WHAT'S ON YOUR WISHLIST?

Do you have them? Wishlists, I mean? You know the sites where you can save your favorites or make a wishlist?

I don't know about you but the internet has really revolutionized my way of shopping. This year marks the 10 year anniversary since we bought our first computer. I would say that my internet buying has increased exponentially since then! I never would have thought that I'd be selling jewelry via the web and shipping it all over the world either.

I live in a small town with a VERY limited selection of shops and it's exciting to know that the world is my shopping mall! Many of you reading this may have grown up in the era when you knew of no other way, but I remember having to thumb through catalogs and spending hours driving all over town looking for something specific I needed. Most of my purchases arise from careful thought, planning AND necessity. So why am I writing about wishlists?

These earrings that I made for my online shop Beadin By The Sea at the request of a customer... have reinforced something I already knew. That I need a really good pair of flush cutters. By the way I love suggestions from my customers. They have the best ideas! To make 8 nicely formed rings for these earrings I probably had to fuse twice that many. Wire and money wasted because I could not achieve a good cut with my current cutters. I've had these Tronex cutters on my wishlist for about 6 months and I finally coughed up the $60 for them and ordered them this morning. I can't wait to get them and try them out. Liz Jones recommends using them for fine silver wire fusing in her book "Silver Wire Fusing". I'll be sure to write a review when I get them since alot of you who read my blog are jewelry artists.

So, since we are talking about shopping and wishlists I'll share with you some other items on my wishlist. Here we go...

Paragon SC2 Digital Kiln for PMC: Approx. $600

Big ticket item here. This kiln would allow me to fire many PMC pieces at one time. I could also make larger pieces even 3 dimensional ones.

Or perhaps the Ultra Lite Beehive Kiln: Approx $200



A lower price tag makes this more affordable but it does not have a digital thermometer. It's also very small, that plate is about 3 inches across!

And then there is the issue of a new bicycle. I gave away my mountain bike when we moved 2 years ago and I haven't replaced it yet. My wishlist includes getting a "Giant" mountain bike since both my husband and son have one. Which one do you like? I like the price of the Boulder but the color of the Rincon. Oh, what to do!

Rincon Women's: MSRP $540.

Boulder SE W: $350












As you can see, I won't be asking my husband for baubles and clothes this Christmas. Bring on the tools Honey!

SWEETNESS OF SMALL...

Or how about itty bitty? I have to admit that lately I've been thinking small, well at least with some of my jewelry designs that is! I've been adding to my collection of clay cutters and I just received some flower shapes. The charms below are PMC pieces before being fired and they range from about 3/16" to 5/8". The larger flowers are going to be made into earrings but the rest will be put on hoops made from Argentium Sterling Silver wire.


And here are the small flowers after being fired, tumbled and oxidized. Sweet!

So now I have hearts, dots and flowers. I think stars may be next. What kind of shapes do you like? Do you tend to wear chunky jewelry or like to keep things small? I'd love to hear your input in the comments below.

THERE IS A WORLD OUT THERE NECKLACE GIVEAWAY CONTEST #2

My first giveaway/contest was so much fun last month, I've finally gathered my thoughts and put together another one. This one will be drawn April 11th, 2009 at 12 noon and it is open worldwide.

"Island Girl"

This fine silver pendant is handmade from Precious Metal Clay. I use a paper pattern I've drawn, roll out the clay and cut around the shape. The piece is left to dry, sanded and then fired to be 99.9% pure silver. I then give it a patina and polish the high spots. Click on the photo for more details in my shop.

Here are the contest rules to win this beautiful "Island Girl" necklace from my shop Beadin By The Sea :
1. Leave your name and email address or a link to your blog along with a wild guess of where the "Where in the world" photo was taken (shown below).

You don't have to be correct to win! Click on "comments" at the bottom of this post to see the comment box.

2. Come back on the day before Easter, April 11th to see if you've won. You will have 3 days to claim your prize.

Keep those guesses coming and don't be afraid to take a stab at it.

WHERE IN THE WORLD PHOTO:

Have fun guessing and try to get outside to enjoy all the beautiful spots in your part of the world!

By the way, if you can't wait for the contest to end, this necklace is available for purchase. Just click on the necklace photo to go to my shop. I'll just have to make another one for the lucky winner!

UPDATE: April 11th
Thanks to everyone for entering my contest. I've picked the lucky winner!
You can read about it by clicking here.

MY FIRST PMC RING

After making a ring last week from 14 Gauge fine silver wire, I started to wonder about making a ring from PMC. I thought this would allow the ring to have some weight to it and perhaps a stamped design. This weekend I tried something new... again!

Because it's so neat to see the ring in it's raw clay state, the picture on the left is the ring before firing and the pictures below are taken after firing, patinizing with liver of sulphur and polish. What do you think?

This was a great exercise in my skill with PMC and it did present a few challenges:


Challenge #1: Perfecting the Seam

I was going to show you my first ring I made from PMC but actually this is my second. The first one never made it to the firing stage because it split and broke where I joined the seam in the band. No worries though, with PMC there is no waste at this stage because the clay can be crushed, rehydrated and used again. So this is actually my second attempt and I still need to perfect the join before I can even consider selling them! Another minor issue, is figuring out how to recreate the stamped surface over the join area. I'm not sure if I'm being too picky, maybe it can never be totally invisible.

Challenge #2: Correct Sizing:
The second challenge with PMC rings is getting the sizing correct. The clay shrinks about 12% during firing so you have to account for this. My ring ended up being just a little too big for me. I think it's about a size 7. I may have to find a friend who wants a new ring, but I'll wear this one for a while to test its strength.

Challenge #3 YOUR Ring Size:
I wonder how many people actually know their ring size? I don't often wear rings except the one on my wedding finger, so I don't even remember what size it is, never mind my right hand which is a little bigger. It makes me wonder how many people won't buy a ring unless they can try it on. Now this challenge can be solved quite easily by giving you a link to an article to figure it out in, How to Determine Your Ring Size. There are also shops that send you a plastic ring sizer for a small charge to try on before making the purchase, good idea!

Challenge #4 Considering Cost:
As usual, I'll have to consider the high cost of PMC. This ring is 5 grams of silver before firing so it has some weight to it. That's not so bad, if you create a perfect ring on your first try! What if I make a ring for a customer and I have to make 2 or 3 to get the right size because of shrinkage and... what if they measured their size wrong?

As you can see, I have some reservations about pursuing the ring making business. But of course this is why we try things isn't it? I love to learn by doing and trial and error. I'll definitely be experimenting some more to see if this can be a viable option for my shop.

I'll leave you with another quote:(don't know what it is about Monday and quotes!)

Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.
Sir Winston Churchill

By the way, don't forget to enter my giveaway here or come back on Wednesday to guess the location of another "Where in the world" photo. I have lots of entries so far, but keep those guesses coming. I love to read all of them!

FUSING FINE SILVER

Just a quick post today. I got some more wire from Rio Grande to play with yesterday. This time it is Fine Silver wire for fusing. Last summer, I bought a book called "Silver Wire Fusing" by Liz Jones and had dabbled with it a little. I really wanted to try soldering silver this year, but I thought I'd give fusing fine silver wire an honest effort first as I have most of the tools necessary from working with PMC.

After making all of these rings last night in gauges ranging from 14 to 18 gauge, I think I'm finally getting the hang of it. It certainly is different fusing fine silver wire than firing PMC. They are both done with a micro torch, but when firing precious metal clay you have to be very careful not to let the silver get to that melting and shimmering point. So it's a little alarming for me to see the fine silver get "flowy". I guess I feel like it's going to curl up in big messy ball and have to be thrown in the scrap pile! Now I have lots of ideas for making earrings and necklaces. Here's what I've put together so far for my shop!

Here's to trying something new! I love these quotes on TRYING:

The best angle from which to approach a problem is the Try-angle.

Unknown Source

There is no comparison between that which is lost by not succeeding and that which is lost by not trying.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) British statesman and philosopher.

PMC...IT'S MAGIC!

...actually it's science and some work, but PMC is a pretty amazing stuff. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, PMC stands for Precious Metal Clay. PMC is a rollable clay made up of tiny particles of pure silver, an organic binder and water. When fired with a torch or kiln, the binders and water burn away and you are left with pure 99.9% silver. I've been working with PMC since last Spring and I'm still amazed how you can turn a rolled piece of pliable clay into a strong piece of metal.

However, with all of it's versatility it does have some drawbacks:

1. It is quite difficult and messy to work with -some people just never get the hang of it or get very frustrated because it just sticks to everything! There are ways to work around the stickiness factor, though.

2. It's extremely expensive. The price for 25 grams of clay is about $35 which translates to $39/oz. Compare that to sterling silver which is about $11.46/oz currently.

3. Until I invest in a kiln ($650) I am limited to making small pieces that are under 1 inch diameter.

As I write this I realize there are times (Gasp!) that I wrestle with continuing to work with PMC. I have sold some of my metal clay pieces but I seem to have more success with my gemstone and Swarovski jewelry which can withstand a higher markup. With the high cost of PMC and the labor involved, buyers will need to more educated, before they are willing to pay the prices needed to make it financially viable. Here is the breakdown of just my Etsy sales. If I factored in my off-Etsy sales the "gemstone" number would probably be higher.

SALES JUST ON ETSY:

52% Gemstone or Swarovski

43% PMC or using PMC components

5% Other

By mid December last year, I was at a point where I had decided I would really limit my use of PMC. That was until I received a custom order and was reminded once again how wonderful this medium is. Here is a pendant I made for a gal's son for Christmas.

She had seen a pendant in my shop ,that was sold, of a different Hawaiian Petroglyph, and wanted a picture of a Kukini Runner. I was inspired once again to get out my clay. This is what I came up with and she loved it. Within a couple of weeks I had another request to make another one! Could this be the secret to sales, using the versatility of metal clay to engrave personalized characters or maybe lettering? I'll have to delve into this idea further and maybe offer some custom order listings.

As for now, I'll still continue my experimenting with different techniques of jewelry making. Recently I picked up a book that I bought last summer on fusing fine silver. I had thought about learning to solder but I pretty much have all the tools I need to fuse silver. With soldering sterling silver, I would need to invest in soldering boards, pickle, flux, soldering paste and the list goes on. Fusing can be a topic for another day, so stay tuned!

And as far as PMC goes, I'll continue to use it because, well, I really enjoy it. As long as it still intrigues me to turn clay into metal I'll keep at it whether it's financially worthwhile or not!

Oh, and lastly here is the magic of PMC. My finished jewelry using the unfired pieces shown at the beginning of my post all fired, dipped in patina, and polished. Click on this picture if you'd like to see more jewelry in my shop Beadin By The Sea.

Making a PMC Button Pendant

DISCOVERY:
This isn't as much a tutorial as just a way to share my latest discovery in working with PMC or Precious Metal Clay. A few months ago I bought some silicone molding compound called "Amazing Mold Putty but had never really found a way to put it to good use. Recently when I was sorting through some things in my sewing room (actually packing for my big move) I came across this beautiful old button. I don't even remember why I bought it or what garment I must have used its mates on... or maybe it was a button that belonged to my mother. I really don't know, but immediately I thought that it would make a great mold for a PMC pendant.

IMPROVISE AND CREATE:
Problem... because PMC shrinks by 10-15% I knew it would be too small after firing, so instead of using the mold I cut around the circle to make a "stamp" instead. After impressing my stamp in the wet clay I added small strokes to create a "pie crust edge" to give it a larger diameter. The picture above shows my stamp (mold) ,the original button, and my pendant before firing. The original button measured 5/8" and my pendant ended up being 5/8" with the added edge to give you an idea of the shrinkage factor.

OXIDIZE:

The picture above is a great example of how the oxidizing process really brings out the details in your silver piece. You'll notice in the after picture there is so much more depth to the floral design, plus as an added bonus it looks much more "vintage" like my button!

DISPLAY:

The last picture shows my new addition to my Etsy shop, Beadin'ByTheSea called "Button Box Treasure".

MORE INSPIRATION:

Now, of course I've looked through some of my clothes and I've discovered one more "pendant worthy" button! I have a feeling you'll be seeing a few more of these designs in my shop. Stay tuned. Of course I have to move first. Yikes in 5 days!

See you later!

HEART FOR MISSIONS

You just never know how your craft will be used, do you? I'm excited to say that my jewelry is going on a missions trip! After opening my Etsy jewelry shop Beadin By The Sea, I told all of my friends and family about it hoping that maybe they would support my new business venture or pass on the information to their friends. Well, my friend Sarah who lives 2000 miles away in Washington State, greatly exceeded my expectations. She asked me if I would make heart pendants for 6 ladies who live at or volunteer at New Generation Ministries Boys home where she and her group will be serving on a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. I thought that was so neat that she decided to support my shop and in so doing would get a unique, handmade item tailor-made for the trip. She asked me if I could put their theme scripture James 1:27 on the back of the pendant. The beauty of having silver as clay first is that the letters can be hand inscribed while the clay is still in the "wet stage". Of course, I only had room for the scripture address. The picture above shows how I use a butane micro-torch to burn away the binders in the clay to result in a silver piece that is 99.9% pure silver.

She doesn't know it yet, but I'm going to put each necklace in a pretty organza bag with a tag typewritten with the entire scripture. I wonder if I need to write it in Spanish though? I'll have to get someone to translate for me! I hope she will take some pictures of her trip there and I'll ask her if I can post them here in an update. The trip isn't until August so be sure to check back!

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

My prayer for Sarah and her youth girls who are going is first for a safe journey as they carry out God's work, and that He will pour His blessings on them and the people they touch with God's love!

MAKING A PMC TOGGLE CLASP

When I first took up PMC or Precious Metal Clay I was excited to be able to make my own original links and components for my beaded jewelry. Recently I went one step further and made my first toggle clasp. It was a little time consuming because I'd never done it before but hopefully if I can give you a few tips it will be much easier for you. I wish I had taken pictures of the steps but ,oh well, I didn't know I'd be writing about it. It is really quite easy and the photo of the finished result is probably better than words anyway!

I read a survey once where most people prefer a toggle on a bracelet because they are much easier to fasten. We've all been there I'm sure, wasting precious time trying to swing the bracelet around and magically catching the end ring in your lobster clasp!

A toggle clasp needs to have 2 sections - a ring on one end and a bar on the other that slides into it. I haven't always been a fan of toggles because a lot of them seem to just plain slide out and you run the risk of losing your favorite piece of jewelry! There is a technique to this to make sure this doesn't happen.

RING:

The ring side of the clasp was super easy. I just rolled out my PMC and made it a little thicker than normal, about 6 cards thick (yes, real playing cards) because I was texturing both sides. I cut it into a circle about 5/8' diameter with a center hole. I left a wider amount on the ring so it would be strong.

BAR:

The bar was also easy - just a rectangle rolled the same thickness (6 cards), textured and cut. I made sure that the bar was a little longer (at least 1/8") than the ring outside diameter. This is the secret to not having it slide out! The little circle on the bar was the tricky part but now that I know what I'm doing it should be very easy the next time. I love to learn by trial and error, don't you?

I tried to roll a rope to make the little ring first and it just kept cracking because it was so small. So instead, I rolled a little piece of clay about 4 cards thick, and cut a tiny, tiny circle about 3/16" diameter and put a little hole in the middle. After it dried, I filed down one side so it was flat to give more surface area for adhering to the bar. (You'll notice this on the picture) Using thick slip and brushing with water I attached the ring to the bar after both the bar and the tiny ring were completely dry.

I let both pieces of my clasp dry thoroughly on my little coffee cup warmer. After some more filing and finishing I fired both pieces with my torch. I make sure that I get a red glow for at least 2 minutes for extra strength for PMC3. And voila, here is my finished toggle. The final perfect touch for my bracelet! Click here to see it and the rest of my jewelry.

WHAT IS PRECIOUS METAL CLAY OR PMC?

I took a class a couple of months ago at my local bead shop to learn about making fine silver jewelry pieces out of PMC (which stands for precious metal clay) and I must say I'm really enjoying learning more about this amazing medium. I love the creative process of shaping something out of clay, refining and sanding it to take out its imperfections, firing it, finishing and then making it into jewelry. It is quite a process and I thought I'd share a few of the steps. I'm sorry it's not totally complete, since I've missed out some of the steps, for example firing with a torch. It's a little challenging to hold a camera and use a butane torch with a 1600 degree flame at the same time but if I can talk my husband into taking a picture soon I'll add to this post or begin a whole new one!

In a nutshell, Precious Metal Clay is a substance originally developed in Japan in the 1990's. It is a clay made up of very fine silver particles, an organic binder and water. It can be shaped, rolled, or put in molds and then left to dry. The form is sanded and then fired with a torch or kiln to burn off the binders leaving you with a pure 99.9% silver piece that is a dense, strong metal.

This picture above shows a ball of clay in the plastic (so it doesn't dry out) and a link I rolled and cut into circles, then stamped with a swirl design.

The picture to the right shows the pieces after firing. They have been scrubbed with a brass brush to give it a satin finish and then burnished with an agate tip to have a very shiny reflective surface.If I had a tumbler this would be much easier but all in good time! I will have to wait for a few more sales in my shop for that one!
The next step is to give the pieces a "patina" or an aged look. This is done with "liver of sulphur" which is sulfurized potash. It's pretty smelly stuff but does a great job with the silver. It's a little sad to purposely tarnish the silver with all the effort we take to try and keep it looking shiny but it really does bring out the details in any design that is stamped on the surface.

Here are all the things I need to apply the patina in the picture above.

The silver pieces on the right have been "patinized"and are ready for the final polish.

And here is the finished product on the left. A pair of earrings that I listed in my Etsy shop recently! If you're interested in this or other fine silver jewelry click here.

I am by no means an expert or claim to be but I hope you enjoyed this simple explanation of PMC! There are many books on the subject and bead shops that are offering classes to get you started!