• Sunday March 28
• Saturday June 5
• Saturday September 11
• Saturday December 4

Handmade – Canberra’s quarterly Upmarket brings together talented artists, designers, stylists, craftspeople and gourmets all at one destination.  It is a unique event to connect the makers of beautiful things to people who appreciate the quality, handcrafted and locally designed.

This year the markets will be held at Kamberra Wine Company. It is a good location to catch tourists (not to mention being close to home).

The other surprising news that came from Handmade was the opening of a retail store in Civic (Canberra, Australia). I must check it out one lunch time.

Shop Handmade is an exciting new concept store created to showcase the amazing talent of Australian artisans

Shop Handmade is located on City Walk in Canberra’s CBD, Shop 20 Allara St on the corner opposite The Canberra Centre Civic and Glebe Park.

Still not having much luck with the firing. As a recap, I planned to refire a number of pieces of bronze clay which were under-fired first time around. In the same tub I included two copper clay “bags”.

This is the schedule I used.

• Ramp: 253 F per hour (137 C)
• Target (Hold) Temperature: 1530 F (830 C)
• Hold 3 hours.

All the copper crumbled.

Rio Grande’s recommended firing schedule is as follows:

COPPRclay™ Firing Schedule (for pieces that will not be enamelled):

Regardless of thickness (embedded in coconut shell-based activated carbon): Ramp at full speed to 1700°F-1800°F (927°C-982°C) and hold for 3 hours (total firing time, including ramp-time, will be about 4 hours). Most firings perform well at 1700°F. However, if you discover that your pieces are not sintering properly, try firing them at 1800°F. Please Note: Blistering may occur at 1800°F; if this occurs, slightly decrease the firing temperature.

If I went by this I would say the problem was obvious. The kiln was not hot enough but I was used Hadar’s original copper clay not COPPRclay.  Hadar’s schedule is as follows:

It is bit more complicated but not as hot. Perhaps missing the first phase was the problem.I have not yet had any success with copper clay although I have only tried Hadar’s original clay. I have a package of CopprClay lying around so I may try that next.

I wasn’t really expecting the bricks to fire properly. As you can see, I wasn’t disappointed;)

There was one success. I repaired the broken bail on the landscape pendant. It came out of the kiln with a nice patina but it wasn’t quite what a wanted. After a bit of sanding and tumbling it came up more how I wanted it to look.

A added some blue resin in the hole as enamelling sounded all too hard.  I’ll call it “Blue Moon” after last weekend’s Canberra moon.

As I mentioned in a previous post, these holidays I have been working my way through Hadar Jacobson’s books. I put quite a bit of work into two bracelets and they came out look like this! I wanted to give up metal clay completely. A week later I think I can talk about it… and try another firing;) I this post I outline what I did last time and what I propose for the next one.

Firing schedule

I have a Paragon SC3 and used the following firing schedule (Rio Grande via MSchindel’s excellent Squidoo Lens).

BRONZclay pieces up to and including 3mm (6 cards) thick*:

Program the kiln as follows:

Ramp at 500°F (278°C) per hour to 1550°F (840°C).

Hold for 2 hours.

(Total firing time, including ramp-time, will be between 4 and 5 hours.)

Cool before removing lid/unloading.

The ‘bricks’ (pictured left) were a quarter of an inch thick so clearly needed to be fired longer. [Problem 1] What I still don’t get though is that not all the pieces were that thick but everything failed.

Rapid Cooling

This is the first time I have been awake when the kiln finished. Normally I put it on overnight. Impatience got the better of me and I took the pan out while it was still very hot and dug around with a pair of tongs. [Problem 2] I couldn’t work out why I wasn’t picking up the linked bracelet. Finally I worked out it was turning to powder as I stirred.

I have a few copper pieces that need firing and a repaired bronze piece so I will try re-firing the bricks.

I’m going to try the following based on instructions in the article on CoolTools:

Ramp: 253 F (137 C)

Target Temperature: 1530 F (830 C)

Hold 3 hours.

It is a much slower ramp. It will be going all night. I will also leave it until mid morning to have a dig around.

Wish me luck!

I used the Gloves in a Bottle very briefly last night. It looks like good stuff but I only bought a small bottle and I imagine I will go through it very quickly. I also put a few drops of the Lavender Oil into the PMC paste I had. It smells nice now but that is as much as I can say. It is only 2.5ml which is explains why it was so cheap compared to what I saw in the local pharmacy.

The little files are very cute. I wish I had thought to order two packets so I would have one set for bronze and another for silver. I’ll keep these ones for silver. [Speaking of files, Art Jewelry magazine has I brief article on files this month. It is fairly basic but I learnt a few things. I might just have to go shopping for a few specific files now.]

I got the nerdy glasses which have already proved their worth. I was able to look in Tim’s ear and confirm the infection is back!

The two part mould would have put the postage up but something I have wanted for a long time. Not sure what for exactly. It will come to me. Textures possibly. I better work it out as it is only warranted for 1 month. Already today I have thrown out a package of woodchip clay that didn’t keep.

The rest is silver clay and sanding materials. Expensive hobby but of so much fun. Just as well I have a day job.

One of the things I like about beading and wirework is how portable they are. Recently, no project has travelled further than the living room but it is nice to join the family and string a few beads or bend a bit of wire.

My main projects lived on Ikea trays in the craft room. (I think they were discontinued which is why I picked them up so cheaply at Ikea Homebush a year or so ago.).  Problem was I had a habit of leaving a tray on the coffee table at night and knew that with a very curious (and clumsy) cat and two boys it was only a matter of time before a project was upended and bits lost forever. I needed a more secure and less messy solution.  I also wanted to be able able to work on a project with minimal fuss. I’m back at the ‘real job‘ next week and the craft time will be limited. If I am going to do anything at all it has to be easy to pcik up.

In summary, I needed the ability to store multiple projects within easy reach but out of harm’s way. Easy.

I had hanging around a cheap set of drawers from a dollar shop.  I was trying to get the kids to use it for their craft but strangely enough, that wasn’t happening. I reclaimed it and lined each drawer with a piece of felt. It allows for four projects which is not even getting close to what I have on the go but enough to keep within easy reach.

It’s not the most attractive item in the lounge but so far it works.  If I still like the idea in a few weeks I may look for something I little nicer.  For now, the cheap blue trays will live on the coffee table next to my place on the couch.

I think it is one of the best packages I have received. One thing that struck me is that the order was mostly supplies. Very few tools.  Am I running out of tools to buy? Surely not!

Given the amount in the box the postage charge wasn’t too bad, although it was more than previous orders with FMG. Shipping was USD48.35.  I placed the order 9 January, it was posted 12 January and arrived in Canberra 18 January. I should have received it yesterday but I was out when FedEx visited.

Enjoy the pictures.

Contents of the box.  Everything was contained in five snap lock bags. Very efficient this time.

The bulk of the order was seed beads.  Another thing I want to learn.

The seed beads after I removed the FMG bags.

Some needles and Fireline for the seed beads.

A few more Swarovskis. A girl can never have enough.

The packaging of the Swarovskis is very different to Blue Mud where I placed my last couple of orders.

A few bits and pieces.  The turquoise beads and lovely.  Can’t wait to do something with them.  There is a bit of a turquoise theme appeared here.  I wonder if it has anything to do with this?  There is also a bit of black onyx in there.

An article in an FMG newsletter promoted me to add some glue. I think I added about six different types when I first read it and then culled to two when I placed the order.  I used the Hypo Cement this afternoon.  Good stuff.

And finally, the only tools to be found.  Well done me!

After unpacking, this is all the extra plastic added by FMG.

This is something I made on my first attempt in 2008.

Another plan for the holidays was to concentrate on improving some skills rather than tinkering in 20 different areas so I decided to start working through Hadar Jacobson’s first book.  [I bought her first and second from her at a course I attended in Sydney a couple of months ago. More on that in another time].

This is what I made with the remainder of the packet.  These pieces are unfired.

Attaching a bail is what I find the hardest. Or perhaps it is creating secure joins. I am now wondering if some of my problems are because I am drying the clay too quickly. I am using the Convection Oven I have for Polymer Clay on a very low heat.  Here I show attaching a bail to a patchwork pendant.

Straight out of the kiln the colours were interesting.  Initially everything looked good.

The patchwork pendant had problems and a bit fell off when I picked it up.

The bail also had a gap.

On further inspection – well the picture says it all.

This piece was my favourite and I was disappointed the bail broke off.  The rest seems strong to I will attempt to fix it.  I gather enamel does not work well on bronze or perhaps resin.

I finished one of the round pendants and put it on a cord. I was reasonably happy with it. I took it on an short break last week. I lost it. More disappointment.

I’ll write about the earrings later when I work out what to do with them.

Lessons Learned

• An open packet of bronze clay will keep, in the fridge at least.
• Don’t heat bronze to dry it quickly.
• Use embeddables for bail and/or get better and joining pieces.
• Earrings must be a mirror image (d0h)