Ever wonder how you can get an image onto polymer clay so that you can create more complex and multi-color polymer clay earrings beyond what you can do with just clay!? Polymer clay image transfers allow you to create any design to make ANY polymer clay earrings! Image transfers can be an alternative to painting on polymer clay or an added technique!
In this blog I’ll show you how to use polymer clay image transfers so that you can transfer any design onto your clay!!
Note: I solemnly swear that I only share links to items that I love or have first-hand recommendations from close friends, and that I think will also benefit you! Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission to help my polymer clay earring business ♥️
What You Need To Transfer Images Onto Polymer Clay:
- Clay Image transfer sheets (like these polymer clay image transfer sheets)
- Conditioned clay slab (I like to use Sculpey Premo for this process)
- Tile surface (optional, this is the one I use)
- Scissors
- Water
Polymer Clay Slab
Condition your polymer clay and rollout the clay onto a tile surface (or other surface that will allow the clay to stick). Make this clay slab any dimension that will fit the transfer paper that you have and the amount you want to transfer.
You can use any polymer clay for this process! And the color of clay depends on your image. I often like to use white clay so the image I am transferring shows up more vibrant. But, if I am transferring black ink, this can be transferred onto any color clay.
Typically I like to use Sculpey Souffle polymer clay brand, but for this process I like to use Sculpey Premo white clay, because I can purchase a large block of clay and it’s typically cheaper.
Prepare Polymer Clay Image Transfer Sheet On Clay
TIP!! Every polymer clay image transfer is slightly different! Make sure to follow the instructions for the listing you purchased. This tutorial walks you through how the image transfers work in my shop (and it’s a similar product to other popular polymer clay shops)
Once you have your clay rolled out onto a tile surface, cut out the clay image transfer sheet to match the size of clay that you are using.
Often I make small batches so I cut my transfer paper into quarters and only have to use a small amount at a time. But, others will use the entire sheet of paper! It depends on the image and how many earrings you plan on creating with the polymer clay image transfers.
Lay the image onto the clay - IMAGE SIDE DOWN.
It’s so important to lay the image face down onto the clay, otherwise the ink does not stick to the clay and the entire thing can wash away, leaving you with messy clay and a wasted image! You may also notice this is why the transfer images are mirrored on designs that have words or characters.
Rub the image onto the clay surface for a minute.
You can use your finger for this process. This is creating a bond between the image and the clay. If you would lift the image at this point you would see that some of the ink may have already transferred onto the clay.
Use Water to Transfer The Image Onto Polymer Clay
Now that the image transfer is adhered to the clay, the image transfer is made of water soluble paper so you can rinse the paper away and the image will stick to the clay.
Run water at cool to lukewarm temperature, not too hard in a spray, but use a heavy enough stream to see the paper wash away.
Stick your clay tile under the water and see the paper start to wash away. To help the process you can use your finger lightly.
Once the paper is removed, dry the tile surface around the clay with a paper towel. You can lightly dab the clay image with a paper towel, however, use caution when you do this. The ink is transferred onto the clay, BUT IT IS NOT SET YET. If you rub too hard the image may smudge.
TIP!! If you find that the transferred image looks faded, there may still be some paper on the colored image. I see this often when using black ink. Rinse the clay slab under water again, and use your finger lightly to rub the image and you will see more of the paper come up. Use caution, you don’t want the ink to smudge.
Make Polymer Clay Earrings With Image Transferred Clay
Now that your image is transferred onto the clay, you can use your favorite polymer clay cutters to cut out earrings.
Bake the polymer clay earrings according to the clay instructions.
Once the clay is fully baked and cooled, you will notice the image is cured onto the clay earring and doesn’t smudge anymore.
What To Do With Discarded Clay
You can save any of the discarded clay to roll out again and transfer another image on top of it. The clay will be slightly gray if you used white clay because the ink gets mixed into the clay, but it is reusable if you want for your personal projects!
Sealing an Image Transferred Polymer Clay Earring
Once the clay earrings are baked, you have so many options for how to seal your polymer clay earring OR you can just leave it!
If you’d like to seal the image transferred polymer clay earring using UV Resin you will need to cure the resin with a UV light.
UV Resin was used on the Taylor Swift earrings below! I drilled the holes before I applied resin. Then using a lighter, go over the resin to remove the bubbles! Cure under a UV light and then the finished earrings have a glossy look!
A polymer clay glaze just needs to air dry and will give your clay earrings a little shine. I use this Sculpey Polymer Clay Gloss Glaze, but there is also a satin glaze that will be more of a matte look.
Earring Inspiration That Use Polymer Clay Image Transfers
Here are some finished earrings created with polymer clay image transfers,
I even created polymer clay bookmarks with image transfer designs,
Helpful Tools for Polymer Clay Makers
I hope this showed you how you can be even more creative with polymer clay earrings by using image transfers! My shop has several polymer clay cutters and image transfers made for polymer clay makers.
Here are the clay image transfer products mentioned in this post:
- Taylor Swift collage clay image transfers
- Strawberries clay image transfers
- Orange plaid clay image transfers
Related Blogs
Head over to this blog to see how to create a simple polymer clay bookmark! You can even use image transfers on a simple bookmark, which make the perfect small accessory to have in your shop.
