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Chatters
28-08-2009, 04:34 PM
:~: Hello all, I am new to PMC and have only just started a week ago and love it so far and I'm teaching myself. I am also a special occassion cake decorator so this helps! Is there anyone in Northampton out there?
Chat to you all soon!
Angie

AlexandraBuckle
28-08-2009, 04:40 PM
Hello and welcome Angie :~:

mizgeorge
28-08-2009, 04:50 PM
Hi Angie, and welcome to the forum.

You'll find plenty of PMC experts around - it seems very popular here :)

Chatters
28-08-2009, 04:55 PM
:) Your warm welcomes are appreciated.

bustagasket
28-08-2009, 05:08 PM
Welcome to te forums angie :D:~:

MuranoSilver
28-08-2009, 05:14 PM
Welcome to the forum Angie
Plenty of folk here to help & lots of PMC/Art Clay silver users :)

Solunar Silver Studio
28-08-2009, 05:38 PM
Hi Angie.:~: I used to live in Kettering until 1986 so used to know bits of Northampton...not that that is much help to you!!! And I am also a cake decorater/sugarcrafter and a pmc dabbler...trying to combine the two skills!! I have done some tiny silver roses recently so it can be done but it is a hell of a game!!

146

This weekend I have a really bizarre commission to do... a two tier 21st birthday cake for a girl with an obsession with cows and I also have a commission to make a silver necklace for the same girl - featuring enamelled holstein cow markings!! I was given very specific requirements for both so it has been a bit of an unusual one! I've done the chain and pendant already - and I have the cake to decorate tomorrow! I'll post some piccies on Monday - I had better not do it before the birthday girl actually gets them on Sunday!

Anyway - It's great to have someone with such similar passions 'on board'!!:Y:

bustagasket
28-08-2009, 05:42 PM
That rose is fabulous B :D

Di Sandland
28-08-2009, 05:45 PM
Hi Angie and welcome. I thought Barbara was a one off/broke the mould kinda gal - seems there's another like her. #-o

Di Sandland
28-08-2009, 05:46 PM
barbara that rose is brilliant! Can't wait to see the cows ;)

Chatters
28-08-2009, 06:35 PM
Thanks all!

Barbara that rose is brilliant! I did not think it could be done, now I know and I shall give it a bash! I am making a half flame lilly at the moment but have come unstuck, fired the petals then tried to paste them altogether but it has not worked. Am resorting to solder (which I am waiting for - it is in the post). Possibly will try again and fire it all at the same time.

Obviously you dont make the PMC as thin as the sugarpaste - do you? Also what I found difficult to achieve is the 'ruffling' or 'feathering' of the petals, the PMC seems too soft, am I doing something wrong. :(

My next one I want to try is the arum lilly - we shall see how that turns out - will try and put a picture on.

I have only lived in Northampton for 8 years, I was in Zimbabwe for 30 odd years (hence all the home industries I do), was born in up North and went to school there - some random info!

Angie

Solunar Silver Studio
29-08-2009, 05:58 AM
Hi Angie - I haven't really played that much with the flowers and pmc so far...I can't afford the mistakes yet!! The roses I make are only tiny - the one in the picture is about 1.5cm across. The problem with working bigger is the stability. My most successful roses have been built around a 6mm ceramic bead (on which I paint a layer of pmc slip) to give the central bulk and a cocktail stick through the hole gives a stem to hold onto while constructing (and the bead survives firing temperatures in the kiln). For the petals I squidge a little ball into a disc between finger and thumb then keep thinning it out as I rotate it to keep the shape and then concentrate on the top edge and keep thinning it out between thumb and finger to try to get a bit of 'flop' to it. (I don't think it is possible to frill it in the sugarpaste manner - although I am sorely tempted to add a bit of CMC (Tylo) to give it more elasticity!!) I put the petals onto the bead with a bit of pmc slip then turn the edge a bit and give a central pinch. I build about 3 petals - almost a complete circuit - and then let it dry before adding a second batch using slip to attach....and so on. I fire it nestled in a bed of vermiculite in a terracotta dish.

Although I've not tried any 'big' stuff yet I have had the ol' brain cells clicking...and think I would probably build things like lily petals using a central fine silver wire...to make it as similar to sugarpaste as possible. I would also think about firing it in a container with vermiculite poured round and into the flower to give total support to the petals while the silver sinters. But I think I would always be concerned about the wearability of such a piece as the petals would be very vulnerable to bending.

Now I'm writing about doing it I really want to have a go! I'm just too busy and too broke at the moment!!:'(

Keep us posted as to how things go!!:Y:

Solunar Silver Studio
29-08-2009, 06:13 AM
barbara that rose is brilliant! Can't wait to see the cows ;)

Don't get too excited now Di....I never said I was making cows!!... I said cow markings!!...as a design feature! I'm working towards a cartoon cow on the cake but I think I would have turned down the commission if they had specified I include a whole cow!! No - I am using the black markings to co-ordinate the pendant and the cake!:-D

Solunar Silver Studio
29-08-2009, 06:28 AM
I am making a half flame lilly at the moment but have come unstuck, fired the petals then tried to paste them altogether but it has not worked. Am resorting to solder (which I am waiting for - it is in the post). Possibly will try again and fire it all at the same time.

Angie

I was just thinking...if you are not going for botanical accuracy too much...I know lilies don't have calyxes but it might be an idea to do a thin calyx to give some stability to where the petals join...add a good thick gloop of slip...dry it all supported by a former...then bung it in the kiln for a good long hot session...while you cross your fingers and have a glass of medicinal.......:Y:

Soldering that lot together would be my idea of hell!!:'(

Chatters
29-08-2009, 07:11 AM
Morning Barbara, thanks for all the tips. I shall certainly try the calyx idea. The petals on the flame lilly is only about 1.5cm long and very fiddly! I shall let you know how I get on. Good luck with today and icing the cakes - hope all goes well.:ta:
Angie

Solunar Silver Studio
29-08-2009, 07:57 AM
Thanks Angie...I'm just waiting for everyone to wake up so I can start beating up some butter icing and get started!!

You could really do with picking Nic's (Murano Silver) brains for all problems pmc...she might (sorry - wrong word - she will) have advice for rescuing fired pmc pieces!!:Y: I think she is on line now.....

bustagasket
29-08-2009, 09:08 AM
Don't get too excited now Di....I never said I was making cows!!... I said cow markings!!...as a design feature! I'm working towards a cartoon cow on the cake but I think I would have turned down the commission if they had specified I include a whole cow!! No - I am using the black markings to co-ordinate the pendant and the cake!:-D

omg cow markings!!!! does that mean cow pat pendants?? =:-O

Di Sandland
29-08-2009, 10:40 AM
I am sorely disappointed, Barbara, I was looking forward to a full-sized, mooing, pat-leaving Friesian (or whatever brand of cow it is you're doing) :(

lorraineflee
29-08-2009, 11:35 AM
Hi Angie, :welcome:
I'm not in Northampton but only 12 or so miles away in North Beds, village called Felmersham, so we're nearly neighbours!
Lorraine

EmmaRose
02-09-2009, 10:30 AM
Hi Angie :welcome:
I am just down the road in Milton Keynes and use metal clay too!
Emma

Chatters
05-09-2009, 05:03 PM
Hello all! Ah brilliant, at least there are a couple of us around this part of the country.:~:

amazingbabe
05-09-2009, 05:14 PM
Welcome, and i am sure on here all your questions will be answered xx

Ominicci
07-09-2009, 08:45 AM
Hello Angie :~: I must have missed your arrival as I was away at the time and there were sooo many posts to catch up on!! :">

Anne
21-09-2009, 06:04 PM
Hello,

Yes, I'm from Northampton too, just joined here over the weekend

Anne

mizgeorge
21-09-2009, 06:40 PM
Hello Anne, and welcome :)

Emerald
21-09-2009, 06:44 PM
hi Anne welcome to the forum:~:

Di Sandland
21-09-2009, 07:28 PM
Hi Anne :)

snow_imp
22-09-2009, 09:09 AM
Hello to both of you. I'm in Rushden :) so not a million miles away.

lorraineflee
22-09-2009, 11:20 AM
Wow, Rushden really is close to me - I'm just down in Felmersham!

Lorraine

snow_imp
22-09-2009, 03:32 PM
Wow, Rushden really is close to me - I'm just down in Felmersham!

Lorraine

(Having just looked at a map) - you're not very far away at all. I think I've driven through Felmersham a couple of times, but probably when lost I think.

lorraineflee
22-09-2009, 03:35 PM
(Having just looked at a map) - you're not very far away at all. I think I've driven through Felmersham a couple of times, but probably when lost I think.

I think people only drive "through" Felmersham when they're lost - we are a bit off the beaten track! :)
LOL

Lorraine

snow_imp
22-09-2009, 03:46 PM
I think people only drive "through" Felmersham when they're lost - we are a bit off the beaten track! :)
LOL

Lorraine

Or when the A509 is shut and we're trying to avoid Bedford!! That was the reason I believe.

CDW Designs
22-09-2009, 06:00 PM
:">:welcome:
Hello,

Yes, I'm from Northampton too, just joined here over the weekend

Anne

Lovely website Anne, just looked. Unfortunately I am in Middlesex. Anyone near Middlesex, London or surrounding areas? Welcome to the Forum.
:welcome::welcome:
Christine

caroleallen
22-09-2009, 07:47 PM
Ooh, I've only just spotted that pmc rose. It's fab. I did sugarcraft too for about 20 years, and I've often wondered whether some of the sugar flower techniques could be used for pmc. It would be quite different though from getting the paste paper thin and frilling the edges.