CUTE AS A BUTTON RING

I am re-thinking the way I do my work. I get bored easily so to do things over and over is not my cup of tea, but when it's time to do shows, I need a lot of goodies to fill up the table. So I decided to try this method. Nothing new, I am not re-invent the wheel, just different way to work. So I made rings out of some wire. (I will show you how later, I promise) Then made a round base, covered with some canes then insert the ring into it. You can use store bought ring blank, the one with round base. Here's how.

Material
Black clay, ring base, several canes, copper mesh, circle cutter and plastic wrap.

1.Make rings from wire.

2. Run 2 sheets of black clay at thickest on PM. put on top of each other, cut out w/ cutter. Make several of those.

3. Cut small pieces of copper mesh, put them on top of the discs.

4. Run another sheet of black clay at thickest, cut out w/ round cutter. Put them on top of the copper mesh, press lightly make sure it stick together.

5. Put plastic wrap on top of each disc, cut out w/ round cutter, bake for 10 minutes.

6. Prepare the cane sheets, make sure they are big enough to cover the disc. Cover the discs with them, trim the edge, then decorate with other canes or what ever you want. Bake.

7. Turn the disc up side down, carve the deep channel with carving tool, deep enough that the ring can be embedded into it. Cover the channel with some clay. Press the ring into it, then cover with more clay, bake and put varnish on them.








If you have the ring blank with round base on it, just carve the circle out of the back to embedded the ring in it. The possibility is endless, you can make different shapes too.

Round beads with Chinese word in the middle

I bought the Metal stamps with Chinese word on them a while back from somewhere I can't remember (Sorry). They are not as big as I expected but using them this way might work out fine.

So, what you need is some Black Clay, stamps, plastic wrap, texture tool, copper mica powder, clear varnish..

1. Make a sheet of black clay. Run it through the thickest setting on PM.

2. Stamp the words on to the clay. Leave enough space in between words

3. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over clay. This way when you cut out with the round cutter, the wrap will round up the edge of the cut out pieces.

4.Press the cutter lightly on the wrap, enough to see if the word will be in the center, then press the cutter down.

5. Peel off the wrap, and excess clay.

6. Texture the discs lightly if you want then cover the surface with copper mica powder. Apply it with your finger so it only stick to the surface, not in the words. Baked.

7. Prepare the base clay for beads. Make a round shape clay about the size of your thumb., press down to almost flat. press a disc on both sides, make sure they line up at the middle. This might need a few practice. Press the discs down between your finger, like so.

8. Make texture with a needle tools, then bake. After that, put a few coats of varnish on the disc. Mica powder do rubbed off through time.

I made a few beads and a flat disc with one side. Those I will use to make rings.

Don't forget to check out my project with "Ring a day" group on Flickr. We have to make one ring each day for a year (365 totals) and post the picture on Flickr.