AFTER FIRING THE BRONZE

These are the bronze metal clay pieces after firing, clean-up and the tumbler.  There is one little stray that I missed and I have it pictured with its twin so you can see what lit looks like right after firing and then after the cleanup/tumble process.  Overall, I am happy with the results.  I think my owl needs a bit more patina to show off his eyes and feathers.  It's not real obvious what  you are looking at on the coral impressions, but I think with some little pearls to accent it would be lovely on a chain or cord!  I must let my imagination wander...Each motorcycle pendant comes out a little different, depending on the amount of clay I leave on the piece.  And, the bamboo I love!  I think the pieces will be great in a bracelet with some pretty bead accents.  Also really like the vine pieces.  I guess you will see these pieces again over time as I incorporate them into my jewelry.  I am still a PMC novice,  but learning as I go along!  Please leave comments, good, bad, or educational!  All comments are appreciated and helpful.  Have a great day  Blessings, Anita

NEW BRONZE PMC PIECES!

As promised, here are the pictures of my latest adventure in bronze PMC.  Two matching leaves - earrings; a daisy, an owl, and a heart- large enough for a pendant; a small leaf - a great embellishment; a pansey - also an embellishment.  The one piece I am excited about is a motorcycle pendant.  I recently had someone ask me if I make biker jewelry.  I didn't, but decided to see what I could come up with.  My friend Jeanne (aka gammiebrat) and her husband have a collection of motorcycle memorabilia and I asked if they had something small enough to make a mold for a pendant.  We found a small bike and with Jeanne's help and her molding clay, came up with an impression.  We were very excited that it came out so well.  I will say that I think the piece looks better in person.  If you know of someone who might like one of these on a leather cord, refer them to me!!

MAY PROJECTS

So far this month, I have worked with wire, done some basic beading, and created some PMC Bronze pieces with my friend, Jeanne.  It's been a while since I've done a project just stringing beads, but this month I did a lovely necklace in a shell theme with a fossil coral focal.  I really liked it with one strand for the necklace, but since chunky is in, I decided to double strand it. 

For the wire project, I had started coiling some wire one day into links and thought I could work it into a bracelet.  My friend called it an "original", but there are so many wire workers out there that I can't believe someone hasn't thought of this design before, so I hesitate to call it my original.  But keeping with my shell theme, I added small coin/disc shell beads to it and thought it came out well.   The wire is Vintag by Parawire and the toggle is a gold tone that I thought blended well.

And lastly, Jeanne and I once again attempted our work with Bronze PMC.  I love the bronze and it seems to fit right in with the colors I like, and the patina giving it a rich antique look.  We had very good luck with the kiln this time and the settings for firing have been saved for the next time.  I cleaned up my pieces with a brass wire brush, tumbled them, and then added some patina.  I tumbled them for another half hour and this is the result.  I want to clean them up some more and maybe do some burnishing, then will decide what I want to create with them.  I especially love the large one in the center - my lovely lady with the flowing hair.  She didn't come out the last time, but she fared very well this time.

NEW BOOKS TO CONSIDER:
To help in educating myself in PMC techniques, I have purchased two books, both which I found informative and well written:  The Art of  Metal Clay by Sherri Haab and New Directions in Metal Clay by CeCe Wire. 

Another book I purchased was Contemporary Copper Jewelry by Sharilyn Miller, a great book for you wire workers.  I loved the projects in this book and the directions and photos seem easy to follow.

As always, thank you for looking!  HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU MOMS AND GRANDMAS!

Blessings,
Anita