I was send a copy of “Foxy Epoxy: 44 Great Epoxy Clay Projects with Serious Bling” by Kristal Wick, to review. To properly review the book, I was sent some Swarovski Ceralun Epoxy Clay too. You can see the review for the clay, here. This is an advanced jewelry making book, focusing on the use of epoxy clay for various designs. Many of the jewelry making techniques are not basic, requiring existing jewelry making skills. The book is publish by Lark Books. While the author and main contributor is Kristal Wick, there are twelve additional project contributors.

Description taken from the back of the book:

“Whether your style is boho vintage or divalicious blingista, you’ll love making gorgeous fashion jewelry and accessories with self-hardening epoxy clay. Beaders adore the unlimited potential of this fun material that’s super simple to enhance, be it smushing on a splash of crystals, mixing custom colors in minutes, casting beautiful cabochons, or applying other stunning embellishments. Epoxy clay is so easy to work with: just mix, apply, embellish, and flaunt in 24 hours — there’s no need to bake or fire.

Award-winning designer and popular blogger Kristal Wick covers all the basics and techniques needed. Then get started on the 44 foxy epoxy projects like a Cameo Necklace, Charmalicious Bracelet/Necklace, In the Round Earrings, and Compact Mirror by Kristal and some of her fave designers, including Kate Hacker, Jean Campbell, Candie Cooper, Margot Potter, Andrew Thornton, Debbi Simon, June Beach, Brenda Schweder, Stephanie Dixon, Katerina Ilieva, Christina Orlikowski, and Debra Saucier!”

Book Overview:

• 136 pages of thick glossy paper
• soft cover with a multiple signatures and a glued binding
• high quality colored photographs with some pattern drawings
• The book starts with a contents listing including project thumbnail photos, project titles with coordinating page numbers, and listings of end of book content. Next is a brief explanation of the book. Afterwards, it goes in depth about basics…epoxy clay, jewelry techniques, various additional materials including paint, adhesives, beads, sparkle, stringing materials, bezels/blanks and findings, various tools and equipment. There is a section introducing the additional 12 project contributors. Following that are the 44 different projects. They aren’t sorted in any noticeable way. At the end are a few more design ideas, “About the Author”, acknowledgments (a listing of companies used in the book), credits, and an index.
• The book retails for $24.95 US.

This is my ring inspired by the Embedded Crystals Pendant. I followed the basic instructions, but altered them to accommodate the ring bezel. I inserted the teardrop beads into the epoxy clay, and surrounded it with Swarovski chatons. The epoxy clay is a great medium to achieve sturdy dimensional jewelry.

Using the Crystal Cave ring as inspiration, I used black chip glass beads, black epoxy and earring bezels to create dimensional earrings. If I get a silicone mat, I’ll try creating jewelry without the aid of bezels. You can see my tutorial for these earrings on my blog, Crafty Lady Abby.

I wanted to try the image transfer tutorial for the Madonna Necklace. This was the toughest for me. I’m not very familiar with clay or image transfers. I found it difficult to figure out at what point I should stop removing the moistened paper after the image was transferred. Every time I though I’d removed all the paper, it would dry and a papery haze would appear. I tried sealing the image with Mod Podge to lessen the paper haze, but that didn’t help much. This was out of my comfort zone, but I’m glad I tried it. I’ll try to clean up the back of the pendant with paint. I might try this again in the future.

PROS:

• Great resource for advanced jewelry crafters
• Detailed instructions for each projects
• 44 projects using a wide range of jewelry techniques
• Epoxy clay is used creatively through out the book
• In depth coverage of jewelry basics, tools, and materials
• Nice weight to pages
• Great quality photographs
• Patterns provided when needed
• Is a great resource for inspiration

CONS:

• Not for beginner jewelry makers, but some projects are easier than other
• The projects seem to have no organization. I would have preferred them being broken down to bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings…etc.
• No index to separate the projects by designer. This might not have been possible due to space or that some designers contributed more than others
• No listing of where to purchase exact items used in projects. Many projects use special design elements with the epoxy clay. There is a listing of companies that contributed to the creation of the book, but no buying guide

The book retails for $24.95 US. I was produced in June 2013, so there are discounted copies available. For me, I don’t buy a lot of jewelry making books unless they are advanced like this one is. I’ve been making jewelry for about 8+ years. I liked seeing how I can build on my existing jewelry skills by adding epoxy clay. Honestly, I’m terrible at clay unless it’s air dry. I’ve burned my share of polymer clay, so anytime I come across a great self curing or drying clay, I’m excited to try it. The book gives me a lot of inspiration for future jewelry projects.

DISCLOSURE: I received this book to review for Craft Test Dummies. All opinions, photos, and projects are my own. I used an affiliate link for the book title. If you purchase the book through that link, I will get a small amount of compensation.

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