Phew……… the next 3 weeks are all about metal clay and this is where I started my love for making jewellery before I discovered silversmithing. I love metal clay, it is so versatile and forgiving and it is basically adult play doh/ fimo just a lot more expensive.

You can use cookie cutters, textured wallpaper, textured rolling pins and even nature i.e. leaves and flowers. The possiblities are endless. I really enjoyed these weeks and pushed myself with my designs and decided to try a few things I haven’t tried before, but really wanted to and I am really happy with the results of these pieces.

For this assignment we had to create 5 charms to be attached to a bracelet. I tried to make each charm slightly differently. As you can see from the finished piece, they can be personalised, moulded into certains shapes to replicate nature or whatever the mould is made from and they can also have colour/patina adde to them, they don’t have to be just silver.

Silver clay or metal clay comes in lump form just like play doh or fimo. It is made up of recycled silver particles and a binder. In order to turn the lump of clay into a beautiful piece fo silver , once a design has been created (as the picture above of the bones etc) they need to be dried either overnight or on a hot plate for up to 20 minutes, I prefer this method as I am not a patient person.

Once the pieces are 100% dry then you carefully carry out any sanding, smoothing and finishing that needs to be done before the piece is fired.

The type of clay I use is Art Clay silver and is 99.9% fine silver, this type of clay can be fired with a little hand held torch whereas sterling silver clay needs to be fired in a kiln, like pottery.

After firing has taken place, the piece is then quenched in some water or left to cool if it has a gemstone in it. A brass brush is then used to remove the matt effect on top of the piece. Once this is removed you will have a nice and shiny piece of silver. Depending on the finish you are after will depend on if you need to do anymore polishing or burnishing to the piece. Most of the time half an hour - hour in the barrel polisher is all it needs. If a high shine is wanted then working through polishing clothes would be required before a final polish.

Below:

Charm 1: Circle with the initial ‘M’. My initial, with ink added to the initial to make it stand out.

Charm2: A rose created using a mould.

Charm 3: Another circle, this time I use da paw stamp that I had in my craft box from when I used to make handmade cards and scrapbooking.

Charm 4: A replica of a shell I found on my local beach.

Charm 5: Again a circle with a snowflake stamped into it and then ink added to enphasise the design.

Each one of the charms has a meaning to me which is what I like about charm bracelets and have always had one.

Let me know below in the comments which charm is your favourite.

Charms

T3 Week 5 - Metal Clay - Charm bracelet

Let’s Connect