I purchased the minimum amount of tools need to complete a small piece and did find that I forgot one so far. I needed a "spatula" to remove the charm from the work surface. Luckily for me a parring knife worked fine.
So here is a pic of supplies all out on the dining table before I got started:
I was very nervous about how quickly the clay would start to dry during the project. I know that I can rewet it, but didn't want any added work for the first project. I had no problems. I did make sure to use the slik to get the clay extra moist. Probably used too much! The first charm was starting to feel dry after the last made so it took longer than I would have thought.
Here is the first charm after cutting away the extra clay:
It's very rough looking and hopefully will not break during the filing step. I had to do this one twice, wasn't really happy with how rough it looked. But I think that is the process and will have to learn to work that way.
The process involved rolling out the clay to what I hope is a good thickness for charms. Then I laid my paper template over the clay and drew the heart with my clay shaper. I then cut away the extra clay with an exacto knife. I made the hole with a round file, and hand drew the letters using the clay shaper.
Here are some really bad pics of the end product:
I'm going to let them sit for 24 hours to dry. Hopefully by then I will have a better camera. The iphone just doesn't cut it :D
