Jennifer of EnvyDesignsJewelry Won Our March Challenge!

Congrats to Jennifer of Envydesignsjewelry! Her The Sun shines through the Rain pendant swept us away and won both public and technical polls (with 22 public votes and 9 technical votes)!

Rain of Rainjewelry's Silver Ocean Waves Necklace came in second with 16 public and 5 technical votes.

Earth Goddess Amulet by YorkAvenueStudio came in third with 7 public votes.

Thanks to all members who entered and your vote, great job everyone! Jennifer will set the theme for our May challenge. Our blog feature and giveaway will start around April 15th, please stay tuned!

March Challenge - The Elements

Our theme this time is The Elements - Water, Fire, Wind and Earth. The required technique is using syringe or snakes when creating the design. The theme and technique were set by our January challenge winner Ghislaine of GS Creations. Here are the eight stunning submissions from our talented members. 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. Poll will be close on April 4th.

The Tree - silver pendant with tsavorite by Esmeralda of SilverBlueberry. The tree is one of our most powerful symbols representing Mother Earth, life, growth, stability and natural beauty. When faced with a team challenge from the MetalClayHeads team, where we had to make a piece of jewelry representing one or more of the elements (fire, water, earth and wind) I wanted to make a tree right away. Nothing represents 'earth' better than a tree.


Silver Ocean Waves Necklace by Rain of Rainjewelry. This fine silver barrel and tag pendant evokes the motion and fluidity of ocean water. I used syringe and snakes to make the swirly ocean look.I also used fire opals in the necklace so I guess it could be water and fire.


Wind pendant by Jennifer of JKistlerStudios. My element of choice was wind, on a stormy day. The wind was made using the syringe.


Copper Landscape Bracelet by Deb of PrairieMudStudio. This copper bracelet combines both earth and air elements as a tribute to wind energy as a new important "crop" in the rural Midwest. A landscape of modern wind turbines and the necessary gusts that move them contrasts with a subtle background texture created by cornhusks. It is part of the Cornstalk Series that was inspired by the rural landscape and my farming heritage.


Earth Goddess Amulet with Blue Sapphire Gemstone by Kathy of YorkAvenueStudio. I hand forged this pure silver pendant as a graceful feminine symbol of The Earth Goddess. Goddess Symbols can be seen throughout several beliefs and representations of the Elements, however, the most apparent aspect of the Goddess is the Earth Goddess. Her round belly represents motherhood and the fruits of nature. Her up stretched arms are holding a circle which represents the full moon. Her flowing locks of hair are made with the “snakes” technique and flow into spirals.


4 Elements pendant by Anise of Seavbeach. This piece reflects all four elements, air, fire, earth and water and the center within that brings it all together.


The Sun shines through the Rain fine silver necklace by Jennifer of Envydesignsjewelry. This piece was inspired by a favorite song by the rock band Cinderella, and was created for the Metal Clay Heads March challenge. The sun is shining through a rain drop, peeking out, wanting to come out.......
For this piece I rolled out a snake from the metal clay, shaped it into the rain drop, and let it dry. I then added the sun by using 5 layers of syringe clay. I filled in any gaps with more syringe clay and then sanded and filed till it was smooth. After everything was dry I added the sapphires, and a light blue spinel.


Silver Heart Pendant by Janie of Lifeartdesigns. A handcrafted fine silver heart shaped pendant with two silver scrolls and a smaller inset open heart in the center.

Life is Crazy Beautiful. - Kristan

MCHs February Featured Artist Kristan of SilverWishes.

Metal Clay Artist Kristan's love for nature shines through her beautiful creations! Her style is nature-inspired and earthy -- leaves, trees, fishes, birds and her signature horses!


When did you first become interested/how long designing?
I became interested in silver clay when I read about a fascinating new material in an art magazine several years ago. I'm always eager to explore new techniques and art forms, so a friend and I took a class at the local art guild. I was hooked! I love exploring the many aspects of working with the clay; carving, sculpture, using leaves to make incredible impressions, design, form and function.

What was your first piece of metal clay jewelry?
Our first project for the class was a simple stamped charm. Of course, I had other ideas and launched into making beads! I eventually made a bracelet with them and it's still one of my favorite pieces to wear.


What is your greatest ambition as a metal clay artist?
To continually grow and challenge myself as an artist. Each new piece is my current favorite... until I start something new! I'm always challenging myself to try a new technique or style, sometimes discovering new methods and techniques in the process. My second greatest ambition is to keep our cats off of my worktables:)

What inspires you?
Everything! I'm always inspired by nature and horses, but I also find inspiration in random places; I keep a sketchbook and try to capture the ideas when they come. Often the original idea evolves into something much different. It's wonderful to look back through my book now and see all the ideas that have become beautiful pieces of jewelry! (And of course some ideas that will remain buried in the pages:)


Why did you pick the name SilverWishes?
That's one of those random flashes of inspiration! I'd spent days playing with different names only to discover that each was taken. It was getting pretty frustrating. One night I was mindlessly drawing in my sketchbook, thinking about art and the creative process and it just came to me. Divine inspiration!

What are the major challenges when creating metal clay jewelry?
Designing jewelry that is beautiful but also comfortable, durable and easy to wear. I can be pretty hard on my jewelry; I sometimes wear a piece for weeks or months at a time. I want it to be gorgeous and tough at the same time:)

Check out Kristan amazing work here today! Kristan is sponsoring our blog giveaway this month with her Artisan Silver Horse Earrings made with earth-friendly silver:

To win these unique earrings, here are the rules:

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 under this feature 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/MetalClayHeadTeam 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 February 25th. Good luck!

Who's afraid of the BIG, BAD Torch?

Good morning, Metal Clay Heads!

We're going to talk about something today that scares the crud out of even the most seasoned of Metal Clay Heads. THE TORCH. There are a lot of professional metal clayers who will tell you the torch doesn't work. It doesn't sinter the clay properly. It's just ..... not ...... good enough. You "must" have a kiln to be a "real" metal clayer.

In my humble opinion, hogwash.

As long as you're not trying to fire a foot-tall scale model of the Eiffel Tower, you'll be just fine. (If you're THAT good, WHY are you reading MY article, anyway??) ;P As long as the pieces you are firing are under 25 grams of clay and less than 1.5" (3.8 cm) around (for the Americans, that's about the size of a half dollar), your pieces should sinter just fine.

Let's talk torch for a minute - it's lightweight, it's small, it's inexpensive, and you can store it anywhere. Just make sure little fingers can't get to it - little ones have an uncanny ability to make "childproof" items work just fine. You can buy the butane fuel canisters for your torch easily - Wal-Mart and Lowe's carry them. I tried my local hardware store, but they didn't carry the ones I need, but yours might. Give them a try, as well. One thing I did find out this winter - if you fuel your torch outside (I do, for safety reasons), you need to wait about 30 minutes before firing for the fuel to come up to room temperature. My dear husband had to point that one out for me. *blushes* Filling the torch is fairly easy, although all canister nozzles are not made the same. They may or not fit perfectly into the fill nozzle on your torch. If you're careful, this won't be much of a problem. You fit the nozzles together and push down on the can. When the fuel sputters, your torch is full. Let the torch rest for five minutes after fueling. *NOTE* The can will get quite cold during fueling.

Most (or all) torches will have a child safety lock - when you're ready to fire, push this down. Press the button above the safety to get your flame. Off to the left is a continuous flame button - press this button in (and LET GO!) so your hands will be relaxed during firing. When you start firing your (completely dry!) piece, it will smoke. It will smoke and THEN it will catch on fire. Yes, that's normal, and no, you don't need to panic. Those are the binders in the clay burning off. Don't drop your torch and scream. After it's done burning, you're beginning to sinter the piece. Sintering is defined as heating to a coherent mass without melting. Remember that - you're NOT melting your piece. That's bad. During the firing process, you will maintain a peach or salmon color in the piece. If it starts to bubble or turn silver, you are wayyyyyy too close - back off a little. The flame has two "cones" - one is hard to see unless you're in a dark room, and the other is blue. Don't use the blue part of the flame - it's the hottest and it will melt your silver.

Here's a firing schedule for torch firing silver clay:

5 grams or less - 1 - 1.5 minutes

6 - 15 grams - 1.5 - 2.5 minutes

16 - 25 grams - 2.5 to 5 minutes

Large pieces need a little more time under the torch, but I will tell you, so far, I've NEVER had a torched piece break because of improper sintering. Matter of fact, Patricia Kimle - my personal metal clay hero - torch fires ALL of her pieces.

Now, I'm not putting down kilners. If I had $700 and a place to put one, I'd get one! I want to try some of the other clays - BRONZclay and COPPRclay have to be kiln fired. However, I'm still playing with the limits I can push with the torch. Plus, it's just more practical right now. I have kids, limited space, and not enough production to require a kiln.

I guess my point is this - don't let not having a kiln stop you. There are some amazing things you can do with a torch and a little bit of precious metal clay.

Happy claying, Metal Clay Heads!!