Wednesday, April 8, 2015

I am officially in love...

....with Precious Metal Clay!  Still waiting on my kiln to arrive, but I am continuing to practice!  I missed working with my copper, so I made this to compensate...


Thank goodness I have made bangles like these before, sans the silver.  Although I have seen bracelets similar to these before, I turned to a book that I have had for a couple of months now.  

Book Source
Nothing like step by step directions!  As a matter of fact, the Art Jewelry Elements blog had a recent review of the book as well.  I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves their copper!


I used copper rivets - 16 gauge wire, instead of fine silver wire.  I first made up a sample design using polymer clay.  I did this so that I could gauge how much of the silver clay I would need to use.  


I am not regretting the fact that my kiln is not here....yet!  This is going to look great on my arm!

Thanks for stopping by today!!

xo
Patti

Monday, April 6, 2015

My Adventures in Precious Metal Clay

I researched for MONTHS before I bit the bullet to buy a kiln.  Type of kiln, size of kiln, manufacturer, and, my research also included due diligence of the website from where the kiln would be purchased.  Specifically - warranty, ease of communication with problems, etc.

Well, somewhere along the line, I did not read the teeny tiny print under "shipping".  All I saw was "we strive to ship all orders within 48 hours".  The teeny tiny print I missed (and it was truly a smaller font!) stated "small and medium size kilns are drop shipped from the manufacturer, thus extending the shipping time".

Hmpf.  The box I received last week was the kiln shelf, kiln furniture, and a few other accessories, along with a packing slip stating that the kiln will be here in another "12 - 15 days".

So, what is a middle aged woman ANTSY to get started in PMC to do when her kiln has not yet arrived??  Use a torch.

I started slow and tiny.  Granted, this silver clay is expensive.  But, I started with two itty bitty little charms.



I was so pleased with the texture on these charms!  So, I decided to go just a tad bigger.


The charms above have a bark-like texture - deep grooves that capture the colors of the patina. I added a squirt of ammonia to my liver of sulfur solution and used the hottest water that would come out of my tap.  I was excited by the deep pink to purple rainbow patina I was able to achieve - I kept it in the crevices of the bark.  Believe me - achieving a rainbow affect with liver of sulfur/ammonia is a hit or miss event.  For me, it's more miss! 

I have some more charms drying, prior to firing later this week.  I am being very careful to ensure they are not too thick as from what I have gleaned, the thinner the piece (when torch firing) the better - or sintering will not happen.  The entire process that a clay can be formed, dried, and fired to turn into silver just fascinates me beyond belief.

I will keep you updated on my successes and failures - there will be failures...GUARANTEED! :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

xo
Patti