Concrete look in FIMO air light

Concrete look in FIMO air light

Urban lifestyle design

Concrete is a highly popular material at the moment for furniture, home deco accessories and jewellery. Casting concrete yourself however can be quite a burdensome task. What’s more, the fact that the process always requires a mould severely limits the number of original objects that can be made. With FIMOair light, you can create amazingly realistic, sturdy and extremely lightweight pieces of jewellery in a concrete look to match your outfit. It’s incredibly quick and easy too. The accentuated mix of styles between cool concrete and sophisticated leaf metal in gold, silver or copper has a doubly trendy effect! And best of all: FIMOair light is super-light and not at all heavy like concrete which makes it ideal for jewellery!

Step-by-step tutorial for Concrete look in FIMOair light

1. Remove the modelling clay from the packaging and roll out approx. ⅓ of the block of FIMOair light to a roughly 1 cm thick sheet using the acrylic roller. Print out both of the smaller templates for the earrings and the larger template for the pendant and cut them out. Next, position the templates on the sheet of FIMOair light and cut out of the sheet of clay, going around the edges with the kitchen knife. Cut out the stone for the left or right earring a second time and cut across it to shorten it by approx. 1 cm. This shortened stone will be for decorating the ring with later on.

2. Now, roll over all the stones with the acrylic roller lengthwise along the diagonal so that you are left with a curved recess in the middle. This will also make the stone a little larger as well as a bit thinner in the middle.

3. The FIMOair light stones are now cut to shape again using the templates as described in step 1. Leave the stones to dry at room temperature in the air.

4. Cover all over with concrete paste using the bristle brush. Once the paste has dried, carefully smooth over the stones with a sanding sponge.

5. Gilding is done by applying size with the paintbrush to the areas to be covered in leaf metal. Wait for the milky liquid to become transparent (approx. 15 minutes). Then carefully add the leaf metal with your finger, tap it on gently and then dab over it using the stippling brush. Remove any surplus leaf metal. Any mistakes made in the positioning of leaf metal can be corrected by covering over with a bit of concrete paste before adding a new layer of leaf metal.

6. Varnish the gemstones all over. Once the varnish has dried, mount the stones: For the pendant, use the piece of wire to carefully make a small hole through the stone at least 1 cm under the tip. Thread the free end of the choker through the hole, close the bayonet clasp and pinch together with the flat nose pliers at the other end. For necklaces with a larger diameter, make a larger hole with the bead piercing pin. Stick the earrings and ring to the backs of the stones.

Tips:
Would a trendy copper or shiny silver look better with your outfit? If that’s the case, all you need to do is use leaf metal in silver or copper to add distinguished accents to your concrete-style stones. A leather cord for the necklace looks cool and makes a good alternative to the wire choker. To attach the leather cord, you need to make a hole straight through the piece of jewellery, approx. 1 cm below the tip. Thread the leather cord through the hole and tie a knot above the tip. If you want to suspend your stone from a metal chain, drill an eyelet pin into the upper tip of the stone, pull it out, add a little glue and insert it once again. Then thread the chain through the eyelet of the pin.

Material overview

What you need to do Concrete look in FIMO air light

Fimo Air Light 125grs White
Acrylic Roller
FIMO Bead piercing needles – Blistercard containing 50 bead piercing pins in two thicknesses
Metal leaf, gold, 20 sheets per package, but available too in silver and copper
FIMO Grind’n polish set – Blistercard Grind´n polish set, 3 different grades of sanding sponges (fine, superfine, microfine)
FIMO Size for leaf metal – Blistercard containing 1 jar of size for leaf metal, 35 ml
Bristle brush for painting (synthetic brush for gilding and varnishing, stippling brush)

Additionally required:

Smooth work surface (glass or ceramic), kitchen knife, bristle brush for painting (synthetic brush for gilding and varnishing, stippling brush), concrete paste or paint (alternatively acrylic paint in concrete grey), flat nose jewellery pliers, jewellery wire choker with open bayonet clasp (gold or silver-coloured, ø 40 mm, 45 cm long), for the concrete jewellery with silver accents: jewellery chain with clasp (silver-plated), for the concrete jewellery with copper-coloured accents: leather cord in black, ring band (ø approx. 12 mm, adjustable, with adhesive plate, gold or silver-coloured), 2 stud earrings with flat pads or 2 ear clips with plate (gold or silver-coloured), eyelet pin (silver finish, only for jewellery chain), hot glue gun or jewellery glue, craft scissors

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