Silver Clay Secrets

Brand New Textures from Helen Breil

2011-12-14T08:55:00.010Z

I was so excited to receive my first shipment of Helen Briel textures and they are now exculsively on sale in our on-line shop.

Helen Breil is a Canadian polymer clay artist whose work I admire greatly. She designed this range of rubber textures and they are breathtakingly beautiful. I'm proud to say that these textures are only available in the UK from Silver Clay Creations.

Here are a few examples of the texture designs. I do love them all as they produce some incredible results and they are so different to the run-of-the-mill textures that everyone else seems to be using. So if you want your work to have an exclusive look, these are definitely the textures to invest in. The price for each texture mat is £12.99. This represents excellent value for money as you can see just how many designs are included within each rubber texture mat. They are ideal for using in polymer clay and silver clay as they have a very good depth and the clarity of the design is perfect.

I wanted to share some examples of pieces I've made using these textures and also some pieces
from Helen Breil's beautiful collection of polymer clay designs. You can find out more about Helen Breil and see the full gallery of her work by visiting her website http://helenbreil.com/Slideshow.php

The range of textures are now on sale at Silver Clay Creations on-line shop please click here to see the designs and prices.

My New Book - Silver Clay with Style

2011-12-05T08:30:00.005Z

I'm very proud to announce that my new book Silver Clay with Style will be on sale from 10th January 2012!

I spent many months in 2011 planning, designing, making and writing this book. It's been a huge task but one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things I've ever done. I wanted to create something that I know wasn't already on the market, a book that was bang up-to-date and packed with information, advice and tips about how to work with the different silver clay products to produce some stunning results.

I decided to call the book 'Silver Clay with Style' because every single project within it is something that not only looks beautiful, but is also very wearable and stylish. Wearbility is a very important aspect of jewellery making for me. Jewellery should be proudly on display, worn and loved and I hope that all my designs fit the bill perfectly.

As well as teaching lots of techniques, I hope these projects inspire you to add your own unique twist and to improve upon my designs. There are 22 designs in the book and I explain in detail each step in the process of making them. The projects are accompanied by full colour photographs expertly captured by the very talented David Airey. So, even if you don't make jewellery with silver clay this is beautiful coffee table book to look through and enjoy.

*The book is now available at a special advance order price of £14.99 including postage
(Normal retail price £16.99 plus postage)

To pre-order your copy please click here and place your order through our on-line shop. The book will be despatched to you on 10th January 2012.

If you would like to order the book as a Christmas gift, please let me know by e-mailing me at info@silverclaycreations.co.uk and I will send you a special gift card
to give to the recipient in anticipation of receiving their gift in the New Year.

Best Wishes,

Natalia x

Natalia's Silver Clay Secrets Tour...1st Stop Dorset!

2011-07-29T11:12:00.004+01:00

Having been fired up by my trip to the World Metal Clay Conference in Chicago and learning so many brand new techniques, I've decided to put a new workshop together and go on tour!

Silver Clay Secrets is my brand new one-day workshop where I'll be giving you 20 grams of Art Clay Silver and showing you how to turn it into some beautiful, fine silver jewellery.

People often tell me how much they want to learn about making silver clay jewellery, but that it's too far for them to travel to me in Huddersfield. So, I've decided to bring my silver clay secrets to you.

My first stop will be the beautiful village of Poundsbury in Dorchester, Dorset on Saturday 17th September. Due to popular demand, I have also added a second date here on the following Saturday 24th September. Our venue will be the fabulous village hall, Brownsword Hall (see picture above...isn't it stunning!)

For further information about this workshop and other workshop dates around the country to be announced soon, please e-mail me at info@silverclaycreations.co.uk

I look forward to meeting you all very soon!

World Metal Clay Conference

2011-07-29T10:46:00.009+01:00

Hello again everyone! Well I'm back from a whirlwind visit to the windy city of Chicago and my first World Metal Clay Conference.

It was a wonderful event during which I learnt so much, I made so many new friends from all over the world and had great fun which was the best part of all! It reminded me how we all have so much advice and information to share, yet jewellery making, or indeed anything creative tends to be so solitary. It was very important to me to have this opportunity to spend time with other people, learning, making things and generally chatting about what we all love most.

Here are some beautiful images of pieces made by some of the amazing presenters who gave workshops and seminars. I learned about Keum Boo, the ancient art of adding gold leaf to metal clay with a new twist from Lorren Baum-Davis (see photo of her work above).

I was thrilled to find out all about enamelling onto silver clay from the inspirational Joy Funnell. (See her beautiful and very detailed designs below. She made it all look very easy which is the mark of a truly talented artist! To find out more about Joy visit her website at www.joyfunnell.co.uk)

I also had a lot of problems solved by hearing the genius that is Lisa Barth talking about how to set large stones after firing. That has been one of the things that I'd love to do but have found most tricky so I'm now going to attempt it with renewed confidence and enthusiasm, I'm hoping to post my results up here very soon! (See Lisa's beautiful flower pendant and her expert stone setting...one day mine will be so perfect too!)

Sheffield Workshops

2011-05-08T18:11:00.005+01:00

Jewellery making is becoming so popular and I see a real appetite from people to learn as many new techniques as possible.

So, in conjunction with metal clay artist and jewellery designer Linda Krelle and the Bank Street Arts Centre in Sheffield City Centre, I'll be running some workshops and taster sessions. We'll be working with Silver Clay but also other jewellery making methods such as beading, shrink plastic, wire wrapping and how to make your own earing wires and jewellery findings in sterling silver.

If you are interested in coming along to one of these sessions then check the Bank Street Art Centre website for further details or contact me on 07775 932782 or by e-mail at info@silverclaycreations.co.uk.

Jewellery Maker TV

2011-05-08T18:00:00.007+01:00

Apologies for the shameful lack of blogging lately everyone. I want to assure you that I have been busy behind the scenes and am delighted to announce that I will be joining Jewellery Maker TV as Guest Designer from the end of May. It's a great opportunity and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'll be appearing once a month with a 3 hour show covering lots of different silver clay techiques. We've been working on the content for the shows between now and the end of the year and none of the techniques or projects that I'll be demonstrating have been included in either of my DVDs so you will be seeing some brand new material!

I'll also be running Silver Clay workshops each month, so if you fancy coming along to an Introduction to Silver Clay with me and getting a tour of the Jewellery Maker and Gems TV studios in Redditch, watch Jewellery Maker TV for further details. I'll post the dates of the shows that are coming up very soon!

Ellen's Jewellery

2011-01-24T22:08:00.004Z

Create & Craft Show Dates

2010-10-25T12:16:00.004+01:00

It's a busy time for silver clay with so many new show dates for Create & Craft TV.

I've had the pleasure of working on many shows with presenter Leonie Pujol (above right), she's such a lovely, genuine person and a very talented crafter in her own right.

Here are the dates for my silver clay crafting shows between now and Christmas, do tune in for lots of tips and new projects:

Saturday 6th November - 10am
Sunday 21st November - 10am
Saturday 11th December - 12pm

Silver Bracelet Photos

2010-10-06T20:36:00.007+01:00

David'd been rather busy with jewellery and bead photography. Here are a couple of beautiful bracelets he's captured on camera.

David's Jewellery Photography

2010-09-07T19:24:00.009+01:00

Here are some beautiful images of some clients' jewellery David has been photographing recently. His jewellery photography service is becoming really popular and the process is very simple.

1. Call or e-mail us with your requirements
2. We'll book a slot in the diary for the photography
3. Post your pieces off to us by recorded/insured mail or courier
4. David takes the photographs & edits them
5. Your jewellery is returned to you within 48 hours of receipt along with a CD containing high resolution images of each piece of jewellery, he also includes a low resolution file of each image so you can use these for website & on-line work

It's that's simple and prices start from £5.00 per image. You own the rights to all the images and they are yours to use however you wish! For more information or to book a photography slot please call Natalia on 01422 241115 or 07775 932782 or e-mail us at info@silverclaycreations.co.uk

Latest News

2010-09-02T07:21:00.005+01:00

Well, it's been a long and not-so-hot summer and thankfully it's back to school for the kids and back to full steam ahead for Silver Clay Creations workshops.

We're delighted to start up our autumn schedule and rearing to go here!

The forthcoming dates of our are workshops are:

Introduction to Silver Clay:

Saturday 18th September
Saturday 23rd October
Saturday 13th November

Advanced Silver Clay

Saturday 2nd October

If you'd like to book a place on any of the workshops please visit our on-line shop here further further information.

Along with lunch, materials and 21gms of silver clay all workshops now include a 100-minute DVD with all the techniques shown during the workshop.

We look forward to seeing you at a workshop very soon!

Phillipa's Fabulous Textures

2010-07-12T21:15:00.002+01:00

In silver clay artistry, experimenting is key if you really want to create unique and very individual pieces of jewellery.

Phillipa Fenny is a jewellery designer who attended both our introduction and advanced silver clay workshops and is a member of the Silver Clay Club. She creates some amazing jewellery designs using beads and silver clay under the brand name 'Purple Pickled Onions'. Here Phillipa shares with us a brand new technique she stumbled across purely by accident that produced some wonderful results!

"I had some lovely dicroic glass cabochons that I wanted to set into pendants and I wanted to try to make something different from my usual pieces of work. I had some new shape templates to try out so I decided that would be my starting point and would take it from there.

After cutting out my pendant shapes and setting the dichroic glass cabochons where I wanted them, I made the bails for each one out of a rope of clay coiled around a straw andpendant itself. I was pleased with what I had so far , but they were still lacking something....a texture.
I have loads of texture mats etc in my tool box but I'd got tired of using the same ones over and over again and it was whilst I was sanding them that a thought struck me......the cling film I'd used to keep my clay moist had dried bits of clay all over it that fell off in little flakes when I picked it up. I wondered if they could be used for adding texture to my sanded pieces. I then wondered about mixing these flakes with the sanding dust left on my board from sanding the pendants.

I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I gave it a go and mixed some of the flakes with sanding dust and sprinkled them on the part of the pendant I wanted them to stick to. They looked great once dried, but would it still look as good once fired or would they melt and go into a mass blob in the kiln ?...well here are the results see for yourself. I must admit I was pretty pleased with how they have turned out."

Further Adventures in Silver Clay Now on Sale!

2010-07-10T08:47:00.004+01:00

I'm so happy to tell you that our second DVD in the silver clay jewellery making series in now on sale. 'Further Adventures in Silver Clay' takes your skills to a whole new level. I demonstrate how to make eight brand new projects on this DVD, these range from two different types of rings, finger print keepsakes, setting cubic zirconia, making moulds and turning leaves into pure silver using art clay silver paste.
It has been a labour of total love and pure fun and I hope you will enjoy watching and expanding your jewellery making reportoire. You can buy our new DVD by visiting the on-line shop here.

I'm running the Race for Life

2010-06-20T16:18:00.003+01:00

Just a quick update to let you all know I'm going to be running The Race for Life on Saturday 3rd July at 10:30am.

I've been running around like a mad thing most mornings since the beginning of May to get myself fit for the day. I want to run the 5K in style, not as a sweaty wreck! (Although judging by the state of me when I come back from my runs, I'm not the athlete I thought I would become!)

Here's a link if you'd like to sponsor me. I will be very grateful if you do.

I'll let you know how I get on!

New Silver Clay DVD 2nd in Series

2010-05-13T12:46:00.007+01:00

Hi everyone, just getting back to blogging after being rushed off my feet with so many different projects.

It is with great pride I can report that the filming was completed yesterday on my brand new DVD 'Further Adventures in Silver Clay'. It's the perfect follow-up to DVD 1 'Silver Clay Made Simple'. I was so enthusiastic to include as many techniques as possible that poor old Tim Hollingworth (my brilliant camerman) was here until 10pm filming. David was operating camera number 2 in between soothing my troubled brow, setting up the artiness of each scene and making copious cups of tea. We all collapsed in a big, tired heap over pizzas, wine and beer at the end of a very productive day. Thank you so much guys you were brilliant!
Last night, as I went off to sleep I was worrying that we hadn't achieved enough, but with the blessing of a really deep sleep, I'm counting off the projects I completed on the DVD and there are 8 in total! So now everyone can learn step-by-step techniques such as painting leaves with silver paste, making a seamless band and wraparound ring, taking moulds and casting them in silver, setting cubic zirconia into wet and dry clay, making finger print keepsakes and decorating with syringe clay. It's all very exiting but my fingers are feeling a bit numb and my joints are aching from rolling, cutting, shaping, sanding and polishing so many different pieces. I'm looking forward to a very welcome day off on Saturday when I shall be putting my feet up and putting aside the silver clay...well just for one day!

Crafting Day - Saturday 12th June

2010-05-06T16:44:00.015+01:00

I'm so excited to announce to everyone that I'm holding a fabulous Crafting Day on Saturday 12th June at the North Light Gallery, Huddersfield. It's a lovely venue just around the corner from my home and the perfect place to spend a wonderful day making things!

The day will consist of mini workshops run by myself and the very talented Debra Farrell from Magical Creations. You'll be able to attend mini workshops and learn the following skills:

Beautiful Shrink Plastic Jewellery; you'll learn how to make a stained glass-effect butterfly & poppy water colour pendant

The Secrets of Painting on Glass; to create your own customised glass ornaments

Amazing Paper Crafting; using cosmic shimmer embossing, stamping, faux cloisonne, fantasy fibre and alchohol inks!

The day will begin at 10:00am and end at 4:00pm, with breaks for tea, coffee and lunch. The cost to attend the day is just £35 which includes all materials, refreshments, lunch and you get to take home all the fabulous things you make.
You'll also get the chance to have taster sessions of other crafts such as silver clay jewellery making, beading and resin.

You can book your place by clicking here Mega Crafting Day

It promises to be a perfect day out and I'd love to see you all there if you can make it.

Dressing Table Set

2010-04-21T13:05:00.003+01:00

Just spent a hectic but very enjoyable day on Monday, producing our latest step-by-step project for Dolls House & Miniature Scene Magazine.

We thought the dollies need a nice little dressing table set and only the finest silver will do!

I got to experiment quite a lot with this project and loved the challenge. The perfume bottle was made by rolling a spinning top-shaped bead using the snake roller. I did exactly the same to create the little lid for it too. I got the mirror really shiny by using polishing papers on it whilst it was at the leather hard clay stage. I used an agate burnisher for a final polish once it had been fired and it is super shiny, you can really see your face in it!

Thank you to David for his patience as always in photographing every step and for his painstaking precision in making the pictures, pin-sharp and perfect in Photoshop!

My next project is a blanket box for the posh dolls. I haven't made a silver box for a while so I'm really looking forward to this.

Two New Products!!! Art clay Silver Lite & Glass Clay

2010-04-19T17:03:00.004+01:00

I've just heard that there are two brand new products being launched that I'm sure we'll all want to know more about.

The first is Art clay Silver Lite. This is fine silver particles mixed with glass to make it 40% lighter than a comparable piece made with art clay. I would imagine it's great for larger pieces and as it's 93% silver instead of 99.9% then I'm expecting it will be cheaper too. The downside is it can only be kiln fired (750 degrees for 10 minutes) and is slightly weaker than Art Clay Silver. Watch this space until I find out more!

Glass clay is a clay-like substane that consists of fine glass powder and organic binders. It can be fired in a kiln and becomes solid glass. It sounds rather exciting to me and I shall be doing lots more investigating to see if it's a product that will work well in jewellery making.

I'm on the case readers so hope it's not too long before I can report back!

Debra's Shrink Plastic Leaves

2010-04-14T10:12:00.010+01:00

I love my job! I get to sell 'stuff' then you gorgeous, clever people out there turn it into wonderful pieces of art.

Whenever I post out materials I've sold on the on-line shop, it's exciting to imagine them going off to blossom into some marvellous creation. What's even nicer is when you send me photos, so please keep doing this as I really love it!

The very talented Debra Farrell has made the most amazing leaves from shrink plastic and here she tells us how she did it:

"I used a Creative Expressions stamp in black, followed by Sakura gelly roll pens - the sparkle is fabulous and shows up much more after being shrunk. I tried the Cosmic Shimmer Paints but they fell off when shrinking! The secret with the pens is to use them like paints by overlapping sections - it doesn't look that great before you shrink but as you can see (and they look better in real life) once shrunk the effect is lovely"

We now have shrink plastic kits available on the on-line shop, complete with the glitter pens that will produce the beautiful effects on Debra's leaf so why not treat yourself?

You'll be hearing more about Debra very soon, she's incredibly creative and I know you will love learning from her so watch this space!

Lunchtime Crafting

2010-04-12T13:30:00.005+01:00

Just a quick post to let you all know I'm on Create & Craft TV tomorrow at 12pm with the lovely Nigel May.

I'll be adding cubic zirconia to some teardrop shaped earrings to give them lots of bling, I'll also be showing everyone how to create silver shells using moulding putty. These are beautiful and made even lovelier due to the fact that I collected the shells from Llan Steffan beach in Wales. I spent a wonderful 3 days there cycling up and down the coast line with David, so they hold special memories for me that will be forever preserved in precious silver!

Inspired by Delightful Dragon Flies

2010-04-10T17:19:00.006+01:00

The end of another Introduction to Silver Clay Workshop has me yet again pondering on how lovely my delegates are and how talented and creative they are too.

The lovely Sue was an expert sugar crafter and her cake decorating skills will certainly be a real asset as she starts her journey with silver clay. Emma regaled us with tales of her dragon fly making and how she creates the wings. After a couple of hours she was cajoled into her car and arrived back in the workshop with one of her creations, which she very kindly gave me. Thank you Emma, it's nicely nestled amongst the valentines tree I made, that I can't just bear to take down yet.

Emma assured us it was easy to make her gorgeous dragon fly. This got me thinking how great it would be to have an 'open day' where previous crafty delegates can come along and share their skills. Emma is happy to come and show us her dragon fly so we can all take our own home with us (complete with Fantasy Film wings...you have to see this stuff it's brilliant!)

Sue would love to share her sugar paste techniques and how these can be transfered to making silver clay flowers. I'm itching to show off my paper beads and I know there are beaders, paper crafters, glass bead makers and other very clever people out there who could teach us a thing or two. So let me know if you'd like to be part of a crafty day like this. I'm happy to host it here at my home in Huddersfield or can find a suitable venue if there are too many to fit in my conservatory. If we all club together to cover the cost of materials and refreshments then it should be a really fun and very enriching day.

Let me know what you think, you can come along to learn or share and learn. the choice is yours, either way we'd be very happy to have you along.

Special Visits to Birmingham Assay Office

2010-03-28T13:10:00.005+01:00

I was very interested to see that The Birmingham Assay Office is is uniquely opening its doors to the public and offering limited places on its popular Silver Collection Visits programme on three dates only.

Usually these visits are only available to organised groups, so this is a unique opportunity to see the spectacular Silver Collection, the Library, and to hear the Curator, Dr. Sally Baggott talk about the history of hallmarking and The Birmingham Assay Office.

If you want to see how hallmarking works, find out more about the costs, whys and wherefores then it's well worth taking a day out for a visit. The Assay Office is also located in the heart of the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, offering you the chance to do some window shopping and get plenty of inspiration.

Visits will take place on Tuesday 6th April, Tuesday 6th July, and Tuesday 5th October, at The Birmingham Assay Office, with the option of a morning visit at 10.30am or an afternoon visit at 2.00pm. Places are limited to 25 for each of the visits, so early booking is advised. To book a place or for further information, call the Birmingham Assay Office on 0871 871 6020 or email silver@theassayoffice.co.uk A charge of £7.00 per head is payable in advance and non-refundable.

Silver Beads

2010-03-28T12:03:00.004+01:00

If like me you end up with little bits of spare silver clay, I've found that there's only so much paste you can use. I prefer to turn these little odds and ends into silver beads and the process is really simple.
Roll the pieces into a ball and push them onto either a cocktail stick or a ballpoint pen refill. The latter makes the hole a little bigger and give you more options for using the bead afterwards.

You can decorate the bead at this point by adding a texture or using a cocktail stick to add little dimples to it, then leave to dry out. When dry, remove the bead from the cocktail stick or pen refill then sand and smooth any rough areas. Fire the bead and then either leave it with a brushed surface or polish it to a high shine. If you're using a tumbler to polish your bead, thread a piece of cord or ribbon through the hole first, otherwise the shot will compact itself in there nicely and you will struggle to get it out!

These beads are great for bookmarks or as embellishments for necklaces. What's nicest of all is knowing you made them yourself and you used every last bit of clay wisely.

Here's some I made earlier!

Top Tips From Cookson Gold

2010-03-11T14:26:00.002Z

Some top tips I just picked up from Cookson Gold. Well worth bearing in mind:

"Those black emery boards sold in High Street chemists, such as Superdrug, can be used on small areas of jewellery. They can be customised to fit with scissors or a craft knife and bits cut off when worn out. They will last for ages.

Waterproof pens do not interfere with soldering, so they can be used to mark crosses or circles for locating parts to be added. They can also be used for colour coding solder strips.

To check that small objects are square, forget engineer's squares and go for graph paper. You will be much more accurate.

To divide a ring into four, fit it into the best match on a circle template from a stationery shop and use the four marks on the template. To find the centre of a disk, join the marks to make a cross."

DVD Reviewed by Beads & Beyond Magazine

2010-03-07T17:40:00.004Z

I was delighted that our Silver Clay Made Simple DVD was reviewed by Beads & Beyond magazine last month in their Spotlight section. The review was brilliant for us and very positive. I've also surveyed all my customers who have bought the DVD to find out what they liked about it and what improvements we can make for the next installment ' Further Adventures in Silver Clay'.

All the feedback has been immensely positive and consensus seems to be that the DVD is very thorough and carefully and simply presented and explained. This is exactly what I wanted to achieve as it's all too easy to use lots of jargon and get blinded with science (I've been on one or two silver clay workshops where I've been made to feel 2 feet tall by course tutors who like to believe they are the world expert and their way is the only way. I'm not sure how that can be as I'm learning something new about it every week). To me, teaching silver clay is all about showing people how to get the best from the clay, to understand how it reacts well and what can go wrong. Once you know these things, really magic can happen and I get most pleasure from seeing how creative everyone who uses it really can be. My favourite quote from the survey was from Sally in Loughbrough who said "The DVD is brilliant and has led me to spend lots of money on silver clay. I've also recommended it to several strangers in craft shops" Thank you Sally, you really made my day!

Coffee with Liver of Sulphur a Match Made in Heaven!

2010-03-07T17:33:00.002Z

We had a fabulous Introduction to Silver Clay workshop on Saturday 6th March. Thanks to all the lovely ladies who came along and brightened up my day, it was such fun to see you enjoying yourselves and making some gorgeous pieces.

We tested out Joy Funnell's advice about using coffee granules with hot water and a few drops of liver of sulphur and the results were amazing. We achieved a rainbow patina of reds and greens that was beautifully iridescent. I shall always use the coffee solution in future I was blown away by it. It's such a shame David wasn't there to take a photo, but I will do some more experimenting next week and get him to capture the results on camera.

Miniature Napkin Rings for Posh Dollies!

2010-02-23T12:23:00.005Z

I write step-by-step projects for Dolls House & Miniature Scene magazine and it's lovely to come up with new ideas each month for the dolls to have posh silver replicas! Here's a little sneak preview of my latest project, a set of miniature napkin rings.

These were created using the same principles for standard ring making, except instead of a mandral, I used the barrel of a ballpoint pen to wrap the clay around. This makes them teeny tiny and then with the shrikage when they're fired gives you an adorable, petite set of rings. Don't you just love hunting out everyday objects to help with your silver creations!

2010-02-03T22:19:00.005Z

It's been such a hectic week here. I'm off for the rest of the week to do some work in Sheffield, London and then Create & Craft TV in Peterborough. I've had so much preparation to do for each piece of work, as each one is radically different, but I couldn't dash off without updating the blog.

David has taken some lovely photos of the shrink plastic jewellery I've been making for my first shrink plastic show on Create & Craft TV on Saturday (6th February). I'll be on at 10am and I'm praying that my plastic behaves itself and uncurls and flattens beautifully for live TV!

I hope you like some of the things I've been working on...here's a special sneak preview just for you.

I shall be back next week to come up for air and start blogging again in earnest...and doing some much needed silver clay work again. Roll on Monday!

Inspiration from Joy Funnell

2010-01-26T20:48:00.002Z

I wanted to say a big thank you to jewellery designer and teacher Joy Funnell who helped me out last week in getting hold of some urgently needed 7gm packs of clay. If you haven't seen Joy's blog then you really need to. She's a metal clay artisan extraordinaire and all round genius!

Looking at the examples of Joy's work really brightened up my day and I was amazed at her skill and the sheer beauty of her work. Please, please, please take a look at Joy's moonlit sea pendant on the blog and you'll be astounded at what can be achieved with liver of sulhpur. Here are a few tips from Joy about resourceful ways of getting more colour from liver of sulphur.

"You can mix your LOS with hot coffee instead of hot water. This brings up some really nice colours. Using Cola instead seems to work as well. Try putting your piece into clear hot water to stop the action instead of cold. Hot water tends to being up more in the red range. If you are patinating earrings bend a wire so it will hold both at once and dip together to get similar colours on each one."

Thank you for some great advice Joy, I shall be reading your blog avidly in future.

Shrink Plastic Preview

2010-01-15T21:48:00.010Z

I've been working with a wonderful medium called shrink plastic and it's fair to say, I'm getting pretty hooked. I'd like to say it's new, but I remember making lots of charms and keyrings with this stuff when I was a little girl and baking them in the oven.

Shrink plastic makes fantastic jewellery, here are some examples of pieces I've done recently. I'll be running jewellery making with shrink plastic workshops very soon and I'll keep you posted with dates as soon as I have them. it's quick, simple, lots of fun and the possibilities are endless!

More Dates for Create & Craft TV!

2010-01-15T21:45:00.003Z

Just wanted to let you know that I've booked some more dates in my diary for silver clay shows on Create & Craft TV.

You can watch me at 10am on Sunday 24th January and also on Saturday 6th February, when I'll be demonstrating some fingerprint keepsake jewellery.

Phillipa's Beautiful Shiny Things!

2010-01-15T21:33:00.006Z

I had the pleasure of having Phillipa from the North East on my introduction and advanced silver clay workshops recently. She's sent me some images of lovely things she's made that I want to share with you all. I love both pieces because they have an Art Deco feel about them and it's my favourite era of art.

Absolutely adore your work Phillipa. Considering you've only been doing this since just before Christmas, you're an inspiration to everyone who's learning or thinking of taking the plungle into silver clay jewellery making.

I love to show off the beautiful designs my delegates have made so please send them in so we can put a little gallery on the blog.

Create & Craft TV

2010-01-10T21:26:00.008Z

Just before Christmas we were delighted to secure a deal with home shopping channel Create & Craft TV to sell our silver clay products and DVD.

My first appearance as guest presenter happened today (Sunday 10th January) at 12pm and whilst I'd been looking forward to it immensely in the run up, today I was a bag of nerves!

Fortunately, I was working with a brilliant presenter, Nigel May, who made the whole show so fun and easy going, that within minutes I was right into the swing of things and really enjoying doing all my demonstrations. Create & Craft TV has so many viewers who make cards and scrap books that I decided to try and incorporate this into the examples I brought with me. So here are some pictures of some of the cards I created for the show. complete with silver clay embellishments. I hope you like them.

Thank you to all of you who tuned in and e-mailed and texted me after the show with your very kind feedback, your support helps me more than you'll ever know. Today has been such a great adventure, I can't wait until my next appearance!

Inspirational Christmas Cards

2009-12-17T18:42:00.004Z

Christmas is a wonderful time of year, not just because we get to eat, drink and be merry but because, for metal clay artisans, there is inspiration all around us if we only look.

There are so many textures on the Christmas decorations on my tree and I've been moulding away capturing them. The piece de resistance came this morning when I received a Christmas card from a friend that has a beautiful textured surface. The curly boughs on the tree are so lovely and I just know this will look so good pressed into some wet clay. I can't wait to see the results I get.

So don't forget to look carefully at those Christmas cards...your friends might have sent you more than just their Christmas wishes!

Photographing Your Jewellery

2009-12-10T11:20:00.007Z

Within all the preparations for Christmas I'm sure, like me, even during the rush to get things done you're still casting your mind forward to the New Year and where you'll take your jewellery making in 2010.

One of the best ways to showcase what you do is to take good quality pictures of your pieces that capture their true beauty. In 2010, we'll be offering a jewellery photographing service to help you do this.

My business partner David Airey takes all the photographs of my jewellery and has had his work featured in Beads and Beyond Magazine, Create & Craft TV and has just been commissioned to photograph monthly step-by-step projects for Dolls House & Miniature Scene Magazine. We'll be offering a cost effective service where you can send your pieces to us and David will take 3 different high resolution images and send these back to you on CD, along with your jewellery. You'll have full ownership of the images to do with whatever you wish!

We know this service will save you a lot of time and expensive photography studio fees. In addition you'll have a set of fabulous images to promote your jewellery making and to give your promotional materials or website a polished and very professional edge.

Prices start from just £10 per item plus postage. Please get in touch on info@silverclaycreations.co.uk or 01422 241115 if you'd like to find or more.

The Beauty of Making Your Own Jewellery

2009-12-10T11:06:00.008Z

I saw this photo of Sarah Brown at the British Fashion Awards last night and it reminded me of the magical talent we jewellery makers have.

Sarah's necklace is a lovely colour but is far too short. I'd have lengthened it quite a bit as the current length shortens her body and neck too severely. Ah the wonders of being able to customise jewellery and make it perfect....never underestimate what magical gifts you have readers!

Here Comes Art Clay Copper!

2009-12-01T17:39:00.005Z

I'm so excited because Art Clay Copper has finally arrived hurrah! I've ordered my first packet and I cannot wait to get my hands on it and start playing.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night, dreaming about a design so had to draw it out in my notebook as soon as I got up this morning. So why am I so excited about Art Clay Copper? Well here's why:

1. It's Aida industries brand new product. They've been developing it very carefully, so although there has been another copper product (Coppr Clay) on the market since April 2009 it needs to be kiln fired for around 2 hours. Art Clay Copper can be fired in a kiln for 30 minutes and can also be fired with a torch...what a breakthrough!

2. Art Clay Copper is a really cost effective way to use precious metal clay. The price of a packet of Art Clay Copper is £15 for 50 grams. Yes, that's right 50 grams! So your designs will stretch so much further and you can use copper clay for all those big, chunky statement pieces you've been dying to make.

3. Different effects of colour can be created on the copper after it's fired by heating it with a torch. I'm itching to experiment with this part.

I'll let you know how my new adventures with Art Clay Copper go and I'll be adding some copper clay classes in the new year. Look out for these and also let me know if you'd be interested in adding copper clay to your repertoire.

Yummy Beads!

2009-11-23T23:03:00.008Z

This weekend I've been on a beading frenzy. I happened to be at a meeting in Cleckheaton and looking at my sat nav, found that I was only 2 miles away from my favourite bead shop, Bedazzled Beads in Heckmondwike, so I couldn't resist paying them a visit. The last time I was there I spent a fortune, so I do try to ration my visits and this time was just as compulsive.

The yummy beads look good enough to eat and all that colour gets my heart pounding. So as predicted, I soon found myself pouring beads into my little basket and making numerous trips to the counter with each stash. But my visit hasn't been in vain as it gave me a creativity boost and I did lots of work over the weekend just pulling together pieces of silver jewellery that had been sitting in the bottom of a box waiting for some magic to happen.

I'm quite pleased with these shells that I'd made from a mould and didn't really know what to do with. They've been given a new lease of life with some glass beads (only 10p each!) and some earring wires.

On my beading travels, I found some beautiful golden angel's wings and turned them into a host of angelic angels that I'll be giving away to my friends and family as gifts this Christmas. A couple of these will also be gracing my tree this year. I wanted some in silver but they'd all sold out, so now I may have to take a mould and make my own extra precious silver angels!

I must just say a big thank you as always to David for taking these beautiful photos...what would I do without you!

Miraculous Metals

2009-11-20T09:31:00.003Z

I really love silver! Working with it, wearing it looking at it...it's fun to find out about the symbolism of different things and I really enjoyed discovering that silver is supposed to mirror the soul and helps us become more intuitive. It's also one of the most reflective metals and the best conductor of heat and electricity.

Silver is also a healing metal as it has antibacterial properties and is used in so many different ways in the medical profession from being impregnated in bandages and as a lining for breathing tubes and catheters. Don't you just love it!

To add a little interest to your work, it's worth considering adding some gold accent. You can do this with gold leaf using the Keum Boo method, where you heat the silver up and burnish the gold leaf onto it. Gold is the most precious of metals and signifies perfection as it is found in a relatively pure formin nature and needs little refinement.
It symbolises wealth, success, prosperity, abundance and good fortune. So if you need to attract some of these into your life, it's probably worth adding a little gold here and there!

I'm planning to add some information here shortly about Keum Boo as it's very straightforward to do but it adds so much.

Scrap Silver

2009-11-19T14:51:00.005Z

Just wanted to remind you that all those bits of silver that you accumulate should never be relegated to the back of the drawer or heaven forbid, the bin! Your scrap silver is worth valuable pennies so what you need to do is this:

Find a nice little jar
Fill it with pieces of scrap silver, for example, this can be objects you've created that you don't like, anything that breaks and is unrepairable, etc.

When you've accumulated a little stash of silver contact Cookson Gold about their scrap services. You can exchange your scrap for cash or have a credit put on your Cookson Gold account (Cookson have every jewellery making tool under the sun so you'll be spoilt for choice about what to spend it on!)

Contact: Simon Dreher if you'd like further information:
Cookson Gold, 59 - 83 Vittoria Street, Birmingham, B1 3NZ
Tel : 0121 212 6420
Email : simon.dreher@cooksongold.com

New Lily Pendant

2009-11-18T16:16:00.003Z

Hi everyone, I just finished my arum lily pendant last night. Here it is...hope you like it!

Mould Making

2009-11-17T08:53:00.006Z

Mould making is a fantastic way of capturing something you admire and turning it into silver. If you've not had a go at this yet then do, as it's ever so easy and very satisfying. We also cover it in the Advanced Silver Clay Workshop.

To take a mould, you simply knead equal amounts of the two-part moulding compound until it's an even colour and there is no marbling. I've found the best way to take a mould of an object is to place the object on a flat, clean surface and push the moulding compound down over it, rather than pushing the object into the mould. This way you get a lovely, even mould.

Once the mould is set (this takes around 2 to 3 minutes) you're ready to take a cast with your silver clay. Push the clay into the mould, use some cling film or disposable gloves to help you do this as it stops the clay from sticking to your fingers and you won't leave unwanted fingerprints in the clay. Top tip: if you run out of clay around the edges of the mould simply add some syringe clay or paste to top it up. Use a wet finger or water pen to blend it in.

I usually leave the clay to dry in the mould so it can harden and shrink away from the edges, this makes it easier to remove.

Here's an example of a ring I made using a mould taken from a £1 ring from Top Shop! We now stock the moulding compund in our on-line shop silver clay creations shop

Water Pen...or is it?

2009-11-16T10:42:00.003Z

I've discovered a brand new use for my water moisture pen. It's a great tool for using to smooth out cracks and flaws on the clay. You simply fill the barrel up with water and squeese to release water into the brush tip.

I've found that when you fill the barrel with olive oil it's also useful for smoothing the oil over texture tiles and cookie cutters to stop the clay from sticking. Plus you get to keep your hands nice and clean. Perfect!

Silver Fruit Bowl

2009-11-16T10:33:00.006Z

I've been creating projects recently for Dolls House & Miniature Scene magazine since the editor visited my stand at the Stitch & Creative Crafts Show in Manchester. We came up with a few ideas for projects in silver clay that would work in a dolls house and after I made a contemporary mirror as a test piece, I was delighted that they commissioned me to create 10 more projects.

Here's a sneak preview of a leaf shaped fruit bowl for the January issue, complete with cute fimo fruit that my daughter Estella helped me make.

Inspiring Arum Lilies

2009-11-13T10:51:00.001Z

Just got my new copy of Beads and Beyond magazine and I'm really inspired by the winners of the Metal Clay Jewellery Maker of the Year competition. All the pieces were beautiful but I actually prefered one of the shortlisted entries best. Katrina Lucas designed an utterly gorgeous Arum lily necklace. I love it so much that I'm going to make one this weekend and post the finished picture up for you to see how I get on. Katrina's necklace has six flowers but I think it would look divine with one large lily on a silver wire.

That's the best part of design, improving on whatever we see around us. If my necklace is half as good as Katrina's I'll be happy!

Cutting Out Shapes

2009-11-12T09:05:00.001Z

I found a great new tool yesterday, the Helix shape template. I've been using cookie cutters to cut different shapes into the clay but they're never quite the right size for what I need so I end up having to accumulate loads of them.

The Helix shape templates have every size of circle, square, oval, etc. that you'll ever need. Simply place the template on top of your clay and cut around the shape using a clay pick or craft knife. You can get these templates from stationary shops such as WH Smith and Staples.

Making Bangles

2009-11-10T09:03:00.000Z

I had the most fabulous time recently making bangles with my friend and fellow silver-clay enthusiast, Heidi. As well as being a very therapeutic experience, it was also a great learning curve. I've discovered that the best way to build a skill is to throw yourself in at the deep end, experiment and learn from your mistakes....they make you so much more confident.

My first forray into bangle making came when I made a ring and wanted a bangle to match. I looked around on the internet for guidance and simply couldn't find any. No one seemed to make bangles with Art Clay Silver (my chosen medium) and I'd also been warned that it wouldn't be flexible enough when fired to bend and manipulate, like a good bangle should.

Being rebellious by nature I took the bull by the horns, threw caution to the winds and decided to make my own bangle by my own methods. I rolled out each piece of the bangle separately and used syringe clay to paste the pieces together, otherwise you'd need an enormous amount of clay. I didn't have a bangle mandrel, so simply wrapped the clay around an existing cuff I had in my jewellery box. I'm very happy with the end result, it's got great flexibility so I can squeeze it to fit my wrist and then to gently open it up again when I need to take it off. I used 50 grams of clay altogether (not including syringe clay) but it truly worth its weight in silver as I love to wear it.

Here's Heidi's gorgeous bangle (on the left) expertly photographed by my partner David. It's set with mineral accents which are supposed to stay put when pressed into the wet clay...except they didn't, another joyous learning curve! If at first you don't succeed as they say...so we waited until the bangle had been fired and then used clear resin to set the mineral accents, which worked a treat. A really lovely design feature of the bangle is one of the corners has been rounded off. This was came about by sheer fluke as it slipped out of Heidi's hand whilst she was sanding it and the corner broke off into several unsalvageable pieces. So she decided to sand the corner off in this rounded fashion and voila, it's a thing of true beauty!

Our Brand New DVD!

2009-11-09T22:22:00.000Z

We're delighted to announce the launch of our brand new DVD, 'Silver Clay Made Simple'. We decided to film this after so many requests from silver clay enthusiasts who would have loved to come on one of the workshops but either couldn't travel up to Huddersfield, or simply could not spare the time.

So here is the perfect way to learn the essential skills of working with Art Clay Silver to produce your own beautiful pieces of jewellery. The DVD has over 100 minutes of step-by-step advice, techniques and tips and over 14 chapters, takes you through the whole process of working with the clay, from which types of clay to use, how to roll, texture and finish your pieces and finally how to to fire, polish and age them.

Visit our on-line shop to order your copy, you can also combine the DVD with a starter kit, visit silver clay creations shop

2009-11-09T20:33:00.000Z