Every other year the PMC conference hosts an important international exhibition of preeminent work made using metal clay. In the summer of 2010 this exhibition will be on display in the gallery at Purdue University.

This juried exhibition is open to all Guild members and will receive national coverage. It will celebrate the many and varied forms of symbolic expression from ancient to contemporary times. You may submit up to five (5) images of functional, non-functional, and/or jewelry pieces for consideration.

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Instructions for CopprClay pendants

General instructions for working with CopprClay

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I am thrilled to hear it.  I love the CopprClay that I’ve worked with, but it will be lovely to have one that’s a bit easier to fire.  Even as we speak, artists in the UK are testing it out and tweaking the instructions for its use.  They’re also experimenting with torch firing, something that is impossible with CopprClay.  One downside is that it cannot be used in conjunction with silver clay…they will contaminate each other, even by using shared tools.  I’m sure there will be ways around this that will emerge.

So far, it is not available for sale in the USA.  I’m not sure if it’s available anywhere outside of the UK yet.  But it’s a coming!  Visit Metal Clay Academy to read all about it.

Image: WikimediaCommons

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There is a video preview that you can watch on the website as well.

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Materials and Tools:

Large jump ring
Sliding tube bail
2 pieces of beading wire, 24 in each
22 assorted beads
40 size 1 crimp tubes
4 size 3 crimp tubes
Toggle and bar set

(Sources: Vintaj, Auntie’s Beads, SoftFlex)

Step by step instructions

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Materials & Tools:

CopprClay (Rio Grande)
Olive oil
Waxed paper or parchment paper
Objects to make molds
Polymer clay
Kiln, firing pan, and activated charcoal
Exacto knife, file, polish
Patina solution

Step by step instructions

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I’ve got another CopprClay project for you to try!  I’m going to break it down into two tutorials: first we’ll look at how to use CopprClay with a mold, and then the following week, we’ll go through step-by-step one possible way to use a pendant like this in a finished necklace.

If you haven’t had a chance to mess around with CopprClay yet, you can look through the general directions that I’ve posted about working with it.  If you don’t have any metal clay of any type, you could also do a similar project to this one using all polymer clay!

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In the first part of our tutorial, we looked at how to create the CopprClay focal discs. Now we’re going to look at one possible way to use them in a finished necklace.

I decided to mix my metals up a bit: I really like the rustic look of bronze, copper, and antique brass together, but you can stick with all one metal if you prefer. Here’s what I used:

Materials & Tools:

5 focal copper discs
5 vintage rhinestone buttons in bronze setting
10″ of raw brass chain
18 raw brass jump rings, 7.25 mm
9 copper jump rings, 6 mm
10 mm copper drop
5″ copper wire
4 hammered copper loops

Round nose pliers
Flat nose pliers,
Wire cutters
Small file
Measuring tape

(Sources: CopprClay from Rio Grande, raw brass from Vintaj, copper from Auntie’s Beads and Rings & Things)

Step by step instructions to create CopprClay disc necklace

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The first stage in creating a CopprClay necklace with disc-shaped focals is to roll out, texture, fire, and finish the focals themselves.

Start with small balls of CopprClay, about 3/8 inch across.  Keep all of them under plastic wrap except for the one you’re working with at the time.  Follow the general instructions found at this tutorial for handling your clay.

Step by step instructions for creating discs focals

A few of the tools used with CopprClay

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