It’s been almost two years since I’ve reviewed another epoxy clay, and things sure have come around since then! It used to be that it was just plain putty colored and packaged for industrial purposes. Leave it to Plaid Crafts to create the Martha Stewart Jewelry Epoxy Clay and make it accessible to crafters.
From the Michael’s website:
Durable epoxy clay will air dry to a dense consistency within 24 hours.
Use with our silicone molds to create cabochons and embellishments.
Clay also works as a glue and can be used as a base material to inset embellishments and rhinestones.
Comes in 8 colors, packaged in 2-sided flip top cases that hold .71 oz. (Thank you, Plaid, for the great easy-to use and REUSABLE packaging!)
Let’s take a closer look:
To activate the clay, mix two equal parts of the pigmented color and the activator.
TIP: This clay is very sticky- so either coat your hands with a little olive oil or liberally apply some hand lotion to keep the clay from sticking to you!
Mix until it is a uniform color and no marbling is left. Now you are ready to press the epoxy clay into a mold, apply to a bezel or frame, or mold as you wish. The most common uses are in making charms or embellishments using a silicone mold. Martha Stewart Crafts has them available in the Jewelry and Crafts lines (for paper clay) or you can make your own. They are also readily available. I’ve even used home-made polymer clay molds and those work too- just make sure you use a release like a spritz of water or cornstarch.
This color is the “Pool Blue,” by the way. It is recommended that you leave the epoxy clay in the mold for 24 hours for it to cure sufficiently.
When I de-molded mine the ext day, they popped out quite easily. The end result is firm and plastic-like, and about the same weight as an acrylic charm would be. Very similar to polymer clay, actually. Much lighter than the resin equivalent, and heavier than paper clay would be.
I tried mixing some of the colors, which you can do as long as you keep the 1:1 ratio of activator to colored clay, like so:
You can also press the clay into a frame or bezel, and then use that to hold other objects much like a grout. Rhinestones, beads, chatons, even metal bits can be successfully embedded into epoxy clay. For this test, I used some of the Martha Stewart Jewelry rhinestones to create a super-bling pendant. Click the link if you’d like to see the review of that as well.
Actual size- about 2 inches across.
Detail shot. Notice how the blue clay blends in nicely with the blue rhinestones, making a more cohesive effect.
As of this writing, I cannot for the life of me find a price online. It’s available at Michael’s craft stores, though, and presumably at some point will have a wider availability.
Of course, I did make a quick video because it’s easier to show you certain aspects of this review:
At a later point I’ll do a comparison of epoxy clays so that we can get a better bead on cost-effectiveness.
In the meanwhile- I’m going to have fun playing!
So tell me- is this a product you would use?
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That pendant is GORGEOUS! Thanks for reviewing these for us.
Looks interesting even though I don’t do “jewelry”, mostly I’m a card/book arts maker, but this has some potential applications for art journals and small embellishments on cards that I might play around with….thanks for the video.
So how does it compare to the MS air dry clay on the shelf that you use with the molds? In my Michaels it is in the scrap booking aisle, the 2 part is in the jewelry aisle.
Amy, it is a completely different animal. Air-Dry clay is light and fluffy and is not durable in the long term- and you don’t DARE get it wet, even after it’s dried. Epoxy clay undergoes a complex chemical change is permanently hard and durable after it has fully cured. It is about twice as heavy as air dry clay (again, I’ll do a side-by-side comparison later in June) and that’s why the air-dry is better for paper-crafts- you won’t be getting it wet and it’s light enough to use as a paper embellishment. The epoxy clay looks/feels like an acrylic or plastic charm once it’s cured, and is about as durable. Hope this helps, -J