Silver Artichoke Pendant

Imagine hand-crafting your very own silver jewelry designs! Now it's possible with silver clay and this great project idea from guest Sherri Haab.

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Silver Artichoke Pendant

This project is reprinted with permission from pages 75-76 of Sherri's book, The Art of Metal Clay.

Materials and Tools:

cork clay
PMC+ Silver Metal Clay
toothpick
olive oil balm
water
Teflon sheet, roller, playing cards
teardrop shaped Klay Kutter 3/8"
needle tool
fiber blanket, kiln shelf and kiln for firing PMC
brass brush, burnishing tool and polishing cloth
chain for hanging

Figure A

Steps:

1. Make a cork clay core in the shape of a teardrop. Insert a toothpick into rounded bottom of the teardrop shape core to use as handle. Let the cork clay dry (figure A).

2. Roll out a sheet of metal clay about 1mm thick (three playing cards thick). Cut out flat teardrop shapes with a teardrop-shaped cutter. Cut as many as you can fit out of the sheet of clay. Keep the clay covered with plastic wrap to keep clay moist.

Figure B

3. Start at the pointed end of the cork clay core. Apply the teardrop shapes next to each other, slightly overlapping with the pointed ends towards point of core form. Use water to attach the pieces. Make a vertical mark in the center or each teardrop shape with a needle tool (figure B).

Figure C

4. Continue adding teardrop shapes in rows, each overlapping the last (figure C).

5. Remove toothpick.

Figure D

6. Finish covering the core with a round pad of clay on the top of the bead (figure D).

7. Make the "stem" of the bead with a tapered piece of fresh moist clay. Quickly coil the tapered end of the clay into a loop before the clay starts to dry.

Figure E

Attach the thick end of the stem piece with slip to the top of the bead (figure E). Decorate the pointed end with a small ball or clay.

8. Fire the bead on a fiber blanket in the kiln at 1472-degrees farenheit for 30 minutes.

Figure F

9. Finish the bead with a brass brush, burnishing tool (figure F).

Figure G

Polish with cloth until shiny (figure G). Hang the finished bead on a chain.

Resources

Comparison Shop for Home Decor and Garden Tools at Shopzilla and BizRate.

UpMyStreet and uSwitch.com provide UK comparison services.