I Love Custom Orders!

Mother's Day Present

My new kiln has allowed me to ramp up my PMC production just in time for Mother's Day! The week prior, I received several request for custom pieces and this is one of my favorites. This piece consists of three charms, hand-stamped, with the names of one mother's three children. What a perfect Mother's Day gift! This project was not very difficult to complete, thanks to the AlphaDisc lettering system from Cool Tools, as well as my wonderful SpeedFire Electric Mini! I wholeheartedly endorse both products...I could rave about them for days! Personalized pieces have never been so easy to create!

Alicia's Puzzle Piece

 Pictured left is another fun custom order I had the pleasure to complete. I thought this was a super-awesome idea and had so much fun making it! A little-known fact about me is that I love putting puzzles together, so I have a ton on my game shelf. To shape this charm, I grabbed a puzzle piece from one that I had already put together, coated it with a thin layer of olive oil, and cut it out using the Cool Tools ultrafine pick. I used a template to cut out the heart in the middle and then sanded, fired, and polished like normal. I am so happy with the way it turned out!


Custom orders are great because they challenge me to create something that I probably wouldn't have attempted on my own. I am always surprised when they turn out well! It seems like with a few basic tools and some imagination, you can create anything you want! Orders like this are also a perfect way to figure out the kinds of things that people like to wear, which enables you to make things that appeal to a wider audience.

Yoi!

I live in Pittsburgh and if there is one thing that all Pittsburghers agree upon, it's the love of the local sports teams. Of all the cities I've visited, I haven't encountered anything like it - strangers will initiate conversations and truly bond over their shared appreciation of their teams. I think this speaks to the friendliness of Pittsburghers, in general, but that's another story for another blog.

This blog is about jewelry and this specific post is about these awesome PMC charms I created using the Cool Tools AlphaDisc system. I had been struggling with finding an efficient, uniform way to add lettering to my pieces and, on a whim, decided to purchase the AlphaDisc. As soon as the package arrived, I opened it up and started to experiment!

The two pieces pictured above are in raw form - they had not been sanded or polished at this point. However, you can clearly see the lettering. I was impressed with the ease of use and the clarity of the type. After viewing a short YouTube video I was able to use the system with no problems.

After shaping sanding away all of the imperfections, the lettering is much clearer. I used two different fonts - Typewriter (shown left) and Nile (shown right). I love them both! This is what the charms looked like pre-fire. I am pretty crazy about sanding because I like my charms to have a mirror-like shine...I'm not kidding! I like to see my face in them after they are completed.





Voila! After torch-firing and an application of patina, the charms are finished! I was very pleased with the results, thanks to the AlphaDisc. Although I don't like to consider myself a spokesperson for products, I have to say that this was an excellent purchase! My PMC work will definitely be enhanced by the ability to use uniform lettering. I can't wait to play with my new toy some more!

Oh, for those of you who don't know, "yoi!" was the favorite phrase of the famed Steeler's announcer, Myron Cope. These necklaces are just another way to display your Pittsburgh pride!

The Coolest Thing I Ever Made...

...well, maybe not. But pretty cool nonetheless. I make SO much stuff (probably too much) and it's hard to pick favorites. This design just seemed to work particularly well.

I'm really into science and space (read: nerd) and many of my pieces reflect that interest. These remind me of an icy moon with a lot of craters. To make the silver charms, I rolled a lump of PMC over a textured plate, sanded them to a smooth finish, torch fired them, and then applied a liver of sulfer patina. The discs are a deep blue kyanite, my new favorite stone. Kyanite is similar to mica or talc, but it doesn't flake as easily so it works better in jewelry designs. It's so pretty to look at because of it's unique shine.

Depending on their complexity, PMC charms usually take me a few hours from start to finish, but the end product is worth the effort. I just love these earrings!!!

PMC Weekend

I love working with precious metal clay but projects are so time consuming! By the time I get home from my day job on weekdays, I am too tired (or lazy) to set up all of my PMC supplies and get to work. As such, my weekends are usually comprised of two PMC "workshops" where I complete a few projects at a time.

Unfortunately, this weekend I had about five other projects that I wanted to complete, so I was only able to churn out one pair of PMC earrings. They are cute though!

Unfinished, unsanded earrings
















Finished product - Honeybee Honeycombs