My copper clay beads didn’t sinter properly, so it’s back to the drawing board to try again. Some problems may be that I didn’t let my beads cool enough before doing Phase II, or maybe you have to let them cool in the charcoal before pulling them out? Once I work my courage up again, I’ll probably try the rest of my copper clay- for now, I’ll stick with my Bronzclay since I know my firing schedule works.

I played with Hadar’s Copper Clay and have found I like it. It is in powder form so you mix as much as you want for your session. It takes wonderful impressions from stamps/texture plates and releases easily- you use olive oil as a release agent, which is nice, because who doesn’t have olive oil in their house?
Hadar has also set up a blog recently to help educate those interested in her products and how best to use them.
Here are some quick shots of the pieces that are in the kiln right now. These are not-quite-perfect ones that either ripped, cracked or warped from me learning about the clay. If there’s time, the pics of the fired pieces will be up this evening.

I’ve been neglecting the blog- I’m using the overcast weather as an excuse and the dread of seeing hubby leave two months for training. So I thought I’d make myself feel better and browse other people’s pretties, lol. Here are some that made it into the mosaic:

1. Lola Earrings in Aqua Blue, 2. Neckpiece #2: Stamen Series, 2004, 3. last renaissance necklace, 4. Octopus Necklace, 5. winethreads1107up, 6. Shade Garden, 7. rgc, 8. E434- Winter Branches, 9. Flower Adorned Lotus Petal Hoops, 10. Pomegranate Necklace, 11. boat.cone.2 shell necklace, 12. Ovals Bracelet, 13. hibiscus, 14. retrorganic, 15. filligree heart 2 flip side, 16. Art Nouveau Initial pendant – letter A

This pendant/focal bead in Bronzclay was just listed on Etsy:

These pendants were just put up on Etsy:

These three pieces have an even more colorful patina than I had hoped for. It seems the more I fire, the more color I get. Here is the group pile.

Tomorrow I hope to have the time to play with the Copper Clay that my wonderful friend, Hayley, sent me. Hadar Jacobson has formulated her own Copper and Bronze Clay, it’s in powder form and you just mix however much you want. Hayley has given it rave reviews, I’ll give my thoughts once I have a chance to play.

Here is another pile of beads before going into the kiln- I just love how nice and clean they look before firing them, lol. Although these close-ups show that I need more sanding on some parts…Hope to have more pics tomorrow of the finished product.

I just listed this pendant on Etsy. The patina on this piece is gorgeous!
Since it’s hollow formed, there are two different sides- like getting two for the price of one 😉

Here are Hayley and Helen’s beads from last week’s Bronzclay playdate. Hope you ladies like them!

Here is the group of my hollow formed beads after firing.

Had a little bit of buckling, not sure how this is to be avoided since the beads shrink so much. I’m very pleased overall, this is a style I want to revisit.

Here is the pile of beads all together.

And one of my favorite colors in bronzclay..goooold, so rich and pretty looking.