Busy times.....

Since the end of April Mr. M and I have been working very hard painting and renovating the house. Every spare hour for almost 2 months was spent scrubbing, scraping, sanding, hammering and painting until at the end of June we were done with the ground floor. We still have the upper floor to do. That treat we are saving until August/September due to sheer exhaustion! But we are happy with the results so far:

While all this has been going on, my bead business has been going from strength to strength. Yay! The rainy summer has possibly been good for business as people seem to be staying indoors and creating. Some of my bestsellers at the moment are my flower cabs and the colorful skull beads that I got in a few weeks ago (almost sold out!)

coral, gold, pink and more

My recent bead purchases, along with the sunshine we had last week, inspired two pairs of earrings in coral and gold:

These colorful stone beads, which I have had for years, finally turned into a project.

Sort and organize

The lovely spring-like weather we've been having recently has inspired me to spring clean my workroom and organize my beads and findings for a better workflow. So pleased with the new storage boxes I got from my local DIY store:

Bead candy

Sorted by finish: my bronze box

Bead addiction

Some of my lovely new aquisitions:

The above two gorgeous color mixes I bought from Millefiori in Gothenburg.

Swarovski beads in the new shades of Denim Blue (bicones) and Padparadscha (lg heart) and sweet lilac foiled rocailles from Canvas, Gothenburg

These beauties are HUGE. From Westers in Jönköping.

New paper and a flower shape cutter. Paper roses from Toytime, Habo.

The glass rocailles made a lovely heart for my friend E's birthday.

Experiments with silverclay - part 2

Now that my pieces are thoroughly dry, it's time to fire them.

I placed my metal clay piece in the middle of the firing brick. You need a clock nearby for timing the firing and also a glass of water and metal tongs within easy reach. For safety reasons I also recommend wearing goggles. Make sure the place where you fire is well-ventilated - I set up a little station right by the open door to my veranda.

Ignite the torch and hold it at a 45° angle, about 4-5cm from the piece. Keep moving the flame over the piece. You will see a small amount of smoke and flame after a little while (this is the clay binder burning away), and then the piece will turn white. Keep the torch moving over the piece at all times. After a while you see the piece glow. When the piece turns a peachy-salmon color, begin to time the sintering cycle. Holding a sintering temperature (the peachy color) is important as it is sintering which joins the particles of silver together to create a strong and solid mass. Without this your piece will be brittle.

Sintering time ranges from about 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the weight and size of the piece. My pieces are quite small - about 1 cm across and 2 mm thick - so I held this temperature for about 2 and a half minutes. Increase or decrease the distance of the torch from the metal clay piece, depending on whether the color intensifies or fades. If the piece begins to look shiny or if you see sparks, the piece is near the melting point and you DON'T want this to happen. In this case just move the torch further away from the piece.

Immediately after firing, I used my metal tongs (tweezers will also do) to transfer the piece into the glass of water right next to the brick. This is called quenching. You can also move your piece (using a tool of course NOT your hands) to the cooler edge of the firing brick, and allow it to cool completely.

But whatever you do, DO NOT touch the piece until it is fully cooled!

At this point the piece will be white and still look like clay. Brushing and polishing, in the next tutorial, will bring up the lovely silver shine.