
We have created a few fun pendants that we'd like to share with you. This started with a wish to make a small piece of jewellery that one could present a loved one with simply to say "you have the heart of an angel".
The idea of making a pendant including both a heart and an angel's wing was born along with the writing "angel heart". We have made the heart out of copper clay and the wing out of silver PMC to create a lovely contrast.
Along the same lines we thought of the dark side of those that like to be a little wilder....the "wild at heart" pendant was born: still a copper heart but this time deeply oxidized to make it black, and a bat wing made of silver with a blood red cubic zircon for pure passion.


Angel Heart & Wild at Heart Pendants:
http://www.arlisa-bijoux.com/copper-metal-clay-c-46.html
Monday, 5 October 2009
Bats, Angels, Hearts and Wings
Posted by
Isabella and Arlette @ Arlisa Bijoux
at
19:48
0
comments
Links to this post
Labels: Angel Heart, Arlisa Bijoux, copper metal clay, handcrafted jewellery, pendants, PMC, Wild at Heart
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Copper Clay

Finally the long awaited copper clay has arrived!
In the photograph above are our first experiments with this exciting new clay.
In its clay stage copper looks very much like bronze but feels somewhat like rubber, it also cracks less easily. The clay was used straight out of the packet without refrigerating it first, so the rubbery-dry feel might disappear if stored in a fridge.
We use a top loading brick kiln for firing, the pieces were placed on 1 single layer and distributed evenly in the middle of a tall pan, with coconut based carbon under and over. It's a good thing to gently tap the top carbon layer to avoid any air bubbles being trapped which would result in oxidized pieces.
Why don't we fire several layers together? whilst working with bronze clay we found that the best results by far were achieved by firing only 1 layer at a time, so we continued to use this method with copper.
Firing schedule:
The instructions on the packet suggest ramping at full speed to 1700° (927°C) and hold for 3 hours. Again, thinking of our experiments with bronze and how we've had to shorten the hold time and lower the temperature, we again worked towards the same direction with copper and tried the following:
For a 2300 watts kiln:
1 hour ramp to 1650°F (900°C) and hold for 2 hours. Total firing time: 3 hours.
We left the pieces cool in the shut kiln until the temperature was 390°F (200°C) and took them out. This took about 5 hours cooling time.
With this method the pieces shrank by approximately 20% but turned out to be very strong and didn't break or snap. The texture applied in the wet clay stayed intact.
The hearts were brushed with a brass brush and burnished in a tumbler for 1 1/2 hours.
They came out very shiny and a beautiful rosey-coppery colour.
Hopefully this post will give hints and help others in their quest for the perfect metal clay object. ;-)
Posted by
Isabella and Arlette @ Arlisa Bijoux
at
16:51
0
comments
Links to this post
Labels: Arlisa Bijoux, copper clay, firing schedule, metal clay
Saturday, 14 March 2009
New Bronze and Silver Clay Video
Posted by
Isabella and Arlette @ Arlisa Bijoux
at
19:44
0
comments
Links to this post
Labels: Arlisa Bijoux, bronze clay, handcrafted jewellery, pendant, silver clay, video
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Puzzling Bronze Clay

It's been a long time since we last wrote about our experiments with the new Bronze Clay so an update is definitely in order.
The challenge encountered when working with this fascinating clay has been such that it inspired the creation of our new design "The Puzzle Pendant" which in turn inspired the title of this new message
;-)
We found that the best firing schedule for bronze clay is as follow (but every kiln is different so do your own testing first). More over, this schedule is for pieces that are over 3 cards thick:
For a 2300 watts kiln, place your objects in the middle of a large pan with equal amount of carbon under and over and do a 7 hour ramp to target temperature of 825C/1517F and hold for 2 hours.
For the Puzzle Pendant in the photo we used coconut shell based carbon which gave it pink/blue/green highlights on the left that were difficult to catch on camera. Most places are a lovely rich gold colour.
We will soon be adding some of these pendants in our online store, we think it would make an interesting Valentine present as the 2 halves can be either worn together or divided and shared.
Please visit our store where we are currently listing new bronze clay jewellery:
http://www.arlisa-bijoux.com/bronze-clay-c-45.html
Posted by
Isabella and Arlette @ Arlisa Bijoux
at
16:06
2
comments
Links to this post
Labels: Arlisa Bijoux, bronze clay, handcrafted jewellery, pendant, puzzle
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Exciting Bronze Clay



Posted by
Isabella and Arlette @ Arlisa Bijoux
at
17:43
0
comments
Links to this post
Labels: Arlisa Bijoux, bracelet, bronze clay, necklace, pendant, PMC
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Supporting the fight against breast cancer and HIV/AIDS
Posted by
Isabella and Arlette @ Arlisa Bijoux
at
13:43
0
comments
Links to this post
Labels: AIDS, Arlisa Bijoux, breast cancer, handcrafted jewellery, HIV, necklace, pink ribbon, red ribbon, sugar wire
Sunday, 3 August 2008
New Sugar Wire Jewellery
http://www.arlisa-bijoux.com/english-garden-sugar-wire-necklace-p-132.html
More sugar wire creations are to be found here:
Posted by
Isabella and Arlette @ Arlisa Bijoux
at
11:34
0
comments
Links to this post
Labels: Arlisa Bijoux, handcrafted jewellery, necklace, sugar wire



