I havent made much this past week, well for more Etsy shop anyway. I have just been working on my charms for the EMC swap and they are nearly done, just waiting or the jump rings to arrive and then they can be assembled. You can see by the photos what a big old mess firing copper makes in my kiln, ugh.
I also have a cake topper order which needs starting this week as the wedding is in a months time but I am off on my hols so need to get it done before then.

Bronz Clay

Something new to play with, I actually ordered copper clay but bronze turned up instead. I have made a few pieces and I will have a couple of pics up tomorrow of the pieces and my story of the dreaded bronze clay!

My thoughts on art clay silver (PMC)

So this post is mainly for Holly, I hope you are reading! :)

I haven't been working with silver clay for very long.  I remember I kept seeing "art clay silver" for sale on the website where I used to buy my polymer clay but I never really took any notice of it.  I just clicked on it one day and read about this clay that once it had been fired would turn to pure silver, a higher silver content than sterling, I thought wow!

I booked myself on a intro to silver clay course and loved it, I then saved up went and completed my level 1 in art clay.  Believe it or not I never touched silver again at home until February this year one I bought my kiln.  I saved up for my kiln as I didn't want to torch fire.  You can get the same results with torch firing but you can melt the clay if you get the torch flame too hot, or you could not fire it long enough and it could become brittle.  Silver clay is expensive and I didnt want to mess it up.  

So you could say I have only really been working with it now for about 4 months and I love it! It is totally different from working with polymer clay for a start I have found that I need to think in advance what I am going to make as the silver clay just dries to quickly so there is no time for messing about!  With polymer I used to just sit there and fiddle about until I came up with something that I like, I cant do that with silver clay.  There is also silver paste also know as "slip" this stuff is the best thing, you can buy the paste but there really is no need as all it is is watered down silver clay.  Or I would just buy the one pot then you can just keep topping it up with bits of clay that have become hard or the sanded off bits from when you have been sanding in the dry state.  The best thing about silver clay is that you can fine tune your piece once it has dried before firings,  sanding with either a file or fine sand paper.

I could go on and on about silver clay as there is lots to find out and learn so if you are curious, definately give it a go.

Soon....

My new kiln will be here.  Im just waiting for the shipment to get delivered, its due at the end of this month but Im on holiday from 26/2- 12/3 so hopefully I will have it in time for when I return.  I cant wait to get it as I have been longing for a kiln for some time now to take my work in a new direction!  I was lucky enough to do my art clay silver first certificate last year which means I can teach Introductory courses If I like, I think I have already mentioned this in a previous post around about the time I did the course.  I also get a 20% discount on art clay which is worth doing the course in itself I think.  Eventually I will do my second certificate but I need to do a bit more silver clay work first to get back into the swing of things.

I also want to try the new bronze clay as you can get a lot more clay for your money too, so heres hoping my kiln arrives soon!