I actually managed in creating my dream job -- Anna Siivonen

Welcome! Our October featured artist is Anna Siivonen from Sweden. Exotic, fairytale-ish (if there is such a word), dreamy ... are the words that wandering in my mind when I wow over Anna's wearable art. Here is an inspiring story on how she pursuit her dream since 6.

Serqet Scorpio Goddess Statement Necklace by Anna Siivonen

I have been dreaming about working with art since I was a kid (after I gave up the notion of becoming a princess or a hockey goalkeeper). I took a ceramic clay class when I was six years and I continued for about fifteen years, my favorite thing was to sculpt small figures. From an early age I felt that I had good creative ideas, but I lacked in confidence. I could not get in the right art schools. So I studied at the not so popular school but after having completed university I still could not convince anyone to give me a job that was the least bit creative. I came to the conclusion that I´ll have to create my dream job for my self, nobody would just give me that. So I settled on a job that was offered and I started a company on the side as a creative outlet.

In my company I did all kinds of sculptures and projects that went nowhere. I painted and wrote a children´s book that suck but had great pictures. I did a cow for Cow parade in Stockholm (that somebody massacred in a week). After two years I stumbled upon silver clay which was unheard of in Sweden so I taught my self everything about it, and I wrote a book about it that no one wanted to publish. So I taught my self about publishing, layout, photography and I published the first Swedish silver clay book, later on published also in Finland. Because of this I got to teach a lot of silver clay classes, but still I had not much luck in selling my art. Then I found Etsy and through Etsy I found my style and a method of creating efficiently. I started thinking in terms of product development, and nowadays when I create I have a plan on how to efficiently reproduce an item even before making it.

Statement Ring Skull Ring Knuckle Duster by Anna Siivonen

The good thing about being a self-employed designer is that I can go a bit crazy without being interrupted. I can create things I find fun and don't have to dilute my inspiration to make it mainstream. I won't sell hundreds of a design, but the few ones that I do sell are treasured. I can have an idea, make it, put it up in my shop and sell it, all in one day. What makes my business special is not one product but my productivity and the uniqueness of my designs. I communicate with customers and sell all over the world. I customize things to their needs and I use their input to evolve my business further. I sell my handmade things, items made in Sweden (a country with really high taxes where most companies outsource their products to Asia and India) to Asia and India, Russia, Azerbaijan, US and Mexico (mind blowing to me). It took me quite a while, lots of detours, but I actually managed in creating my dream job. And the funny thing is that what I´m doing today is what have been my favorite thing since I was six years old, the thing I would have said I wanted to do when I grew up if I ever thought a job like that existed, I sculpt small figures.

Fathers Cuff Links Boy and Girl by Anna Siivonen

A lucky winner will have the choice of prize:

1)

Bronze skull pendant hair tie pony tail holder

2) 

Honey bee knuckle ring

or 3) Both of the prints here.

Top: Girl with balloons, collage print  Bottom: New best friend, collage print

Here are the rules to enter the MCHs blog giveaway:

Every person is eligible to enter the blog giveaway with up to FOUR (4) entries. How can you get an entry? You can do any of the following and then let us know that by leaving a comment here so we can keep track.

1. Follow our blog = 1 entry
2. Check out featured artist and post favorite piece on the blog = 1 entry
3. Heart featured artist’s shop = 1 entry
4. Follow featured artist on Facebook = 1 entry
5. Make a purchase = 2 entries
6. Refer a friend = 1 entry
7. Tweet about the giveaway using key word metalclayheads = 1 entry
8. Share the Metal Clay Heads blog giveaway link on FB (Go to http://www.facebook.com/MetalClayHeadsTeam and click Share) = 1 entry
9. If you voted and commented on our last challenge = 1 entry

The giveaway will run for two weeks. We will announce the winner on October 29th. Good luck!

Text And Textures With Metal Clay - Metal Clay Heads Team Challenge

Presenting The 2013 Third Quarter Metal Clay Design Challenge by Etsy’s Metal Clay Heads Team. 

Entrants were posed with the challenge of designing a metal clay original work under the theme “Text and/or Texture”.

Metal Clay is a wonderful product that is soft and pliable, then dries hard by air, then finally hard metal when fired.  Each stage presents opportunity for the artist to form and fashion the metal clay with texture, shape, balance, color, endless possibility!

With each Team Challenge, the Metal Clay Heads team members embrace the task of incorporating new skills and techniques to gain personal growth as designers and artists.  Sharing ideas, learning from each other, the highs and lows of successes and failures, each member is encouraged and supported along the adventure.

The entries are gathered together and posted below in random order.  The voting is open to anyone and the winner with the most votes will have "bragging rights" as well as their design posted as the banner for this blog!

Please vote using the Poll to the right.  Share this post with anyone that might not otherwise know about the Challenge.  Everyone can vote, and there are so many people that would enjoy viewing the entries.  Comments are welcome!  Please feel free to leave a comment below this post.

As you view the entries, please click the artists' links to visit their shop and learn more about their work and see more photos.

AND NOW.......The Entries!

"Sunset at the Tree of Life" by Carrie Michael of Carrie Michael

This pendant has details and texture created by using metal clay in a syringe, as well as hand carving the metal clay.  The colors were applied with Liver of Sulphur using a paintbrush. The gemstone is held securely in a heart shaped setting that is incorporated right into the tree design.  The tree branches and roots flow out to the very edges of this pure silver pendant and seemingly embrace the frame itself.  Inspired by a true friendship.


"Symmetrical Name Charm" by Kathy of YorkAvenueStudio

 

 

Personalized name pendant with fresh style! This design shows off a name or word with a reversed image that becomes something unique as a special shaped charm. I make this design with golden bronze that shines like gold and sparkles in the light. The lettering is hand written into a sheet of foam that leaves grooves as the pen is pressed down.  The clay is pressed into the foam.  The grooved lines are now raised which gives the charm texture and more depth.

 

 

"Solstice" by Vickie of Jewelflyt

 

 

 

 

Round in shape, Solstice features a raised central circle - created using a mold of the end of a seedpod - set with clear 3mm cubic zirconia (lab created). The surround has been textured freehand, with a repeating pattern.  This handcrafted pendant is made from precious metal clay - fine silver.

 

 

"Hedge Parsley from the Flint Hills of Kansas" by Gayle of kitandkaboodleshop

 

 

 

Pendant is made from a hand made mold of Hedge Parsley found in a tree line at the edge of a prairie field in Kansas. It is handcrafted from Goldie Snow bronze. Gem is a Cubic Zirconia. Gayle has an excellent explaination of her process for making effective molds that capture the details of grass - Here is the link to her mold-making squidoo lens: crafting.squidoo.com/makingmoldsfromnature

 

"Broken Heart" by Glenda Skarie from AdoriLargento

 

 

 

A duo pair of pendants that together spell "LOVE", made with Goldie Roman Bronze.  The background is textured with vines and twigs.  The tear between the two pieces is another texture that is possible with metal clay that allows for the "rip" affect in solid metal. 

 

 

"Ruby Flower Pendant" by Erin from heartsabustin

 

 

 

The pendant was textured with a stamp and the dragonfly was cast from a mold I created. The pieces were joined together, and the lab ruby was set in the center of the flower. The whole piece was fired together and oxidized to bring out the lines of the flower and dragonfly.  The ruby is open to the back - it is set completely within the metal clay and is totally secure. This allows light to reach the back of the stone, causing it to glow beautifully.

 



 

"Sideways Cross Tree of Life Bracelet" by Janie from lifeartdesigns

 



Silver metal clay memorial bracelet with name and date on the reverse side, the front is a sideways cross with a tree of life on top of the cross. It is attached with leather and sterling silver wire wrapping. 

"Ohio State Buckeye Fine Silver Pendant" by Anise from SeavBeach

 

Being an Ohio State Buckeye fan, I have been wanting to make jewelry for years to support my team. Finally! Made with fine silver and colored with alcohol ink.  The text is raised.


"Winged Sugar Skull" by Anna Siivonen from AnnaSiivonen

Hand carved texture in bronze metal clay.  The clay shrinks when fired and the details become distinct on smaller pieces.  This sugar skull features a heart with wings.  The bronze is oxidized to darken the detail.  Polishing finishes the metal and highlights the features of the artwork.


"Love Pendant" by Jennifer from envydesignsjewelry

 

 

Made by pressing silver metal clay onto a texture plate I made from my own drawing, it features the word 'love'. I surrounded the text with a vine of cherry blossoms. This pendant is made with recycled fine silver .999, and features a fabulous deep blood red trillion cut garnet.

 

 

Now it's time to vote!  As tough as it might be, please vote!  The more votes, the more support is shown for this team as a whole!

 

Voting will be open for two weeks and will close September 7th.  The poll is to the right of this post.

 

Best of luck to all the entries!  The Metal Clay Heads Team is such a wonderful group of talented artists with a passion for sharing techniques and this Challenge shows the diverse ways metal clay can be textured when wet, dry and fired!

 

Ready, vote!

 

Metal Clay Heads Your Style Challenge

Our theme this time is ”your style”. Make a production piece that could be reproduced efficiently after it has sold. Something that looks intricate but is less work than it looks. The first one, the one you enter for the contest probably is a lot of work, but you should be able to reproduce it easily. Use your own textures/molds and make a piece that is very you. Here are the amazing entries:

Amethyst stone cage necklace cats by AnnaSiivonen

Rustic, cool and unusual cat necklace. A bronze cage with two sculptured cat heads in each end hold a tumbled purple amethyst. Comes with an adjustable brass chain. The first one I made, you get the one pictured. I don't have other amethyst stones like this at the moment. Amethyst is the birthstone of February.

Bronze Star Anise Spice Jewelry by SeavBeach

Very delicate, this bronze star anise spice seed is made of bronze and silver color bronze. The twig is a silver color bronze and the star is bronze. The chain is .925 sterling.

Crescent Moon Pendant in Fine Silver by PartsbyNC

I made this Crescent Moon Pendant out of Metal Clay, which consists of reclaimed silver particle in an organic binder that can be formed, shaped and sanded just like normal clay and once it's fired in a kiln becomes .999 Fine Silver. After the piece is fired, finished, and polished, the last step is to add the blue inlay using a wax paste that once it dries it's very durable.

Celtic Tree of Life Pendant by Mcbisco

This Gaelic inspired bronze pendant is my original design. I have two available in bronze for purchase at this time.The first version was made in silver Precious Metal Clay. (Silver version is NOT for sale, but pictured to show the original) This bronze version was created from a mold of the original design. After making an impression in the bronze clay, I dried it and carved in the details. The details are slightly different if you look carefully. The high points are burnished and polished after firing.

Jasmine silver ring botanical imprint by StuckOnSilver

Jasmine silver ring--a sprig of Jasmine from my garden is reproduced on this one of a kind ring. It's .999 fine silver. The fine silver includes recycled silver. 

Dolphin Necklace by Lifeartdesigns

This is one of my handcrafted pure silver dolphin necklaces. It hangs on a teal beaded necklace. The silver dolphin pendant was made from .999 pure fine silver metal clay. I sculpted the dolphin and then added it to a larger oval base of fine silver. I applied a texture to the base of the dolphin pendant with a stamp of ocean waves. I rolled the top of the base around to the back of the Dolphin pendant to create a self contained bail for the beaded cord to slide through. The dolphin was kiln fired at the appropriate temperatures and tumble polished afterwards.

Silver Tree of Life Necklace by Lynn Cobb

This Made in America, silver tree of life necklace is impressive in fine silver, the pendant was made from a mold that was hand carved by me, I call it my pine bough series. This one has a dark patina to really show off the carving, but I also make these without any patina at all and they just glisten in bright .999 pure silver. This one hangs from a "liquid silver" sterling chain which really enhances
the flowing design of the pendant itself. 

Please cast your vote at the right hand column. The poll will be closed two weeks from posting and results will be announced after closing. Technical poll is limited to members of the Metal Clay Heads Team only.

Congrats to Vickie!

Who won our October blog giveaway! Vickie will receive the Textured Teardrop Hoop Earrings from Pennee Parker of All Wired Up Jewelry Designs.Sincere gratitude to our featured artist Pennee who give such beautiful metal clay earrings as prize. Thanks to all of you who entered the giveaway! We will have one more blog giveaway before the holidays come. Please stay tuned!

Metal Clay Heads Winged Flight Challenge Results

Our Winged Flight Challenge Results Are Here!
We challenged our team members on creating a design with the theme "Winged Flight" with any technique of their choice and received eight amazing entries. Here are the results:

By Popular Vote:
1. Winged Steampunk Escutcheon Necklace - Zoeowyn with 11 votes
2. Conjoined Twin Cat & Dog Bronze Pendant - AnnaSiivonen with 10 votes
3. Fairy Wing Necklace with Rainbow Spinel & Sapphire - Envydesignsjewelry with 9 votes

By Technical Vote:
1. Conjoined Twin Cat & Dog Bronze Pendant - AnnaSiivonen with 3 votes
2. Fairy Wing Necklace with Rainbow Spinel & Sapphire - Envydesignsjewelry with 2 votes
2. Winged Steampunk Escutcheon Necklace - Zoeowyn with 2 votes

Overall (based on percentage recalculation of the two above):
1. Conjoined Twin Cat & Dog Bronze Pendant - AnnaSiivonen (26%/38%)
2. Winged Steampunk Escutcheon Necklace - Zoeowyn (29%/25%)
3. Fairy Wing Necklace with Rainbow Spinel & Sapphire - Envydesignsjewelry (24%/25%)

AnnaSiivonen won our Winged Flight Challenge by wining the technical category! Zoeowyn's work is amazing and won the well-deserved popular poll. Congrats to both of them!

Thanks for all the MCHs who participated, and thanks to YOU who voted! Our next challenge will be mid-November. In the meantime, don't forget to enter our blog giveaway here.

MCHs Winged Flight Challenge

Our quarterly challenge is back, cast your vote NOW!

This quarter we challenged our Metal Clay Heads to create an art piece with the theme "Winged Flight," with any technique that is best for creating the work. Here comes the amazing work from our talented members!

Silver Wings Earrings with Garnet by YorkAvenueStudio

 

Genuine Garnet gemstone earrings shaped like wings. This design style is organic and natural and each pair is made to order fresh just for you. Wings have so much personal meaning and I hope these earrings will give you inspiration. Comfortable and lightweight, these wings can be worn everyday.

Collector's Flight Pick Monument by Mcbisco

 

The Flight Pick Monument includes this beautiful display case, The Flight Pick Necklace, one thin Flight Pick and one thick Flight Pick. The Pick Monument can sit on a table or hang on the wall. The picks sit in a bamboo pedestal, making them easily to pick up and use. The necklace can be removed by lifting up the roof. The Flight Picks are part of a limited edition of 25 picks. (number one and number 2) The picks are made with Bronze Metal Clay.

Winged Steampunk Escutcheon Necklace by Zoeowyn

 

This handmade copper necklace features a pendant with gears, and dial and winged Victorian styled escutcheon. The necklace chain is highlighted with small gears, and the lobster clasp is part of the design up front.

Conjoined Twin Cat & Dog Bronze Pendant  by AnnaSiivonen

 

Siamese cat & dog twins with bat wings. This started outh with me thinking it was a fun ideá to make a cat and a dog share a body, but the conjoined cat and dog pendant didn´t hang right and I felt it needed "more umph", and what could be better to umph it up with than bat wings.

Silver Wing Pendant, flight by Jewelflyt

 

This beautiful fine silver pendant features a unique feather texture. A wing shaped flight of fancy, created from an original hand-drawn texture.

flight has been given a soft brushed silver finish, with selected areas polished to a high shine to enhance the texture.

Night Flight by Satorydesigns

 

A beautiful swallow with a lovely peridot set in, flying around a circle with 3 black diamonds. Flying thru the night on a delicate chain 16 or 18" in length. One available in this combination of Peridot and Black Diamonds.

Fairy Wing Necklace with Rainbow Spinel & Sapphire by Envydesignsjewelry

 

This fairy wing pendant, I made with recycled fine silver. Hanging from a handmade chain of sparkling rainbow spinel and sunny yellow sapphires. The gemstones are wrapped with sterling silver wire. Dropped off the bottom of the fairy's wing is a mystic Imperial topaz briolette.

Moonbat I Necklace by ElementsArtifacts 

 

Bats are lucifugous little creatures, often associated with the night, Halloween, and vampires. The folklore on these creatures is vast, including the belief that bats taking wing in the evening are departed spirits coming to visit the living, or that after death the spirit of the departed hovers near his or her body as a bat.

Vote Now!

Please cast your vote using the Public Poll at the right.  Voting will be open for two weeks and will close September 25th. The Winner of the Challenge will be announced shortly after. (The Technical Poll is for MCHs team members only.)

Please leave a comment below to be automatically entered into the next Jewelry Giveaway Drawing held soon!

Threaded Vessel Challenge

Presenting The 2012 Second Quarter Metal Clay Design Challenge by Etsy’s Metal Clay Heads Team. 

Entrants were posed with the challenge of designing a metal clay original work under the theme “1920s-1930s Era” including the technical requirement for each of the entries to be a threaded vessel.  Talk about a true Challenge!

Each Quarter, the Metal Clay Heads team members embrace the task of incorporating new skills and techniques to gain personal growth as designers and artists.  Sharing ideas, learning from each other, the highs and lows of successes and failures, each member is encouraged and supported along the adventure.

This Challenge was particularly difficult with several failed attempts and crossed-fingers, prayers whispered in anticipation and plenty of recycling!

Before revealing the entries, there is one very notable effort worthy of a spotlight:

Laura of ZOEOWYN, Art Jewelry Adornment designed a beautifully crafted threaded vessel. 

These photos are examples of the degree of difficulty and gorgeous artwork that come from these Challenges.  Although her vessel is still a work in progress, her design is duly noted and just a taste of what wonderful designs were entered by truly talented metal clay artists.



And now  for the entries submitted for voting in the 2012 Second Quarter Metal Clay Design Challenge!  In alphabetical order by Etsy shop name, here are the 4 entries, each and every one deserving of recognition for successfully conquering the Threaded Vessel Challenge!  Please feel free to click on the photos for more details of each entry.

Silver Perfume Bottle, handmade fine silver Art Nouveau bottle necklace-OOAK by Jennifer of Envydesignsjewelry

A beautiful Art Nouveau style perfume bottle pendant in pure (.999) silver. Made entirely by hand, by me from recycled silver, this is a definite statement piece, featuring a raised iris design, and a screw on lid, with a carved leaf crown. There is a different texture on the back.
I added the bail on the back to hang the bottle from an 18" sterling silver snake chain.
I gave the bottle a rainbow patina, then buffed the raised design, to bring out the highlights.
This pendant is 2 3/8 inches long or 87.5mm x 16mm x 15mm. (more)


Pagoda  By Anise of SeavBeach

 This is an entry to a challenge in a wonderful group that I'm a part of. The design challenge was jewelry from the 1920's and 30's. I researched jewelry from that era and found the thing that intrigued me the most were the perfume bottles that were made during this time. Very intricate bottles were made to hold the finest perfumes from around the world. In reading about the jewelry from that period I found out that Asia influenced a wave of Art Deco jewelry. This is just one piece. The pendant. The top being a roof of a pagoda. It will fit into a built pagoda which will later become the bottle holder. (more)


Hagar's Threaded Vessel Pendant in Fine Silver by Bev of StuckOnSilver

Hagar's threaded vessel pendant in fine silver by Bev of StuckOnSilver
The dynasty created by Hagar's and Abraham's marriage included her land (from modern-day Libya and Egypt to Canaan) and his (from Iran and Iraq to Yemen) --a huge expanse of the known world. The leaves on the pendant represent the shrub that shaded their son Ishmael in the desert.
This pendant includes recycled silver and weigh approx. 4 grams. Vessel and top measure approx. 20 mm in length. A retro leaf motif adorns the vessel and top. Sleek square vessel has a circular screw-on top--both are hollow and might hold solid perfume or a mini-scroll with the name of a loved one on it (not included.) Wire holding the top is solid low-tarnish Argentium sterling silver for low-maintenance ease. (more)

Petite Bottle by Lisa of WillowandMe

Constructed with COPPRclay, the vessel sides and threaded connections were formed separately and assembled together to form this triangular Art Nouveau inspired bottle.  I reserved the extra pieces cut from the vessel sides to place inverted which gives the vessel a unique bottle shape with angular sides.  The top is also constructed using the pieces trimmed from the triangle bottoms, giving continuity of design throughout the entire piece.  The bright red CZ is secured with prongs made from cut pieces of clay and set pre-firing.  Fully sintered after three firings, this vessel measures about 1 ¼ inches tall.


Vote Now!
Please cast your vote using the Public Poll at the right.  Voting will be open for two weeks and will close July 9th.  The Winner of the Challenge will be announced shortly after.  (The Technical Poll is for MCHs team members only.)

Please leave a comment below to be automatically entered into the next Jewelry Giveaway Drawing held soon!

Sea and Sky Challenge

This is our last challenge of 2011 and boy-oh-boy, it is hard! I'm so thrilled to have so many fabulous entries from the MCHs. You rock! The challenge theme this time is Sea and Sky, with the required technical skill of using bezel or prong setting. Here are the beautiful entries:

Dream Cloud Silver Ring from YorkAvenueStudio

Fine silver Dream Cloud ring with genuine Citrine gemstone. I selected a delicate pale yellow Citrine gem because it was perfect to showcase the color and shine of this ring. I've antiqued the detail of the cloud to show darker contrast and used a rainbow patina for some blue hues on the prong setting. The Citrine gem reflects the blues which adds to the uniqueness of this design. More ...

Amazonite Fine Silver Pendant from Vaasvara

Sky, Water and Earth come together in harmony in this completely handcrafted fine silver pendant. Stylish and organic, the pendant is hand-sculpted, hand-textured, antiqued and polished. Hangs from a sterling silver rollo chain, punctuated with beautiful green color chrysoprase and sunstone beads. The texture is made from a mold of real coral, thus representing the deep seas. More ...

Sunset (Handmade OOAK Necklace with Hessonite Garnet, Oregon Sunstone, and Silver) from SparkleBeeDesigns

A glowing hessonite garnet sun pendant handmade in fine silver. This one of a kind pendant will remind you of the most beautiful sunset. Each ray of the sun was hand cut without any templates or guides. The half loop at the top is fine silver with a hammered texture. The pendant is suspended by two tiny high quality Oregon sunstones. More ...

Night sky pendant, handmade fine silver, red pearl, ruby, moonstone necklace - OOAK-Twilight from Envydesignsjewelry

Gazing out of the window on the night sky, the moon hanging low over the sea, with the red glow of Mars in the distance. This moonlight pendant is sculpted of recycled silver, from a lino-carving I made. More ...

From Sea to Shore - Dichronic Glass in Fine Silver Necklace from Lifeartdesigns

From sea to shore. A large blue dichronic glass cabachon set into a texturized fine silver pendant. This is one of my handcrafted fine silver pendants made from silver metal clay. A large round blue dichronic cabachon is the focal point of this fine silver pendant. More ...

Amethyst and Precious Metal Clay Necklace from Heartsabustin

February's birthstone set in sterling silver and backed by fine silver from precious metal clay. I created the back of the pendant from ArtClay SlowDry 650, a form of precious metal clay. I texturized it with a handmade texture plate I created from polymer clay, and fired it. I formed a bezel and edged it with more precious metal clay. More ...

Amethyst twilight mist silver necklace from StuckOnSilver

Amethyst cushion cut stone in a rustic fine silver prong setting. The lavender amethyst gemstone measures approx. 8x10 mm and the pendant with the bail measures approx. 10x20 mm. More ...

The public poll on the right is open for two weeks. The technical poll, also open for two weeks, is restricted to MCHs team members only. Enjoy and don't forget to vote! Please cast your vote on the right column; and if you post a comment, you will be automatically entered into our December blog giveaway. Polls will be close on December 14th.

Gift Guide for Mothers

Don't forget the most wonderful person on earth - your hardworking mother who deserves a nice gift this season as well!