Tag: throwback

Throwback Thursday: Copper Squirrel

On By CarynIn Craft, throwback

In March of 2011 I was experimenting with copper clay, which is fine particles of copper suspended in a fireable media that shapes like clay. When heated in a kiln, the organics burn away and the copper remains. I made this squirrel for my Dad, and after firing it measures about a half inch tall.

Photo description: copper squirrel sculpture with acorn side view

What I liked about this sculpture is the way I treated the tail. From the side it looks like a full fluffy tail, but the back shows that it is spoon shaped, which reduces the bulk and I feel was a nice design choice.

Photo description: back of the sculpture’s tail showing a spoon shape and lines indicating fur direction

Throwback Thursday: Terrarium build

On By CarynIn Craft, throwback

In January 2011 my husband and I designed a terrarium in a 25 gallon tank. I painted a faux stained glass mural with special plastic lead and translucent glass paint on the outside of the tank. We built a clear acrylic planter with a pass through for water circulation and covered the pump with a hand sculpted and water safe painted rock formation made of styrofoam. The bottom section was for fish and two red bellied newts, who would presumably also venture onto the land. The newts had the best story, because they would somehow escape the enclosure and roam the house. We are pretty sure a cat found one, but the other crawled onto my husband’s foot one morning startling him and sending the newt flying. Newt-imer survived the flight and my husband returned him to his enclosure where he lived until 2015. We had to re-home him after a house fire when we all had to find new accommodations for a while.

Photo description: hand painted terrarium tank with custom clear acrylic structures
Photo description: same tank filled with rock and dirt with faux rock pump cover and skull decoration

While the designing process was interesting, and there were lessons learned, the cleaning and maintaining of a fish tank is not something either of us want to bother with again.

Throwback Thursday: Silver work

On By CarynIn Craft, throwback

This is another favorite jewelry project I made back in January 2010. I used silver clay, some with cubic zirconia inclusions, to make unique beads, created custom wire elements, small chain link florets, and built links with end caps and beads.

Photo description: custom silver necklace with unique hand made links and custom clasp

This necklace did not do as well in the Fire Mountain Gems contest, which disappointed me because I thought this one displayed more technical skill. In hindsight, that is probably why it didn’t do well, it isn’t something easily duplicated, so wouldn’t advertise their products to the best advantage.

Live and learn.

Throwback Thursday: silver clay

On By CarynIn Craft, throwback

In April of 2009 I made one of my favorite metal clay jewelry sets. Metal clay is fine particles of silver suspended in a medium to make it workable like clay. It is then fired in a kiln to burn off the organics leaving nearly pure silver in the slightly smaller shaped form, all without forging or soldering.

Photo description: silver clay pieces ready for the kiln. The cork supports burn away in the high temperatures.
Photo description: after firing the pieces need to be cleaned with a brass brush
Photo description: fired metal pieces polished to a mirror finish by tumbling with polishing media
Photo description: custom metal clay links and clasps combined with sterling silver production elements and Swarovski crystal to make a necklace, bracelet, and earring set

The metal clay does give options for designs that are difficult to achieve with traditional gold smithing tools, but requires its own set of specialty tools like the kiln.

Throwback Thursday: glass frames

On By CarynIn Craft, throwback

Back in February of 2009 I was doing glass fusing in a small Paragon kiln. I was experimenting with fusible glass paint, which is applied with a bottle fitted with a thin steel tube. Colored ground glass is suspended in a liquid medium and placed on the glass, rather than painted with a brush. It is an interesting technique and one that requires a steady hand, a pin to clear the nozzles, and a wipe to clear up the mistakes. I like that these pieces reflect my preference for the Art Nouveau style. After I fused the paint to the clear glass in the kiln, I mounted the glass on acrylic photo frames. (I don’t know why I went this direction, it seems counterintuitive to glue glass to plastic rather than just use a frame. I’m sure there was a reason.)

Photo description: two clear fused glass panels with red, orange, and white designs done with fusible glass paint