How to Make Loose Cameos for Jewelry

Originally carved from ivory, the silhouette cameo has been a staple piece in formal jewelry for centuries. With modern crafting supplies and clay sculpting techniques, you can create your own authentic-looking, customized loose cameo for use in earrings, necklaces, bracelets or rings.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Polymer clay, white or ivory (for face)
• Polymer clay, dark color (for background)
• Conventional oven
• Small rolling pin
• Clay sculpting tools
• Printed, cut-out silhouette photo or clip art
• Craft knife

1. Create a semi-flat, oval shape from your colored clay. Form a piece of clay into a ball about the size of an acorn (give or take depending on the size you want). Elongate the ball slightly by rolling it between your palms. Flatten this shape by pressing it against a smooth work surface.

2. Trim the oval disc to fit the dimensions of your silhouette shape. Place the silhouette paper cutout on the disc and trim the rounded edges around it.

3. Bake the colored disc according to the instructions on your polymer clay's package. Let cool.

4. Roll a thin, flat sheet of ivory clay. Make this flat section about half as thick as your oval piece (or less) using a clay rolling pin or smooth, cylindrical object like a marker tube or glass bottle.

5. Use your silhouette cut-out as a pattern to cut out a section of ivory clay. Place the silhouette on the clay and cut around it with your craft knife. Remove the paper.

6. Place the ivory silhouette on the colored disc. Gently the press the soft clay piece over the baked piece to form the cameo.

7. Sculpt the dimensional details of the cameo. Shape the figure in the silhouette using a fine-tipped clay tool or toothpick. Pay special attention to features like the neckline and hair as these will give the sculpture the distinctive cameo look. Taper the edges by blending them down against the baked clay.