Just so you know, this post is going to be picture heavy.
Well, here are the pictures of my first ever anything made out of Silver Art Clay.
I fashioned this ring off of a piece of silverware (see my previous post). I found that working with the polymer clay some what useful, but Art Clay is a creature all its own. I really like how the band turned out, but the place where it joined was not very... elegant. I tried to make it easier on the eyes by adding a little space for some polymer clay to act as a kind of focal point, but my execution of that element was lacking. Gluing an expensive crystal to it (you know, the one with the hard to pronounce name) didnt make it any more appealing.
Also, I decided I wanted to add some patina to add depth to my ring. I dont have any liver of sulfur, but I did notice that last time I washed out sea shells with bleach, my silver rings got tarnished right away. So, thinking myself clever, I poured some bleach in my sink and mixed it with water.
I set the ring in it, and it sure did tarnish, but the bleach all settled to the bottom (I guess it is more dense than water) and just the BOTTOM of my ring tarnished. The top was absolutely untouched. Well, what a great misadventure!
I will not be offering this ring in my shop for sale, but if someone really must have it, just email me. I am sure my next one will turn out better. I hope my learning curve is really steep, this stuff costs a fortune and I cant waste any of it!
I also created a duo of charms that will act like a focal for a future necklace. This time I felt a little bit more comfortable with the clay. Like I said before, it is similar to other polymer clays like Sculpty, but there are properties of PMC that is all its own. Things like the leather hard stage just doesnt happen in other clays (at least to my knowledge). Anyway, I found it easier and smoother to bond the two ends of the ring together. I really like the way the it looks this time around. I decided not to p
atina this ring, just shine it up a bit. The other pieces, I used some stamps from the craft store. The spider didnt turn out so well, but I absolutely LOVE the spider web look. I added a light patina to them to increase the contrast. I havent yet put the charms into a necklace yet, but I think that it will probably have a lot of hemalyke beads. Overall, I think I am improving!
