After two hours in the kiln the the green ware leaf from the previous post was transformed into a leaf of fine silver, with the word “wisdom” on the reverse. The silver leaf was cooled, filed and sanded, dipped in a liver of sulfur bath and then polished. The chain was attached and the leaf was embellished with a green tourmaline stone. It was packed with care and shipped off, to be given as a Christmas gift.
Before taking time off for Christmas, I had one final custom commission. The order was for a bracelet in my “Leaf a Message” Collection. The mold I used was one of the last remaining leaves from the butterfly bush in my backyard – buddleia, for those of you who know your plants! Lucky thing I plucked the leaves this morning – everything is covered with almost a foot of snow, now.
The photo shows the real green leaf – as well as the metal clay leaf and word, both in the green stage. Once it has dried overnight, I will file and sand a bit and also enlarge the holes through which the jump rings will be attached. The word will be attached to the reverse of the leaf and then the piece will be popped in the kiln for two hours at 1650º F. I will post a photo of the finished bracelet before I send it off on Monday.
As you must have noticed by now, I make jewelry, but I dabble in cooking. I belong to Cooking Italy, a group founded by Angela of Spinach Tiger, with members all over the globe (really!) Well, my dear, courageous friend Angela is standing up and starting a movement. Angela lost two loved ones to AIDS and has set aside today, World AIDS Day to remember victims of AIDS by Cooking Red to Remember. You should really read her post – she has poured her heart and soul into it.
Like I said, I only dabble in cooking, so really didn’t feel I could dream up a wonderful dish in red. But I did “cook” up a little something in red. I had a piece of red jewelry, ready to post, last night. But it wasn’t the piece below. It was a showy, special occasion piece – lots of bling, filigree and a drop pendant. Then last night, I read this post by Greg of Sippity Sup. He got me to thinking about the difference between a once a year remembrance and remembering every day. I decided to rework it into a more “user-friendly” piece.
This design uses Crystallized™ Swarovski Elements (yes, long to write, but necessary to keep the Swarovski lawyers away!) The crystals are asymmetrically faceted – I liked that, because it is a reminder that AIDS victims are not all alike – they can be old or young, man or woman, gay or straight and from every corner of the earth (oh – and the asymmetric facets sparkle like crazy, too!) The crystals are of course, Red to Remember. The focal charm with the sun is a reminder of the hope that each new dawn gives us – until we reach the dawn when a cure is found. The necklace is 18″ long and includes components of 14kt gold-filled and vermeil (gold over sterling.)
Do you like this necklace? If you do, please BID on it! I am auctioning it off to the highest bidder and 100% will be donated to the Elton John AIDS Foundation. I selected this charity, with Angela’s approval, because they are top-rated by Charity Navigator and their mission statement includes “…efforts to eliminate stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS…” as well as direct services to patients with “…food distribution, assisted living, social service coordination…” The meals for patients was an important factor, as this movement was born of a food blogger!
If you have questions about the piece, feel free to email me. The auction will run until midnight of December 7th. Bidding will start at $20 – which is less than the cost of materials! – and will go up in increments of at least $1. Shipping is on me. You can either email your bid privately to me, or post in a comment. I will keep a running list of bidder’s initials and their bids on this post. Bidding order will go by time stamps on bids received.
If anyone has experience with eBay’s Giving Works, please email me – I may move the auction there, if I can figure it out.
Good luck!
In the case of my Perky’s Paw charm, I created between 40 and 50 models to get it just the way I liked. To repeat this process for each necklace would not only make me crazy, but would be prohibitively expensive. Casting was my solution.
Casting is the process where a model is used to make a mold from which many identical pieces may be produced. Technically they should be “identical,” but in reality each charm is hand cast, then individually finished by me – so more similar than identical.
The casting company I was lucky enough to find is Frank Billanti Casting Co., Inc. Frank has been in the casting business for over 35 years and last year opened his own facility, with state-of-the-art equipment. It is a family-run business – Frank, his wife Kathy and their daughter Kristin are wonderful to do business with. The Perky’s Paw charm was my first experience in having a model cast and they were quite helpful with advice and explanation of the process. Casting for a jewelry-scale project was quite different from the casting I was familiar with as a metallurgical engineer.
A mold maker used to make the rubber or silicone mold from the original model.
First, a mold was made of my Perky’s Paw model. I opted for the dimensionally more stable silicone mold over a rubber mold. The silicone mold is then injected with wax to make exact replicas of the original model.
A wax sprue is added to each wax mold – the sprue is a small funnel shaped piece through which the molten silver will flow. These small wax replicas are then connected to a wax “tree,” through which the silver will run and fill all the mold
An induction heater used to melt the metal that will be poured into the plaster mold.
The wax mold is then coated with a plaster slurry. The plaster is dried in an oven and the wax is burned out of the plaster mold, leaving a cavity the exact shape of the original model. The sterling silver is melted in an induction heater and the molten silver is poured into the plaster “tree,” under vacuum, to minimize bubble formation.
Well, it’s a little more complicated than that – attention must be paid to the mold making, sprue placement, wax forms and so many other things – but these are the basics of the casting process.
Down the road I hope to get some photos of what the molds look like after each step – hey, you never know, someone out there might be interested!
I spent many days designing my Perky’s Paw charm. I should have kept better track, but I’d say I made 40-50 models – possibly more! At first I was making them out of silver clay, which was getting kind of pricey.
Then, Judi Weers, a kind soul from a metal clay group* I belong to, suggested I try a common polymer clay (PC) technique. First, a model is made from PC. The model is then used to imprint another piece of PC to make a stamp. The stamp is then pressed into the metal clay, leaving the imprint of the original model. In this particular instance, the polymer clay molds did not give me the detail I needed with the 1/16th” letters. But using the PC in making models and molds was a helpful exercise and I have great plans for it in the future with projects that don’t include lettering. Thanks Judi! I’m sure you will find Judi’s web site as interesting as I did – her jewelry is fabulous – and I really enjoyed seeing how she decorated her PT Cruiser!
Model of Perky's Paw charm in polymer clay
In working with PC for the first time, I drew on the experience of my dear friend Loretta, who makes beautiful jewelry out of PC. I loved these whimsical pear earrings she made for a family get-together. But I digress! Loretta talked me through the nuances of the conditioning and baking processes and clued me in to “tricks of the trade” – thanks Loretta! She will be opening a boutique on etsy soon – be sure you bookmark and stop by – she will be featuring her polymer clay creations, as well as her beautiful knit purses.
I am so lucky to have such talented and sharing artist friends like Judi and Loretta!
*MetalClay is a moderated group; if you have a genuine interest in metal clay, you may request membership.
Well, in my last post you saw a dramatic, chunky, labradorite necklace. Today we have a different take on labradorite, with small faceted labradorite stones, faceted onyx accented with a fine silver floral charm and clasp. I love the delicate scrolling on the clasp – nice detail you don’t see everyday. I am happy to say that my components are either manufactured in the USA, or sourced through companies with Fair Trade practices.
The one thing that both necklaces have in common is the beautiful shimmer of the labradorite – you can see a little of the blue flash in the necklace below:
The LI Wiomen’s Expo is coming up next week and I have been busy! I finished one piece today that I have been mulling over for months. It started with a beautiful strand of labradorite – chunky, angular shapes with spectacular fire and shimmer in the gray stones. It started there – and then sat. And sat. And sat. I didn’t know where to go with it.
I tried incorporating onyx, but the black was too solid for the changing colors of the labradorite. Then I tried black freshwater pearls. They were perfect – but how to use them? At first I interspersed the pearls with the stones – but that broke the line of the stones, which was part of the original attraction. The stones did need a little something in between, for better alignment – small, handmade, fine silver beads fit the bill. The pearls were placed at either end of the stones, for a comfortable feel against the neck. Handmade, fine silver beads were added to the pearls and the necklace was finished off with a sterling silver clasp. Still working on my photography skills, so you really can’t see the lovely reflective shimmer in the stones, but here we have it:
Well, I have been very busy creating for the Women’s Expo – but I wanted to share with you the castings I received of my paw print charm:
Here you see the front and reverse. When I receive the sterling silver charms they are tumbled and shiny. They don’t stay that way for long. I file and sand, then patinate in a liver of sulphur solution, neutralize and finally polish back to get the oxidation just right. This gives the letters and paw print more definition. Being hand finished, each charm is a bit different from the next.
I think Frank Billanti Casting did a wonderful job! The pieces are about an inch across and have a very nice weight and feel to them. It is the kind of piece that I know I will be playing with when wearing – it is a very tactile piece.
When I have a little more time, “my metallurgical engineer” brain will write a post about Frank and the casting process. The things you don’t know about your jewelry!
My eyeballs are about ready to fall out. I have been working on a very special piece of jewelry for three days now, trying to get it just right.
Here you see my set-up for making a polymer clay stamp that will be used to imprint metal clay. The purple polymer clay, a clear roller and letters in a wood box are the main tools. The cards are a low tech way to roll the clay out to a uniform thickness. I put an equal number of cards on either side of the clay and as I roll, I keep the roller ends on the cards. The clay, in between the cards, is rolled out to the thickness of the card stack. Hey, whatever works! The rest of the items are “tools” I’ve found around the house. An old apple corer, a couple of lipsticks and stick foundation – all wonderful for making different size circles. I’m always evaluating everyday items for something usable in my art - wonderful textures and shapes are waiting to be found – one just needs to remember to look.
With tools in place and clay rolled, I cut out a circle, with a smaller concentric circle within. Then the fun began. I wanted to imprint “a dog leaves a paw print on . . .” circumferentially, on the front. Sounds easy. Well, here I am, three days later to let you know it isn’t! Roll clay, cut out circles, imprint – and repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat – until it’s perfect. Right now, my left engineer brain is fighting with my right artist brain. The trial piece below looks pretty good at first glance. But I see too much space between the letters in the word “leaves.” So more rolling, cutting and imprinting until I come up with a “neat but organic” look that would make both sides of my brain happy. I do like the paw! The pink silicone mold I made was from a reduced size print of our dear Miss Perky’s paw. It’s the real thing!
Have you figured out exactly which non-profit will benefit from this necklace, when it is complete? I may have a little contest down the road, so start guessing!
To be successful in a less-than-ideal economy – actually, in ANY economy – my business needs to provide a beautiful product, good value and excellent customer service.
Jay Goltz recently wrote a NY Times article that encapsulates the heart of great customer service. The author’s ideas are very much in line with mine – make sure every customer is happy. Although the goal is “100% happy,” sometimes a customer has a legitimate issue with a product. In that case, Mr. Goltz offers a simple mnemonic to help right the situation.
If you are a business owner, read how to S.A.V.E. customer service. Whether you are a business owner or a customer, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you consider important factors of customer service. Feel free to share any really great – or really awful – customer service experiences.
I am still recovering from my surgery but can finally get to my studio to create again! That’s the easy part – the photography, not so easy. As soon as I figure it out, I’ll be happy to share some of my new work with you. Meanwhile, here is a less-than-ideal photo of a prototype for my Perky’s Paw charity piece:
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