Frequently Asked Questions

What are your creations made of?

The main material in my creations is polymer clay. This material is lightweight, fade resistant, and waterproof, which is ideal for jewelry.

Polymer clay is a synthetic material that behaves a lot like natural clay - namely, it is pliable in its raw form and hardens when baked.

Very often, polymer clay is referred to by the brand name, such as Sculpey, Fimo, Premo, Cernit, Kato, and others. I am using only Premo or Kato, as they are more suitable for wearable objects.

The color is usually coming from the polymer clay itself, but sometimes I am using alcohol inks, acrylic paints, or mica pigments.

The glass-like surface on some of my works is created with epoxy resins.


How do you make your jewelry and beads?

I use a number of different techniques such as free-hand sculpting, mosaic, stamping, and millefiori (when the design is formed in a log of clay using different shades of clay). I also use my own unique techniques of faux cloisonne, polymer clay openwork, and others

Each piece is unique and sculpted by hand (I never use any molds or forms). After sculpting, each piece is carefully baked in an oven to make it durable. Sometimes, when design is complicated, multiple baking is required between repetitive sessions of sculpting.

After baking, some pieces are left with their textured surface, some are sanded with multiple grits of sand paper, buffed, and finished with gloss varnish, and some pieces are covered with epoxy resin.


How durable are your creations?

I am taking great care to assure that my designs are not only beautiful, but durable as well. This is achieved through the following steps:

• Choice of materials: I am using the best quality of polymer clays available for jewelry making (namely, Kato and Premo brands, which are praised for their strength in finished designs). I am also using appropriate wire and jewelry findings for each design.
• Construction: All parts of my designs are carefully engineered and attached to each other in ways to avoid breakage during normal wear. This means that all polymer clay parts are made of appropriate thickness, secured using proper armature or glues, and all beads and findings are connected using the best jewelry-making techniques.
• Curing: All polymer clay elements are baked at the manufacture-recommended temperature and for the appropriate duration of time to assure complete and thorough curing of polymer clay.
• Finishing: All my polymer clay creations are given appropriate surface treatments to protect their designs.