nor the beginner crafter, but I promise it’s easier than it looks. Polymer clay (in this case, Super Sculty) is very forgiving and easy to work with. The key is taking it one step at a time.

I based this necklace off a wall piece I made for my man last Valentine’s Day (see image at the bottom of this page). I was commissioned to make another for a collector, and I decided to make a heart necklace and a pin while I was at it. (you’ll see the pin in the next post, stay tuned!)

Grab that Sculpy, start kneading it, and get to the shaping. The key is taking it one step at a time, one shape at a time. I formed each part of the heart separately, using a Googled heart image for reference. I used basic sculpture tools to form the details. You can’t mess it up. If it doesn’t look right just smooch it back up and start again. The veins are the final step. (you’ll see those Sculpy heart-shaped hearts in this project and in another one coming later this week.)

Here it is ready to go into the oven to cure. I imbedded a metal hanger in the back just before baking.

Next came the roses. They are really easy. Form a bunch of petal-ish shapes, start with the inside of the rose by rolling it up fairly tight, then keep adding petals on until it looks, well, rosey. The underside of your rose will get chunky, but you can just squish it together and pull off the excess. No one is going to see the back but you. Then I added a few leaves, using the sculpture tools to carve in the veins. In this case, I imbedded round hoops in the larger roses. It’s important to really get them in there deep. You can add extra clay over the back if needed. The smallest rose has a hole put through it like a bead.

After they have been baked and cooled, it’s time to paint. I used acrylic paints. The painting was done in layers. Again I used a Googled image for color reference.

The final thing to get painted was the veins. When the paint was dry, I coated it all with a semi-gloss clear-coat.

Now it’s time to bead. I kept it pretty light using just three sizes of red glass beads left over from a previous jewelry project (I think they came from Michael’s). I used simple crimps and jump rings to attach the beaded strands to the hoops and the fastener. (Ignore the chains in the upper right, I used those for another project.)

And here is the final product. It’s kinda Goth, kinda creepy and kinda cool.

Here’s what the back looks like…

Remember to glue a soft piece of fabric like cotton or felt to the back of your painted pieces where they will touch your skin, and be gentle with your Sculpy jewelry. It may feel hard, but it is rather fragile and can break when dropped. (I once had a large piece crack from an over-exuberant hug.) If the worst happens they can usually be repaired with glue and touch-up paint.

Go get yourself some Sculpy and get creative! Make some jewelry and have fun with it. Oh and here’s that wall piece I made last year that I based this necklace off of (Design Copyright C. 2013 Marie Vlasic).