WORKIN' AWAY...

and obviously not blogging. I can't believe I haven't written for over a month!

I do have a good excuse though and that is that my Etsy shop has been quite busy! I've been coming up with new designs and keeping up with orders. I've had a lull for the last few days (which feels sort of strange) so I thought I'd take the time to drop in and say "hello" and show you some new items I've added to my shop. I've also had a few crafty projects going; like sewing a formal gown for a dinner we attended and making curtains for our downstairs media room, as well as the usual everyday stuff associated with having a teenager!

In the above photo, you'll see some new pieces that are created with metal clay. What I love about this medium is being able to impress patterns and designs directly into the silver clay in it's "wet stage". I just ordered a few more decorative stamps and can't wait to see how they come out. My familiar "organic hoop earrings" are included in there too, because I have made so many of these in the past few months! They are what I call my "bread and butter"; the tried and true favorites of every woman's jewelry box! They seem to do very well in my shop and allow me the funds to expand and buy more tools and supplies.

I also can't believe that I will be having my 2 year " Etsyversary" this Sunday, March 28th. It has been such a treat to be able to do something I love and send my jewelry to different parts of the globe. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to celebrate but I'll think of something and get it posted soon.

Meanwhile, enjoy the beginnings of Spring, longer days and so much more color around us to brighten our spirits!

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.

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!

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!