DIY Jewellery // Simple Silver Triangle Necklace // Metal Clay

Last week, I posted about the magic that is Metal Clay.  This week, I'll be sharing three more DIYs that I tried with my clay and today, I'll be showing you just how extraordinary it is.  Spoiler: I managed to salvage this:

...in to this:

Grab a cuppa and I'll tell you how.

I am a huge fan of simple, fine jewellery, so I thought I would give this style a go.

This post will be a little more whistle-stop than my previous post, so do give that a read for a more in depth description of the process of Metal Clay.

 Start by rolling your clay into a sausage.  The clay does tend to dry quickly, so you have to work fast and have a cup of water close by to help prevent cracks or the clay drying out too much: 

  Keep rolling and working the clay out from either end to make the roll thinner and to 

the desired thickness [though this can easily be trimmed a little later]:

 I drew a simple template to use to guide my clay:

 ...and sitting some parchment paper on top, used the template to shape my clay.  

To then flatten the clay, I pressed a plastic sheet over the top:

...this caused some of the clay to crack, but this can be easily remidied with a little water and a toothpick to smooth over the clay.  

I also used a craft knife to thin the clay and make the lines sharper [and as even as possible]:

 As with the hammered effect disc, I dried the clay with a hairdryer for around 20 minutes:

 ...this revealed a few fine surface cracks, which I knew could easily be sanded away:

 ...or not.

I cannot tell you the panic and disbelief as my triangle of clay shattered before me.  I was completely ready to write this off, telling myself I had created something too fine, more complicated than I thought and put it all down to experience.  However; there is a handy leaflet that outlines the basics of the kit and within that, 'how to mend broken pieces'.  OK - let's test you.

 After fitting my broken pieces back together, I took a very small amount of metal clay and mixed it with a little water [just a drop at a time] to create a paste.  On the end of a toothpick, I then used this as a glue to piece the four clay parts together.  Leave to dry and help the process with a hairdryer again. CAREFULLY sand away any excess to reveal....:

 ...what I could not believe.  

You wouldn't have known just half an hour earlier this triangle was in four separate pieces.  

So impressed.  

Fire, buff and polish away as before to reveal a gorgeous, simple pendant:

 Loop through a chain and you have yourself a beautiful piece of jewellery.

[Which, a little earlier, I don't think any of us expected to be the outcome]:

 I still can't quite believe this was possible considering it was, at one point, 4 broken fine pieces of clay.  My amazement with this continues and I'll be sharing another DIY on Wednesday.

What do you think?

*update: giveaway now closed*

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!  You can win a beginners kit and 7g of silver clay magic.

Enter at the end of last weeks post using this link.

Good Luck! Only 4 days left!

...and you can see what else I made with my metal clay in the same post

 - this simple hammered effect disc.  

see you next time x