As the economy continues to be in a bit of a slump, many of us are looking for ways to cut our costs without sacrificing taste and artistic merit.  For several years now, I’ve been mixing copper, brass, and pewter into my designs…at first because I liked the look, and in addition now because they are more affordable.

I have a list of metal bead suppliers that has links to many fine companies, but I notice that most of them specialize in silver and gold.  Vintaj is listed, a wholesaler of brass beads and findings, and also Green Girl Studios, which has pewter delights as well as silver.

Here are some additional sources of copper, pewter, and brass:

Rings & Things
Fire Mountain Gems
HHH Enterprises
Auntie’s Beads

And for metal clays, including the new BronzClay and CopprClay, don’t forget about Rio Grande!

Jean Campbell, at Beading Daily, has provided a wonderful chart which gives you the low down on copper, brass, and pewter, including how to care for them.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva:
Cindy learns to make murrini and deals with mud.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Even without a lot of time on her hands, Melanie finishes a clockwork themed bracelet using Swarovski faceted rings from ArtBeads.com

Humblebeads
Bead & Button stash and Heather’s inspired creations

Jean Campbell
Jean gives a sneak peek of her next Beadwork magazine piece

Lorelei’s Blog: Inside the Studio
Instead of continuing on with the tried and true techniques of jewelry design, Lorelei is finally ready to take the leap and try something new.

Snap out of it, Jean! There’s beading to be done!
Jean gets her cool stash from Use the Muse II, and muses about it

Strands of Beads
Melissa wants to know what outrageous materials are in your beading stash?

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Stop by and say hello to Andrew in Charlotte, NC this weekend. Check out his new designs and some delicious new metal clay coins!

A Bead A Day
Do you love Swarovski Crystals? Inspired by talented jewelry designer, Lillian Chen, Lisa creates a Swarovski “sculpture” ring.

About.com Jewelry Making
Heard about copper clay or coppr clay? Find out more about this great new metal clay product and check out some new metal clay projects too.

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene gets creative with the “Best of ABS.”

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Sometimes you need to have a jewelry makeover

Beading Arts
A report on firing and finishing CopprClay pieces. This stuff rocks!

Carmi’s Art/Life World
Carmi tries Ice Resin and upcycles a greeting card into a necklace.

Technique Tuesday!

These three pictures show the process of taking CopprClay from raw to finished. It can take several days for the clay to dry out, or you can hasten the process by warming it in your oven at about 200 F. Even after allowing my pieces to sit out and dry naturally for a few days, I still took this added precaution to ensure they were all completely dry.

Step by step instruction

Firing the clay is a bit more work than silver. Copper and Bronze must both be kept from too much oxidation or you’ll just end up with a black burnt-looking surface. Therefore, these clays must be kiln fired. I used the recommended coconut shell-based granulated activated charcoal and a steel firing pan. (All tools can be found on Rio Grande’s website.)

I fired my first set of pieces all in one run, ramping up my kiln to 1700 F and holding for 3 hours. I didn’t use any special schedule for ramping up, and actually the temperature ended up going a bit too high on the first go, but it didn’t seem to affect the pieces. I was afraid that when I opened the kiln I’d find melted puddles in the firing box!

Here is a link to more process shots from my adventures in firing.

My next step will be to experiment with some different finishing techniques. I’m going to use a brass brush, and then burnish and buff these pieces. Maybe a few of them will go into the experiment pile for patination.

I look forward to sharing more about these pieces with you starting next week.  I’ll be writing a couple of posts on how to fire them, finish them, and make them into projects!

Kristi Bowman is the owner of Dream Some Designs, a lovely shop on Etsy.  Amazingly, Kristi has been working with metal clay for less than a year…I know you’ll be surprised when you see her work!  She is enjoying working color into her designs by incorporating different stones and beads.  Nature and rustic artifacts are a big influence on Kristi’s work.

Kristi writes about her pieces:

The Blue Topaz and Metal Clay earrings were a special order for a friend on Mothers day, they turned out so beautifully that I will surely make some similar pieces.

The necklace titled Artifact is a rather free form piece with 3 different textures. I used Amazonite and Metal Clay beads strung on a Sterling chain to finish the piece. This is one of the pieces that is meant to look ancient and somewhat rough like it was found buried in the earth.

The earrings titled Arrow are made out of Bronze Clay. They are 2 parts so they are fun to wear, only the wearer can hear the tiny jingle of the 2 parts moving against each other.

I received some packages of the new CopprClay from Rio Grande a few weeks ago.  Since then, I’ve been experimenting like crazy with this exciting new medium.   While I’ve previously had some experience with both Silver Art Clay and with Precious Metal Clay in Silver, I have to say that I’m more interested in the copper, both for it’s color and for the added measure of “workability” that I think it has.  And its price!!

I haven’t yet fired these pieces that I’m going to show you today.  It seems that firing CopprClay is a little trickier than Silver, so I’m going to be experimenting with that over the course of a few days.  But I didn’t want to delay in showing you a couple of the pieces that will be fired soon!

Here’s a link to some process shots that I took of these pieces:

Elaine Luther, metal clay expert, has suggested a great project for Father’s Day or for any of the men in your life: a BronzClay keychain!  She notes that the new BronzClay gives you great options for making pieces for folks who don’t normally wear a lot of jewelry…like most men

Image: Elaine Luther

Barbara Daoust, creator of Soul Notes, likes to share her upbeat take on life with all who come in contact with her.  Heartbreak in her own life led her to look for the type of healing that would transform her own life, and the lives of others.  PMC is one of the media that Barbara uses to spread her message.

Ladder to your Heart: The Ladder to Your Heart is a reminder to keep climbing higher and and to take life one step at a time. The intention is to live from the heart and connect to that place of loving.

Affirmation Vessel Kit: I created this piece to have a place to hold my personal affirmation. After the loss of my husband to lung cancer six years ago, I entered a very dark night that limited my hope. I attended a program in spiritual psychology where I discovered the power of affirmations and decided to create an affirmation vessel to hold close to my heart. My intentions helped me to transform my life.

Big Swirl Heart: This piece is a hollow form with a ruby and garnet dangles. The intention for this piece is Room for Love. The spirals represent the unlimited possibilities where love can show up. We are living in a spiral universe and all things are possible.

I shared Shahasp Valentine’s Modern Artifacts Collection with you last week.   Normally I don’t turn around and post about the same artist again the following week, but Shahasp’s mastery of this material is such that I felt a second post on a separate collection was warranted!

This collection is called the Organic Series of Naturally Inspired Forms.   It is inspired by nature and natural forms, including Waves, Freeform Organics, Lilies, Habitats, Knife Edge and most recently Twigs. Waves represent the cleansing and regenerating abilities of the sea. Freeform Organics are inspired by the rich shapes found the deep forest and celebrate nature’s embrace. The Lilies are flower inspired forms, beautiful and elegant in their simplicity. Habitats are a representation of tide pools with marine creatures living amongst the nooks and crannies, symbolizing harmony with nature and one’s surroundings. Knife Edge represent the purity of life itself.  And finally, Twigs represent birth and new growth as buds form, grow into leaves and flowers refreshing our world. Each piece in the Organic Series is signed and numbered in a series with no two pieces being alike.