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.

 This is a tutorial on how to use the moulding compound; at the end you will string as desired to obtain a finished piece of jewellery! Perfect to wear whilst you are on holiday this summer!

You will need:

• Fossil
• Moulding Compound
• PMC Clay
• Hand Torch
• Stainless steel brush
• Agate burnisher or Tumbler

STEP 1

Take equal parts of the Moulding Compound and work the 2 parts together until the Moulding Compound is a uniform colour.

STEP 2

Press your Fossil into the compound and leave it to set.

STEP 3

Once the Compound has set, press your PMC into the mould making sure it is pressed into all the edges. Carefully pop the clay out of the mould, if you re not happy with the result you can work the clay till reformed and press in again. Avoid doing this too much as the clay will start to dry and crack.

STEP 4

Once your PMC piece is dry, sand and refine your edges and back.

STEP 5

Drill a hole for your Jump ring using a hand drill or make a bail from any remaining clay.

STEP 6

The Fossil can be torch or Kiln fired. Torch fire for a minimum of 2 minutes, time this from after the binder has burnt off and the piece starts to glow orange.

STEP 7

Once fired use a stainless steel brush, agate burnisher or tumbler to make your fossil shine. String as desired.

This is a project designed in association with the PMC Studio in Coventry. For similar projects go here! As always if you have any thoughts or suggestions, let us know in the box below.

STAMP AND CUT: An effective but simple project for Precious Metal Clay in association with PMC. Design this pendant in only 7 steps!

You will need:

• Badger Balm
• Spacer Roller Set
• Texture mat
• Circle cutters
• Oval cutters
• PMC3 Clay
• Work mat
• Teflon sheet
• Sandpaper
• Butane Torch
• Stainless Steel Brush
•  Burnisher
• Antiquing solution (optional)
• Stringing material – Cord or Leather thong

STEP 1

Roll out some Precious Metal Clay on a piece of Teflon sheet using a Spacer Roller set. Remember to lightly apply Badger Balm to your tools to prevent your clay sticking.

STEP 2

Use a texture mat to add texture to both sides of your Clay.

STEP 3

Cut out 2 circles that are the same size. Cut a large oval in the centre of 1 circle. Cut a small circle near the top of the second circle.

STEP 4

Leave the pieces to dry thoroughly and then use sandpaper to refine the edges.

STEP 5

Torch fire each piece. Torch fire for a minimum of 2 minutes, time this from after the binder has burnt off and the piece starts to glow orange.

STEP 6

Polish using a Stainless steel brush and Burnisher.

STEP 7

To bring out the depth in the piece use an antiquing solution such as Liver of Sulphur or Platinol. Use the agate burnisher when the solution is dry to bring up the highlights on the piece. Loop a piece of cord around the top of both circles and your pendant is ready to wear.

This is a guest project designed by Jane Kharade. Jane is a craft designer who designs beautifully coloured pieces with the aid of clay, crystals and silver.

You will need:

• Rubber Stamp Mat – Fleur De Lis
• 7 x Silver jump rings   7mm heavy
• 2 x Silver jump rings   5mm heavy
• Silver curb chain 7”
• Silver 14.5mm plain Ring and Bar
• PMC3 – 25gm

Tools

• Scalpel 3 handle 10A blades
• 2 x Roller spacers
• Teflon mat
• Needle Files
• Hand held blow torch
• Soldering block
• Oxidising solution (Liver of Sulphur)
• Tweezers
• Pliers: round nosed, flat
• Emery paper fine, extra fine
• Wire brush/ metal burnisher

STEP 1

Carefully cut out four shapes from medium weight card. Use a 10A scalpel blade and a cutting mat then trim the card down on each one.

STEP 2

Roll out the PMC3 clay to approximately 1.5mm on a Teflon mat. Use a plastic roller, and two spacers to roll the clay to an even thickness. Lightly dust the Fleur De Lys rubber stamp with talcum powder and carefully but firmly press the PMC onto the stamp.
STEP 3

Carefully peel the PMC from the rubber stamp and lay it on the Teflon mat. Gently place the card template on top of the PMC and cut out the clay with a scalpel. Work quickly and cut out seven shapes in total, you may wish do make a couple of spares; choose the better ones for the bracelet and the spares can be made into pendants.

STEP 4

Use a 7mm Ø paintbrush protector and cut out a circle from the centre of each shape. Roll the clay into a ball and wrap it up immediately as it can be re-used.

STEP 5

Use a sharp instrument to make a hole in each charm for hanging.

STEP 6

Use a needle file to file all the rough edges on the charms, do this while the PMC is in its ‘dried out plaster’ state. The task will be time consuming once the PMC has been fired and is metal.

STEP 7

Fire the charms on a soldering block with a hand held blow torch. Make sure they glow steadily pale orange all over. Begin timing for 2.5 minutes – enough for pieces under 10g. This stage is known as ‘sintering’. Don’t worry if the charms become curved during firing. Simply leave them curved as I have or turn them over with tweezers and re-fire.

STEP 8

Oxidise the charms in a solution of Liver of Sulphur; use it in a well ventilated room as the fumes can be dangerous.

STEP 9

Polish the charms with emery paper, as the PMC is soft fine and extra fine will be sufficient to create a polished surface. Finish off by burnishing them with a metal burnisher.

STEP 10

Use pliers and add a 5mm jump ring to either end of a silver curb bracelet. Thread on the ring and bar and attach a 7mm jump ring to each charm and hang them from the bracelet. Make sure all of the jump rings are tightly closed. You have finished your Chunky Charm bracelet!

Designer Tip

Peel a little part of the clay away from the stamp and check that a good impression has been made in the clay. If the impression is weak simply apply more pressure to the clay with the fingers.

Make sure the holes made the charms for hanging will be big enough. As the charm shrinks during firing so will the holes.

Hope you enjoy the project and let us know what inspires you this summer!

This is a guest project designed by Carol Merkl. Carol runs the Coventry PMC Studio Accredited Training Centre where she offers a wide range of courses including PMC Certification. The article is part of our jewellery making projects collection and it is a step-by-step guide on how to make floral earrings using silver clay.

What you need:

• PMC3 6.3g silver
• Rose and calyx cutter
• Teflon or work mat
• Spacer and roller set
• Badger balm
• Rubber texture mat
• Plastic measuring spoon
• Paintbrush and cup of water
• Sandpaper
• Hand drill
• Earring wires
• Rubber block
• Stainless steel brush
• Burnisher or tumbler polisher
• Torch and block to fire or Kiln

Step 1 – Texture

Rub some badger balm on your hands, roller and on the rubber texture mat. Remove the clay from the pack and place on a piece of Teflon or work mat. Place a spacer either side of the clay and use the roller to roll the clay. Press the rubber texture mat into the clay.

Step 2 – Shape

Use the calyx cutter to cut a flower shape. (Put any left-over clay back into the pack to keep it fresh.) Smooth the edges using a damp paintbrush. Rub some badger balm on the inside of a plastic measuring spoon and use a damp paintbrush to position the flower in the centre of the measuring spoon. Leave to dry. Repeat step 2 to make the second flower.

Step 3 – Hole

Gently sand the edges of the flower using the sandpaper. Place the flowers on the rubber block and use a hand drill to drill a hole in the centre. Make the hole about 10 per cent larger to allow for the shrinkage of the clay during firing.

Fire the earrings using a butane gas torch (they should glow a pale, orange colour for at least 2 minutes) or fire in a kiln at 600C for 10 minutes.

Tip: you may wish to use some kiln pillow to support the flowers during firing. Once fired, quench in a cup of water and dry.

Step 4 – Polish and finish

Place on a rubber block and polish using a stainless steel brush. Continue using a burnisher or place in a tumbler to achieve a high shine finish. To complete your earrings use a pair of pliers to attach the earring wires.

For details about Carol Merkl please visit www.1offstudio.com.

Did you like this article? Find it useful? If you want  to see any particular projects featured please leave a comment below.

It’s 2011 – What’s NEW?

It’s a new year, so to mark the start of 2011, we’re bringing you many sensational new ranges, along with some of the best of our recently added products, New For 2011!

What’s in it for you?

• NEW PMC Accessories – We’ve got the PMC and now we’ve got a great new selection of PMC Accessories including Brass Plates, moulds, cutters and much more.
• Reflections Silver – Introducing our NEW silver alloy, the superior alternative to Sterling Silver. Choose from a great variety of Sheet, Wire, Findings, Loose/Finished Chain and more.
• NEW Creative Tools - Great New selection of digital weighing scales, NEW choice of terrific tumbling barrels and accessories – for both advanced and beginner jewellers -and NEW Anti Tarnish Zip Lock Bags and Non abrasive tabs to protect your most valuable metals.
• NEW colours and sizes of Swarovski pearls, beads and pendants.

PLUS:

• Essential workshop tools from Proxxon and Dremel – a great range of precision tools from two of the world’s leading power tool companies.
• Bullion and Creative Metal Sheets – get your creative juices flowing with our range of Mokume Gane Sheet, Enamelling Wire Silver Findings and much more.

WIN BIG!

That’s right – you could Win a top of the range Dremel Fortiflex, worth OVER £250!
Click here to read our T&C and enter the competition NOW!

Get your order fast, with our superb delivery service – place any order before 3pm for same-day despatch.

P.S. Don’t miss our on our NEW range of Copper Sheets and Blanks!

The festive season is almost upon us and with less than a month to Christmas Cooksongold is running a FIVE DAY FESTIVE FREEPOST* event.  Freepost starts today and ends on Tuesday 30th
at midnight!  Simply spend £50* or more and select ‘freepost’ in the delivery options menu.

Why not stock up now for the busy Christmas Season, grab that unusual present or even treat yourself ! Cooksongolds got the very best gift ideas, stocking fillers, and kits to make any jewellery makers heart beat that bit faster !

Why not take full advantage of the freepost and double-up on the savings with 10% OFF our ever-popular Soldering Kit, 10% off all Durston Rolling Mills, 10% off our Art Clay Starter Kit and�
15% off creative FIMO kits !

Don’t forget freepost is MULTI-USE, so go ahead and claim freepost as many times as you’d like!

It's freepost this weekend at Cooksongold.com

It is that great period again: FREE POST is here!! Within the UK*, for any order over £50* which you place in the next 10 days you will benefit from our Free Post!! When we say it’s easy, we mean you won’t even need any codes or vouchers: just select “freepost” as the delivery  method at checkout and enjoy the experience!!

In case this is not reason enough to order, we hope to entice you with some of our great offers:

• Gemstone Extravaganza: 10% off selected stones. We have over 400 gems in a beautiful multitude of sizes and shapes – you’re sure to get your eyes on something!
• 25% OFF Top 20 Essentials: some of you are going back to school and some of you will only look to renew your tools, kits & accessories collection, in any case the bigger this is, the better! We have great prices on our Hand Torch, the Student Starter Kit, Starter Soldering Unit and Solder Block, PMC, Silver Chains and more!
• Our NEW Reflections Collection:  our great NEW Silver alloy, which we think it might even inspire you for your new piece! In case you need help with it, our team is there to guide you so just try something new!
• Moreover, there are new products in our Art Clay and Creative Metals at Cooksongold and always a great variety of over 11,000 jewellery making products. Just one stop and your jewellery will get the best treatment!! You’ll get fabulous prices and FREE POST!! Free Post ends on the 3rd of October at midnight, but don’t forget you can claim it more than once: make the most of it!! Click here to check out some of the products we thought you’ like!

We’d love to hear what you thought or what you bought so don’t forget to leave a comment!

THE JEWELLERY GUIDE

We’ve just launched the 32-page Jewellery Guide for those of you who are going back to work, starting work or just looking for new pieces to buy for your workshop!!  It contains the essential products to every jewellery maker’s workshop: machinery, clay, starter kits, books, chains and bullion are amongst the many products you will find in this useful catalogue.  Our Top 20 Essentials at discounted prices -UP TO 25% OFF – will most likely catch your eye too! It’s sure you’ll find something you love or need for you next piece!!

and the best part…COOKSON TECHNICAL INFORMATION BOOKLET

What makes this guide even better is the booklet inside, which you can download here or order for FREE here (where you get the whole mini catalogue for a change). The booklet includes useful data sheets and answers frequently asked question on various techniques like soldering and polishing. It provides you with the best hints &tips you’ll want to know before starting to make an art piece.

We’ve been in the jewellery industry for quite a while and now you can benefit from Cooksongold’s resourcefulness even further by login onto http://www.cooksongold.com/technical/. Here you’ll find the jargon used in the trade explained, even more data sheets and instant conversion calculations. Our knowledge base is easily accessible: you can search specific words and you  can almost instantly view “Hot topics”, “Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions” or “Latest articles” .

If you have a question that hasn’t been answered already (or to which you simply cannot find the answer) you can always opt for “ask a question” and you’ll quickly receive a personal response!

So what do you think of it? Have you used it already? If so, is there anything else you would’ve wanted to see in it?

Enjoy our weekend promotion: 5% OFF all our PMC PRODUCTS and 10% off our fantastic ART CLAY range!!

For as little as £7.13 for PMC or £7.07 for Art Clay you can start modelling your great piece of art today!!  There are 30 products to choose from! Our range includes: Art Clay 650 Slow Dry for a more elastic feel, Art Clay Cooper, Precious Metal Clay + and Precious Metal Clay 3.

Free your imagination this weekend! This offer is only valid until Monday, the 13th of September 2010 at midnight so hurry up!! And if you stopped here, we would love to know what you thought of our products!