Jewellery Making Supplies Blog

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.

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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