Introduction and Materials
Introduction and Materials
These silver metal clay heart-shaped components have holes in them, so technically, I think they can be referred as beads. They are basically the same as my Silver Metal Clay Heart Charms project, but with one little twist.
You'll need:
*Low-fire silver metal clay (about a dime-sized piece)
15mm metal heart-shaped cutter
5mm round cutter
Olive oil
6 playing cards
Misc. metal clay hand tools such as a roller and work surface
Hot pot or butane torch
Jar of water
Metal tongs
Fine sand paper or emery board
Corsage pin
Bead reamer
Burnishing brush
*You can use either PMC3 or Art Clay 650 for this project. Other types of clay will work too, but more than likely the other clays (depending on what you use) will require you to use a kiln to fire them in.
Roll Out the Metal Clay
1. Dab some olive oil onto your roller, and set three stacked cards on either side of your clay.
2. Press down and roll the clay out using the roller.
Metal Clay Cutters
3. Now, get your two cutters ready, one heart-shaped and one round.
4. Cut an area of the clay using the heart-shaped cutter.
5. Then in the middle of the heart, cut out a circle using the round cutter.
6. Once the heart is dry, use fine sand paper or an emery board to smooth off in any rough areas. You probably won't be able to file inside the circle very well without damaging the piece before firing. Mine seemed fine without any filing, but if your seem rough to the touch after firing, you can use a regular metal file.
7. Now either use a hot pot or a butane torch to fire the charm. If you use the torch, remember to keep it moving so that the charm is heated evenly, and fire for about two minutes after you see the organic material burn away.
8. If your charm is still hot from the torch or hot pot, use tongs to pick it up and place it in your jar of water to quench it.
9. Then clean the charm with a burnishing brush.
I think there are a lot of interesting jewelry designs you could incorporate these in with using wire, fiber, ore even beading wire.
These silver metal clay heart-shaped components have holes in them, so technically, I think they can be referred as beads. They are basically the same as my Silver Metal Clay Heart Charms project, but with one little twist.
You'll need:
*Low-fire silver metal clay (about a dime-sized piece)
15mm metal heart-shaped cutter
5mm round cutter
Olive oil
6 playing cards
Misc. metal clay hand tools such as a roller and work surface
Hot pot or butane torch
Jar of water
Metal tongs
Fine sand paper or emery board
Corsage pin
Bead reamer
Burnishing brush
*You can use either PMC3 or Art Clay 650 for this project. Other types of clay will work too, but more than likely the other clays (depending on what you use) will require you to use a kiln to fire them in.
Roll Out the Metal Clay
1. Dab some olive oil onto your roller, and set three stacked cards on either side of your clay.
2. Press down and roll the clay out using the roller.
Metal Clay Cutters
3. Now, get your two cutters ready, one heart-shaped and one round.
4. Cut an area of the clay using the heart-shaped cutter.
5. Then in the middle of the heart, cut out a circle using the round cutter.
6. Once the heart is dry, use fine sand paper or an emery board to smooth off in any rough areas. You probably won't be able to file inside the circle very well without damaging the piece before firing. Mine seemed fine without any filing, but if your seem rough to the touch after firing, you can use a regular metal file.
7. Now either use a hot pot or a butane torch to fire the charm. If you use the torch, remember to keep it moving so that the charm is heated evenly, and fire for about two minutes after you see the organic material burn away.
8. If your charm is still hot from the torch or hot pot, use tongs to pick it up and place it in your jar of water to quench it.
9. Then clean the charm with a burnishing brush.
I think there are a lot of interesting jewelry designs you could incorporate these in with using wire, fiber, ore even beading wire.
Source...