Happy: Digging for buried treasure

by Patty Lakinsmith

This might be of interest to those of you who work with clay, whether metal, polymer or ceramic.  I'm exploring some new organic shapes to complement some of my floral-styled disc beads, and made these in Precious Metal Clay (fine silver) the other day.  Here they are after patina and tumbling overnight. I swear, opening the tumbler and picking out the goodies is almost as fun as digging for potatoes.

These are destined for some very special pieces.

I used some new tools from Green Girl Studios for some of the texture with these, and it's working wonderfully for me.  Here's the swirly tool:

The possibilities with this tool for any kind of clay are endless, and I found that the shape worked very well for my organic forms.  There's also some great detail on the bottom end of the tool.  There are several variants of these available on the Green Girl Studios site, but I got mine in person from Andrew when they were at the Best Bead Show.

I also used some dried poppy seed pods for texture - see this image (courtesy of Auntie P on Flickr).  Look at that pattern!  Wonderful stuff!

Anyway, not much from me here today, but thought you might like to know about this wonderful tool.

Studio Solutions

by D'Arsie Manzella

Good Morning!

Patty's post got me thinking of studio solutions. Her gorgeous glass case is a marvel of beauty and function born of necessity. Many of us have created just the right tool or studio accessory to make our creative lives unique. Often those hidden gems go unnoticed, today I would like to share one of mine!

I often use letter stamps to make impressions in the clay that I use to sculpt my original designs. These letter stamps are tiny, rubber and generally unruly. Especially if the box of them gets shaken or stirred and heaven forbid- dropped!

In the search to keep my little stamps safe and sound, I was inspired by what generally surrounds them... Beads! I would "string" them on some wire, in alphabetical order and they would be by the ready and beautifully contained in a tiny bracelet configuration.

In order to do this, I used a very tiny hole punch to get a hole in each part of the non-usable black side of the stamp. Once they were on I connected the wire ends and voila!



My favorite part about this solution is that each letter can be twisted so that the one I am using to stamp with is separated from the rest.

What solutions have you created? Please share your favorite idea!

Confused About Metal Clay?

Barbara S Fernald, fine silver PMC, freshwater pearls, sterling round beads

This gorgeous necklace was made by Barbara S Fernald, whose work with metal clay and jewelry I very much admire. She lives on Ilseford, Maine, on small island with a winter population of only about 70 people. Much of her work is inspired by the island, it's beaches and the sea around her. She made all of the large silver beads in this necklace from fine silver metal clay using her own hand made molds and texture plates.

You can see more of her work at her website or her Etsy site. From her website you can follow her blog where Barbara generously shares her work and glimpses of island life. I find her blog a treat and always look forward to hearing about what she's up to.

Summers Studio, bronze metal clay pendants

So what is metal clay, anyway? I often see metal clay referred to as PMC. PMC (Prescious Metal Clay) was developed in the early 1990s by Dr Morikawa of the Mitsubish Matericals Corporation. Technically, PMC is a brand name. There are many brands of metal clays on the market now and many types of materials available, including fine silver, gold, bronze, copper, steel, just to name a few.

What all of these metal clays have in common is that they are composed of very fine microscopic particles of metal suspended in a non-toxic organic binder. This results in a plastic substance that can be molded, carved, shaped, pushed and prodded into many forms and in ways that would be difficult to achieve with traditional metal smithing techniques.

Once formed and dried, all metal clays are 'fired' usually in a kiln but some types can be torch fired. Firing is a little bit of a misnomer too. What happens is that the organic binder burns out and the particles of metal sinter (melt together) to form a final piece that is 100% metal.

Summers Studio, copper metal clay pendant

This only scratches the very surface of metal clay. It can be a very technical medium, sometimes frustrating, but I always find it exciting to work with. The number of metal clays being developed is growing at a very rapid pace. It can sometimes be hard to keep up with!

There are many, many resources out there if you'd like to know a bit more about working with metal clay. Here's a few that I turn to frequently when I have questions. 

Hadar's Blog (artinsilverclay.com)

Metal Clay Academy

Metal Clay Guru

PMC Guild

Barbara S Fernald, fine silver PMC, beach pebbles, sterling round beads

I'd love to hear about what you think of metal clay! If you've got any resources that you really like, let me know. I'll add them to the list.

Many thanks to Barbara for sharing her photos with us.