Jewellery Making Supplies Blog

We really loved last night’s episode of Kirstie’s Handmade Britain especially her exploration of Silver Clay. This project allows you to make a similar painted leaf that featured on the programme so you can enjoy the rewarding experience of creating beautiful, delicate designs.

You will need:

Agate/metal burnisher or tumbler
polisher

Badger Balm

Clayshapers

Leaf

Paintbrush and cup of water

PMC3 6.3g silver

PMC3 Paste (1 Paste pot
covers approximately 3 leaves of 3cm square)

Rubber block

Sandpaper

Stainless steel brush

Snake roller

Straw

Torch and block to fire or Kiln

Work mat or Teflon

Step 1

Open your Paste pot and paint the reverse side of the leaf thoroughly. Leave to dry and repeat until you have built up 8 layers of paste. Leave the leaf to dry completely. Fire it using a kiln only- if using the Evenheat Pro-Set kiln fire on the preset PMC3 Slow Programme (600C/45mins). Once fired do not polish before attaching the bail.

Step 2

Use the snake roller to roll a coil. Press down on the coil to create a flat block. Wrap the flattened coil around a straw and leave to dry.

Step 3

Attach the bail to the back of the fired leaf using some paste. Allow to dry. Once dry gently remove the straw and refine your piece until you are happy with the finished look. If required you can create a long coil from the lump clay by using a snake roller. This can then be attached to the back of the leaf as shown in the image above to improve the look of the bail attachment. The bail can be torch fired onto the leaf. Simply heat until it glows orange and time for a minimum of 2 minutes or kiln fire using the PMC3 Fast programme (700C/10mins).

Step 4

Place the fired piece on a rubber block to support the leaf and use a stainless steel brush to polish. To achieve a high shine finish, continue using a burnisher or place in a tumbler polisher with mixed stainless steel shot and 1/3 teaspoon of tumbler soap.

Aftercare: Polish using silver polish and a soft cloth.

Tips – Choosing a leaf

Don’t use a leaf with a waxy or fleshy surface like holly or laurel as these have no texture

Do choose a leaf with good veins as these will show nicely on your finished piece. E.g. sage, ginko or geranium leaves.

Do choose a fresh leaf.

For PMC beginners the most confusing thing is, “What tools do I need?”, so here are a few suggestions to help you along the way:

PMC Suggested TOOLS:

A roller – used for rolling out the clay

A rolling surface – Non-stick as possible e.g. a glass board or polished tile

Spacers or playing cards – for getting the depth of the clay even

Cutting blade, scalpel – For getting straight edges and making your shapes.

A small lidded pot – to put filings & tiny offcuts into so you can save them for making silver clay paste or slip

Various grades of sanding pads - or get a 4 way nail filing block and strip the sides off.

Badger Balm or Olive Oil for stopping the clay sticking to your hands and tools.

Tools for Precious Metal Clay

FIRING METHODS:

For Hob firing, stainless steel mesh with protection net.

Torch firing – Handheld torch and a firing brick (asbestos substitute not a household brick )

Kiln – If you can get access to a kiln then use it, the metal is normally denser and the results more consistant.

Stainless steel or brass brush – for brushing off the white post firing and leaving you lovely silver.

Silver polish & Cloth – for getting the final buffed up shine.

Some Optional Extras:

For ring making – A sliding ring guage, A wooden ring mandrel, and ring papers (to stop clay sticking to the mandrel).

For Better finishes – A small set of metal files for neatening edges quicker than sanding them down.

Long Tweezers – For holding / moving the pieces when firing

Liver of Sulpher – For antiquing or bringing out fine detail

Burnishers & ultra fine sanding pads – Post firing for a REAL shine!

Cutters & Shapers – Using pre-shaped cutters e.g. hearts will same time and give you more consistant shapes

Tiny drill bits – you can twist them in your fingers to drill through the unfired clay & make jump ring holes & hanging points.

Texture Mats/plates – Roll the clay out on these and you’ll have fabulous patterns straight away!

Letter Stamp Set – For stamping words into unfired (rubber stamps) or fired clay (metal stamps).

Why not check out our ready-assembled Starter Precious Metal Clay kit packed with everything you could possibley need to get started with PMC. Alternatively, if your not a PMC novice click here to view our full range of silver clay kits including our Art Clay kit and complete silver clay accessories kit, tumbler kit and tool kit.

Starter Kit for Precious Metal Clay