Wish me luck

[Kwant]

My complete PMC kit arrived today, so after weeks of reading up on it and the excitement of the last few days since placing my order I am now terrified of messing it up. So have decided to start very simply, I wandered round the garden and found a nice small ivy leaf and have coated it with the paste type. From what I have read I guess I can clean my brush in a pot of water which I lid and keep. More coats to do yet though.

My first project with the clay type is already drawn out, in fact it has been for over a year as it was a piece I hoped a local jeweller would make for me but as he wanted a thousand euros to do it well ....... that is what prompted me to try to do it myself.

Off to the shops to get some gas.

I will update and eventually (if it works) show the results.

[snow_imp]

Sounds like a good start - I've just got my first "real" order of PMC to play with, including some paste (the first bit of clay I played with I bought on my course with Nic and none of what I made with that is worth showing) and I'm hoping to do something with some of it this weekend. I might try a leaf too.

Good luck.

[MuranoSilver]

Good Luck & I hope everything turns out fantastically!
Another option with leaves is to use lump clay and skeleton leaves
You spray the leaf with whatever "anti-stick" stuff you use and just roll it in as texture :D
nic x

[Kwant]

Well it is just like magic! Leaf has come out encouragingly nicely. Edges a tad raggedy where I let the paste go over the rim a bit , I left the leaf in place to just let it burn away. The jump ring is a bit ropy as I do not have those kinds of tools yet ( I feel another order coming over me :0) I did rush it a bit too as I was just so keen to have a go. In future I will take more care over finishing and the like.

I think I have included a picture but was unsure how to do it. I clicked the paperclip symbol adjusted my image to the required dimensions and uploaded it, I will soon see.

Tomorrow I will start on a modelled piece and hope it comes out as well is this has.

[Fi Wilson]

Ooh, that looks lovely. Well done!!! PMC is very addictive stuff.:dance:
Fi

[Mystic]

Very nice, brilliant for a first attempt too. Haven't tried PMC yet tho maybe sometime in the near future.:Y:

[Kwant]

Following on from your advice about the leaf skeletons Nic and the non stick spray, which I might add is very much appreciated, would coating a seashell with a thin layer of oil be sufficient anti stick to be able to get paste clay off once it had dried? or would it be better to make a mould of the shell and peel off the mould?

Update on the progress of my first modelled piece, hmm well the clay was just a bit trickier than I thought so I cut the design into a bar of soap and packed the clay into it ( no clue how I will get it out, other than cutting it out) it is currently in the process of drying.

[Gemma]

Well I would have wished you good luck but it doesn't look like you need it! Gorgeous leaf! (And Nic- i could have done with that tip BEFORE I opened my pack of clay!)

[Kwant]

Well here is the piece I made from the soap mould. I know I have a lot to learn yet, to say nothing of getting some tools, but overall I am really chuffed at how it has turned out. This little thing is what a local jeweller wanted to charge me 1000 euros to make.

A couple of little problems I had in the making: the shaft broke getting it out of the mould, so I did not dare drill a hole in the top of it for a jump ring, I could not get all the soap off the dried piece therefore did not want to risk trying to make a little mount for a garnet I have, that should have gone on the hammer face, because I thought the soap would inhibit a good joint.

I have a fair way to go, but have so much enjoyed this first experience of making a little item of jewellery I think I will invest in some decent tools, like files etc and some pliers to make jump rings etc. the jump rings I have made for this piece were made by wrapping some wire round a paintbrush and cutting it with some snips from the household tool box so the end are a bit ragged.

Many thanks to all on the forum for their tips and encouragement.

[MuranoSilver]

Love the idea of a soap mould :)
If you've carved the mould yourself then a better material might be hardened polymer clay..
once it's baked in the oven you could then oil it before using the silver clay (it will drop right out when it's dried)
Other than that GREAT first Job!!! =D>
Nic xx

[Kwant]

Thanks Nic. Yes I carved it, will not be doing it again as it made me sneeze :0). It was not my idea, I found the idea of carving in soap on another website. I am off to the shops to try to find some polymer clay as you have suggested.

One thing I have found that I do like, being a painter normally, I experimented with painting designs using the paste type of clay with some success. Building up layer by layer I have achieved a couple of nice pieces of a reasonable thickness that allow some very nice fine detail.

I also modelled a little fish skeleton by hand and mounted a tiny diamond for an eye (diamond as big as a fleas eye, I know diamonds should not really be fired in situ but it was so small it was worth the risk) sadly all the bones fell off, I suspect I had let the spine dry too much before piping on the bones.

... and my dog now has a little bone for her collar with her name on :)

[MuranoSilver]

I think I read somewhere that the metallic versions are easier to carve
(if that helps :)) Fishbone piece with the diamond sounds cool
Did the diamond come out ok?
Nic xx

[Kwant]

Well yes and no Nic :0) I forgot to make a hole in the back to let the light through, the stone seems on the face of it to have survived with no ill effects but then as you would need to have eyes like microscopes to see it who knows? Still it is by our mistakes we learn.