Term 1, Week 1
Charm bracelet
Instructions
At least one silver metal clay charm must be made using a mould.
At least one charm must be made from rolling out clay with a texture.
At least one charm must have a patina using liver of sulphur.
At least one charm must have a high-shine finish.
The silver metal clay charms must be attached to a bracelet chain with jump rings. Jump rings must be securely closed on the bracelet but do not need to be soldered closed.
Egyptian charm bracelet
I received the curriculum for the course about a month in advance of it starting. I decided quickly what I wanted to make in this first week.
I created six charms as I felt they would be distributed around the bracelet better than four.
Egyptian lotus; Using home-made mould, drilled hole, liver of sulphur patina. This charm was quite thin when it came out of the kiln and I was concerned this would break so I remade this double the thickness of the first attempt.
Eye of Horus; Using home-made mould, liver of sulphur patina within eye to make the actual eye stand out. This was finished to high shine.
Hieroglyph for ‘to give’; (the triangle-shaped charm). This was hand cut from rolled out clay and polished to a high shine.
Ankh – meaning ‘life’; Using home-made mould, polished to a high shine.
Egyptian cat; Using home-made mould, liver of sulphur patina for the eyes and ears and sterling silver earrings which were soldered together so they can’t be detached.
Pyramid; Rolled out clay using Egyptian hieroglyph texture mat on one side and papyrus texture on the back. Hand cut pyramid.
The charms were assembled on the bracelet with jump rings which will be soldered together for any future sales. Four of the charms feature a soldered jump ring and two have holes drilled and a jump ring inserted.
This received high praise from my mentor who thought the overall design was good, and each charm was fitted the theme really well.
