... a seashell ring

A sea theme seems to be going on... I was in Denmark a few months ago, and found a tiny little shell on the beach of Skagen. I decided to make it into this ring:

... a seashell pendant

I made this for a friend who loves the sea, and everything related to it. My mother brought me some seashells from home, and I thought I'd make a mould from one of them, but I quite liked the idea of exposing the inside of the shell, creating a little cave to hide something in, so I pressed the shell into the clay, let it dry and then sanded the back until it was smooth.  After firing, I attached a crystal bead to it, which dangles and even gives it a faint sound of a bell. In a certain light, the crystal also reflects into the silver of the shell. I'm pleased with this, and hope my friend will like it too!  I also practiced pencil drawing and thought I'd let this girl hold the pendant for the photo (although I didn't quite finish drawing her hand)...

... a pendant with melted glass

This was my first experiment with glass. I placed a Swarovski crystal into this silver clay pendant before firing, and as it reached a certain temperature, it started to glow bright orange and it melted into this dew-drop shape, which I much prefer to a blingy crystal.

... a silver leaf

This leaf was made using silver clay paste. I picked a leaf (from a neighbour's hedge), and painted its back (which has more defined 'veins') with silver clay paste, building it up layer upon layer. After a few coats, I incorporated a piece of fine silver wire to form the finding of this pendant. Once it was dry, we fired it (we used a kiln, but torch firing should also work) - the leaf burns away and you are left with the intricate detail of the original leaf.

... a leaf inspired ring

This is the first metal clay project I made at home. Ever since I started my class and learning about the use of textures in metal clay jewellery, I have been drawn to trees and hedges in a new way. I went for an autumn walk in Epping Forest with friends a few weeks ago, and picked up some leaves that inspired me to make some pieces of jewellery.

I used this leaf to make my ring:

... a metal clay ring and hollow form pendant

Finally... my metal clay ring is made. I took much longer than I anticipated, because in the first week, we just practiced with Fimo, the following week we made the ring with clay, and only last week we got to fire it in the kiln. For this ring I carved a star shape into a piece of lino and pressed my silver clay into it. I deliberately left it a bit "rough round the edges" as I think this adds to the look I wanted to achieve. A bit of time, and it will have some nice patina between the rays of the star, which will make it stand out more. I read somewhere that you can achieve the patina more quickly by putting your piece of silver into a plastic bag with chopped up boiled egg. Hmmm... I think I'd rather wait for it to happen naturally.

As we only fired our rings, we also had time to make another pendant using syringe type clay. This was fiddly, but I'm keen to try again. For this, we had to create a basic shape using cork clay a few weeks ago. This was left to dry, and then we piped the silver clay onto it using a syringe. As it was fired, the cork burnt away inside, leaving this hollow form.

... a silver clay pendant

I recently started a metal clay jewellery course at the Art Academy. Metal clay is made of microscopic particles of precious metal (like silver or gold) mixed with an organic binder and water, making it into a moldable paste that can be worked with your hands, rolled out, cut and textured using anything from lace and wallpaper to leaves. When fired, the binder and water evaporate, and the metal particles sinter together, leaving a piece of solid silver.
In the first class we experimented with Fimo modelling clay, and last week I had my first go at using the real material (Art Clay). The clay feels cold and heavy, and you have to dab your work surface and roller with oil, so that it doesn't stick. It also dries out quite quickly, which means you have to work quite fast. I found a large rubber stamp, the pattern of which I liked, and saw the shape of a pendant in it, which I decided to cut out. I then cut a little 'window' into it and put it on the hotplate to dry. As this was a small piece of jewellery, we torch-fired it, rather than using a kiln. Unfortunately, my piece wasn't quite dry enough and had two traces of water in it when I fired it, so it cracked slightly in two places - next time I'll make sure it's completely dry, although I think the cracks give my piece a bit of 'edge'...
Next week it's rings and I can't wait - I have too many ideas already!

... a rose brooch

... necklaces and bracelets