Yellow Diamond Eye Pin

Condition each color until smooth, then roll the yellow to an even slab on your thickness guides so the whole frame bakes flat; an uneven slab is the main cause of a warped or rocking brooch. Roll the light pink a touch thinner so it sits flush in the window, and roll a small scrap of hot pink for the raised square.

Frame option A (cut from one even slab): cut the outer six-sided eye shape with the two side points from the yellow slab, then cut the inner window from the same slab so the border stays an even width all the way around. Cutting both from one setup keeps the frame uniform.

Frame option B (inlay, flush center): instead of an open window, cut a shallow recess the size of the rectangle into a solid yellow blank, or cut the window all the way through and back the whole piece with a thin yellow slab. Either way the pink rectangle drops in and sits flush with the yellow face.

Frame option C (deboss-and-fill register): press a square or rectangular stamp into a solid yellow blank to mark the center exactly, then fill that debossed well with the pink rectangle so it registers cleanly without a separate cut. Good if you want the frame and center dead-centered every time.

Cut the light-pink rectangle to fit the window snugly, and cut one small hot-pink square for the center. Keep the side points crisp; chill the cut pieces a few minutes if they soften so the geometry holds while you handle them.

Seat the pink rectangle into the yellow window so the two read as one flat plane. Brush a seriously thin film of liquid polymer clay along the seam where pink meets yellow so the join cures together rather than relying on pressed raw edges alone.

Center the hot-pink square on the pink rectangle, brush a thin film of liquid clay under it, and press it down. Blend only its foot so it looks like it grows out of the plaque while the top stays raised and crisp; this is the one element meant to stand proud.

If the blank feels thin where the pin will sit, laminate a second thin yellow slab onto the back with liquid clay between the layers before baking, so the pin seat has something solid to hold and resists cracking under the pin's leverage.

Pin option (embed before baking): texture and bend the pad of a bar pin, brush liquid clay over the seat, press the bent pad into the raw back in the top third, cover it with a thin clay cap, and seal the seam so the cured clay grips the metal.

Bake the brooch flat on a parchment- or cardstock-covered ceramic tile with a loose foil tent over it, at your clay brand's package temperature and time for the slab thickness; confirm the real oven temperature with a thermometer. For an embedded pin, nest the piece so nothing presses the back flat. Let it cool fully and flat before you handle it.

Pin option (glue after baking): once cool, sand the pin spot on the cured back to bare clay and lightly roughen the metal pad, wipe both with 99% isopropyl alcohol to remove oils, then glue a flat-pad or bar pin on with a small drop of gel super glue, such as Loctite Super Glue Ultra Gel Control or Gorilla Super Glue Gel, spread thin on the flat underside of the pad or bar. Set the bar in the top third of the back, centered left to right, so the weight below pulls the bottom edge in and the brooch hangs flat.

Let the adhesive cure fully and undisturbed for its full listed time before wearing, and do not re-bake a glued finding. Pick a pin whose hinge-to-catch length spans most of the frame width so the brooch cannot pivot or tip.

Leave the face matte for the look in the photo, or seal with a thin water-based polyurethane such as Varathane; brush a couple of thin coats and test it on a baked scrap of the same clay first so the finish does not stay tacky.