by Holly Gage

One of my favorite things about working with Precious Metal Clay or Art Clay is that it is so wonderful for capturing textures. What is sometimes overlooked, is that you can also create refined jewelry with a hard edged and mirror finish as well. This pendant explores the possibility of both.
I became inspired to create this pendant touched by nature, when my family and I were walking in the woods and we discovered a very interesting tree branch which was covered with worm hole patterns. You’ll find that once you begin working with Silver Metal Clay, you become more in-tune with your environment, and every texture, leaf, object and rock can become a source of inspiration.
Below are the steps for making your own texture plate to embellish the surface of a hollow pendant. The contrast between the mirror finish and the intricate detail result in an elegant necklace floating a beautiful black mother of pearl.

Making a Cork Clay Core for the Pendant.
A core will be used as a support armature for making the pendant, allowing it to be hollow, lighter and more comfortable to wear.

1. 1 Cut out template (A), the pendant body. Use it as a guide to form the core to your pendant.
   2 With the cork clay, form the core. Notice that the shape you are forming is slightly convex. The center of the core and the shelf area will be approx. 8 mm thick. All outer edges will be sharply pinched together with your fingers. Smooth all cracks and let the core dry completely. You can speed up drying by putting it on a warming plate. Flip often to avoid warpage. It is completely dry when it is hard.
   
   
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3. 3 Use a brush to cover the entire surface of the cork clay with a layer of gel glue. After it dries, coat with a second layer. Speed up drying on your warming plate. This barrier helps the Metal Clay stick to the core more easily when working on the piece and it also gives the Metal Clay a space to shrink into during the early stages of firing, which can help prevent cracks from forming during shrinkage.
   
   

1. 1 Find an interesting texture letting nature be your inspiration.
   
   
2. 2 Roll polymer clay approx. 12 cards thick. Press the polymer clay into the desired pattern applying even pressure with your fingertips or use a roller. Carefully pull back the polymer clay and gently flatten the plate being careful not to flatten the design. Bake at the manufacturers recommended temperature in the toaster oven. You can create and collect lots of your own textures this way.
   

1. 1 On a piece of paper, trace the outer perimeter of the cork core. Leave approx. 3/16 between the edge of the core and your drawn line. When tracing the inner circle, leave only 2/16 between the edge of the core and your drawn line. Cut out the “enlarged” template. (This new template will be used to cut PMC or Art Clay panels for the front and back of the pendant. The Metal Clay will then be large enough for pinching together on either side of the core. Since the shelf area does not need to be pinched together, it only needs to be a little extended to receive the shelf, but not so much that the opening of the circle is made too small to clear the 10 mm mother of pearl once the Metal Clay shrinks.)
   
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3. 2 Lightly oil your hands, non-stick work surface and all tools before using the Metal Clay . Roll out one half of your Metal Clay between 5 playing cards. Cut your Front Panel and keep it under plastic wrap until you are ready to work with it. Repeat for the Back Panel.
   
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   3 Lightly oil the surface of the texture plate. Using even pressure, press it into the bottom of the front panel. Put the panel back under plastic wrap. Repeat for the back panel after re-oiling the plate. If the impression needs minor modification, you will get best results by perfecting it in the leather hard and bone dry stages when the Metal Clay is holding its shape better. Be patient until each successive stage which offers different working advantages.
   
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11. 4 Gently flip each panel over to the wrong side or what will be the inside of the pendant. Score the flat edge of the perimeter of each panel.
    
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15. 5 Center the core on the bottom half of the PMC or Art Clay, then add a thick layer of slip or syringe covering the scored area.
    
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18. 6 Sandwich the core between the other two panels, lining up edges. With your fingers or a shaping tool, press the edges together. Try to blend in the seam so that it is no longer visible. Fill in gaps with thin snakes of Metal Clay and use slip for cracks.
    
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22. 7 Put it on your warming plate until leather hard. Continually flip it to avoid warping the shape.
    
    8 The leather hard stage is a good time to modify your impression without losing the pendants overall shape, however a gentle touch is still required. Check to see if your impression, is it deep enough. Use your shaping and carving tools to modify the depressed areas. You can clean up recessed areas and refine the final pendant shape in the bone dry stage.
    
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26. 9 Put the piece back on the warming plate until bone dry.
    
    10 After it is dry, use your emery board to refine all edges and the surface of the pendant. Wrap sandpaper around a dowel or tubular object to sand the inner shelf. Use a brush to gently remove the Metal Clay dust as you work. Your goal is an evenly curved surface. If you have an uneven surface, add a couple layers of slip in any flat areas to even it out. Let dry and then sand again.
    

Creating the Inner Circle Shelf and Closing the Angled Top Surface of the Pendant.

1. 1 Cut out template B on the outer most line. This is the shelf forming the lower edge of the circle. Check the fit by placing the template in the curved area. Trim the template to fit the inside circle perfectly. You may need to use one of the concentric lines on the template to fit “your” piece.
   
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7. 2 Roll the Metal Clay between 3 playing cards and cut out Template B.
   
   
8. 3 Score the perimeter of the shelf.
   
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11. 4 Score the inside edges of the circle of the pendant.
    
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14. 5 Add a thick layer of slip or syringe on the scored edge of the pendant.
    
    6 Carefully fit the shelf on the inner edge of the circle. Press lightly with your fingers, the shelf should lie flat and not be pushed into the opening. If it extends out larger than the pendant, don’t worry, it can be trimmed when it is leather hard.
    
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18. 7 Set the pendant on the warming plate until leather hard. Trim any extending clay and fill in any cracks with slip.
    
    8 Score the top edges of the remaining openings on the pendant.
    
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    9 Roll your PMC between 3 playing cards and cut out (2) small squares that will fill over the openings. Because they are small and hard to handle let them sit a couple of minutes until leather hard.
    
    10 Add a thick layer of slip or syringe on the scored edges of the pendant.
    
    
20. 11 Fit the pieces on the opens, press lightly with your fingers. Again if it extends out larger than the pendant, don’t worry.
    
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23. 12 Set the pendant on the warming plate until leather hard.
    
    13 With your Exacto knife, carefully trim any extended clay and fill in cracks or gaps with slip.
    
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26. 14 Put the piece back on the warming plate until bone dry.
    
    15 Use a 600 grit of sandpaper to sand the shelf flush with the front of the pendant and the inner edge of the shelf. You should see no seams. Take the sandpaper and wrap around a dowel or tubular surface to sand the inner edge of the self.

Finishing and Refining Your Work.
In this stage you will refine and finish the surface, and add holes for hanging the pendant. This step is key for perfecting your craftsmanship, crispening up softened edges and refining the surface in preparation for a flawless mirror finish.

Fire and Tumble.
Ventilate well since the cork core gives off harmful fumes.

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   1 Fire your piece on a bed of support material in a kiln at 1560 degrees for 20 minutes or for more strength fire at 1650 for 2 hours. Note: Ramp up your kiln slowly to give the cork a chance to burn out, which will happen around 800 degrees or so. This will prevent overheating which can occur if the cork is still burning at higher temperatures, resulting in cracks or melting. Ventilate well since the cork core gives of possibly harmful fumes.
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   2 Brush the surface with a brass brush, water, and a non-abrasive hand soap. Brush until the silver is no longer “kiln white”.
   
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5. 3 Tumble your piece in the mixed steel shot, water, and a bit of non-abrasive hand soap. If you do not have a tumbler, you can hand polish your piece with decreasing grits of 3M polishing paper starting with 600 and ending with 8000.
   

Adding Depth to the Recessed Areas with Liver of Sulfur.
When using Liver of Sulfur always ventilate the room well.

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   1 Use a glass or plastic container for the liver of sulfur and another container for cold rinse water. Heat the Metal Clay jewelry on a warming plate. Use a small brush to apply the liver of sulfur solution to the recessed area, about (3) to (5) layers. After each application, rinse the piece in cold water. Each time you add more to the piece, it will become a darker color until it eventually reaches black. Build up the color slowly so that is won’t flake off.
   
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   2 Use the jewelry polishing cloth to restore the silver sheen on the high surfaces of the piece to create dramatic contrast.
   Attaching the Mother of Pearl to the Pendant and Getting It Ready to Hang on the Necklace.
   
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   1 Take the 2 1/2” piece of sterling wire and test that it will fit through all four holes at the top of the pendant. You may need to adjust the curve of the wire to accommodate the shrinkage. Start by feeding the wire through just two of the holes. When you see the wire just peeking out, slip on the mother of pearl, and then continue threading the wire through the bead and through the other two holes exiting on the outside. Center the wire.
   
   
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9. 2 Take (2) of the grey pearls and drill the hole larger with the dremel and .033 grill bit, so that it will fit the wire. Use a ring clamp or nylon pliers to hold the pearl as you drill.
   
   3 Slip (1) sterling spacer and (1) pearl onto the wire and trim the ends of the wire to
   approx. 1/4”.
   
   4 With your chain nose pliers, bend the wire outward into an “L” shape. With the round nose pliers, grasp the tip and curl inward until you make a closed loop.
   
   
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12. Materials for the Pendant
    PMC+, 28 g
    PMC3, slip 1 gram (optional PMC 3 syringe slip)
    cork clay
    gel glue
    polymer clay, 1 small package
    (1) interesting texture
    Materials for the necklace
    2 1/2” 20 gauge sterling wire
    (1) 10 mm Black Mother of Pearl
    (2) 4 mm grey potato pearls
    (2) sterling spacer beads
    Tools
    roller
    olive oil, small jar
    container for water
    plastic wrap
    non-stick surface
    soft brass wire brush
    emery board or sand paper
    3M polishing paper
    jewelry polishing cloth
    burnisher (optional)
    small jewelry files
    dental tools or carving tools
    shaping tool
    Exacto knife
    tumbler and mixed steel shot
    Liver of Sulfur, dry (blacking patina solution)
    2 plastic or glass containers for the liver of sulfur
    scissors
    paper
    pencil
    warming plate
    brush for glue
    # 2 brush for slip
    #2 brush for liver of sulfur
    brush, small (for sweeping dust away)
    12 playing cards
    toaster oven (used for crafts only)
    Dremel and .033 drill bit
    Ring Clamp or Nylon Pliers
    chain nose pliers
    round nose pliers
    wire cutting pliers
    Kiln & support material (vermiculate, etc)