Supplies are in!

'Nuff said

Paper Model

I found a heart design I liked on line.

I am using the heart shape in the lower right hand corner. I printed the picture so that I had a heart 3/4" at the widest part, hoping for a charm that comes out to be 1/2" at the widest part. I was imagining it smaller but once I cut out the template it seems that smaller would be too small.

I cut a couple of paper hearts and used some findings I already had and assembled a paper model of what I am planning to make.

Unfortunately my iphone does not take good pictures but this is will give a basic idea of my project. It is short one heart because one fell off. Let's hope we don't have the same problem with the real charms.

I expect my supplies to arrive tomorrow. I still have to pick out the right font for Cori to use for the letters. Guess that will keep me busy while I wait for the UPS man!

I finally ordered stuff!

I have finally made my first order of metal clay. I plan to make my mom some charms for a Christmas present. I want to do some little hearts with her grandkids initials, one heart per kid. I'd prefer to do their whole name and/or birthstone but feel that will be too much for my first try.

I decided to order from Cool Tools mostly because I liked their roller best.

I think I will be more comfortable with the spacers than trying to roll over different stacks of playing cards. Although it was reasonably priced, it's still $20 more than I wanted to spend and I did have to give something else up to justify. I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.

I also got a jar of Slik, Metal Clay Conditioner and Release. I feel more comfortable using something like this over just whatever flavor of olive oil I have in the kitchen.

I also got a clay shaper as a tool to write the initial in the charm.

A pack of polishing papers to finish the charms and make them shiny and pretty.

Last, but definitely not least, 16 grams of PMC3. It seems to be the all-around-type of clay for most any project. I have no idea if 16 grams is enough or too little. The charms are going to be small so I have my fingers crossed.

I paid extra for 2 day shipping. Christmas is only 39 days away and I'm not sure how much free time I can manage for the project. I am quite nervous about it now that I have actually taken the leap.

Wally World is just not good enough 9/19/10

On a routine shopping trip for groceries, I decided to check out Wal-marts craft section for anything that might be on the supply list or should be. I searched the craft section, the scrapbook section, the cake decorating/party section and the kitchen section. And I found that Wally World will not be a store that I can get anything useful from for this adventure.

I did get a lucky break in the kitchen section with a cutting board tho. For $4.97, I got a clear, slip resistant cutting board. It is 10"x14" with non-slip protective corners. It is textured on one side, which almost made me not get it, but I think that may work to my advantage some day.

All in all, I was just happy to make a purchase.

Supply List 9/18/10

Both books provide a basic starter list of tools needed. This is my attempt to combine the two.

• Clay - PMC3 or Art Clay 650 seem to the most basic all around choices
• Work surface - plastic, laminate, teflon, tempered glass, marble, acrylic
• Lubricant - olive oil (not just any oil, just olive) or Badger Balm
• Small spray bottle
• Distilled water, white vinegar
• Lightweight plastic or plexiglass roller
• Playing cards
• Craft knife or parring knife
• Clay shaper
• Paint brushes - (winsor & newton 233 university size 3 or 4, variety of pointed and flat brushes sizes 0-6
• Plastic ruler
• mat cutting blades or tissue blades
• needle tool or round toothpicks
• plastic straws
• plastic wrap
• craft cookie style cutters, clay cutters, Klay Kutters
• plastic templates
• texturizing tools
• metal spatula
• empty syringes
• small cups and containers, some with lids
• paper towels, baby wipes
• pencils, permanent markers
• manila folders, card stock
• graph paper, transparent graph ruler
• pin vise
• carving tools
• hand-held torch
• electric programmable kiln with furniture
• gas stove
• metal files
• sand papers (3M green-400, gray-600, blue-1200)
• brass or stainless steel scratch brush
• curved burnisher (spoon) - agate, pyrex, stainless steel
• pro polishing pads or clothes
• rotary or vibrating tumbler

Not exactly a small list!

Luckily for me we already own a handheld torch. Although that is not the long term plan I would want, it will do for now.

Moving Slowly 9/17/10

Ok, I knew I wasn't in any big rush with this project but I didn't expect it to be going this slowly either. I think I have actually spent more time so far finding the right iphone app for viewing this blog than anything else. I did decide on one, but in general find that the blog apps are lacking. But that's another story.

Back to the metal clay adventure. After perusing the site that my friend recommended (http://www.metalclayacademy.com/), I ordered a couple of books that were recommended for beginners.

The art of metal clay revised by Sherri Haab (with DVD)

Metal Clay Jewelry by Louise Duhamel

I started them both and have decided to read the second book first. It seems like it will be an easier read for me, straight to the point. The seem to cover the same information but I am sure there will some extras hidden in one book that are not in the other. So I will read both :)

So here it goes 9/11/2010

I have been watching a friend from high-school post pictures of her wonderful jewelry and the process of making iton Facebook. I am totally enthralled! I have wanted to be creative in this area for a long, long time. I just never knew how to start. Well, luckily for me, she shared some basic info and pointed me in the right direction.

I have recently purchased some books and am "studying" on how to get started. So I figured I could blog about it. The power-nerd in me has always wanted a blog, just really never had anything I wanted to blog about.

So although this is a public blog (and I hope that it will be informative AND entertaining), it is really just for me. I want to have a place to list things that I find interesting and the progress that I make. I also want to play with the HTML to make it pretty :D (another learning adventure for me).

I don't expect to ever turn this into a business. The idea of making special pieces for myself, family and friends is more than satisfying enough.

Wish me luck!

Starting new

I've changed my name and email for this project (again) in hopes of someday having a small etsy store for this new adventure. I'm reposting the post I made earlier and giving it another try to be a blogger. :D