Tool Talk Thursday: How Did You Do That?..High Temp Wire Revisist

Heart Charms by Mary Harding

I have had quite a few email questions asking me to demo how to make and insert the stringing loops that are found in many ceramic pieces.  So today I am going to share a tutorial I put together to answer these questions.

1.  I use High Temp Stamen Wire 24 gauge as seen in the picture above.  It is made by Kemper and available from most ceramic supply stores.  I will include a list of sources at the end of the tutorial. This wire is good for Cone 6 firings and lower.

2. I use looping pliers and a heavy duty wire cutter when working with this wire to make stringing loops.  The heavy duty wire cutters are great for a quick clean cut, but you can use most wire cutters used for jewelry and they will work too.

3. I use the medium width loop mandrel in the looping pliers and grip the wire as shown. 

4.Then I bend it over the looping mandrel until it touches the other wire and snip it off.

5.Before I cut the wire, the loop looks like this.  It needs some straightening as well which you can do with your chain nose or flat nose pliers.

6.  If you do not have looping pliers, you can use a skewer quite successfully to wrap your loops around.

7.  I suggest you cut your loops a bit bigger and longer than you  think you will need them.  That short one in the foreground may not be very useful since it has such a short shank.  I like to bury the shank as deeply as possible in the clay and still maintain a loop shape.  This way I am sure that it is securely in the clay. In addition, it is easier to center the loop when you have that extra length to manipulate.



8.  Now that we have our loops, when do we put them into the clay?  The loops go into wet clay.  It is important that the clay not be too wet and limp when you try to insert  the loop.  I usually cut out several pieces and put them on plaster board to dry a bit before I put in the loop.   The clay should be firm enough to pick up with your fingers without leaving any impression or distorting the surface texture.  On the other end of the scale, you don't want the clay to be leather hard or you will not be able to get the loop in without damaging the clay.  So experiment around the degrees of firmness and see what works for you. 



Picture of heart charm with freshly inserted loop. 

9. You can see that it requires handling the clay and even squeezing it when you put in the loop.  Hence why the clay must dry a bit before doing this.  When you are inserting the loop, it may be necessary to move it around or move it over a bit to make sure it is just where you want it.  This will leave little holes in the clay that will not just disappear during the firing or glazing, esp with low fire or translucent glazes.

10.  I use a nail care stick called an orange stick to clean up around the loop after it is inserted.  These are very inexpensive and are found in the cosmetic/nail section of many larger drugstores.  They work better than a skewer and I think that is because they are made of a tighter grained wood.  Originally they were made from orange trees which has a nice tight, smooth grain.  In any case they are great for smoothing over the little holes left from moving the loop around or any other imperfections caused by disrupting the clay when you put it in.

11.  Now you are ready to let your pieces dry well and then you can sponge then off and clean up the clay that got onto the loops and even smooth out around them some more. 

I hope this Tutorial answered your questions about stringing loops.  If you have any other questions please add them to the comment section below and we will gladly answer them.  If you have any suggestions for making loops, please add them to the comments as well.  We all appreciate you sharing your experience with us.

Posted by MaryHarding

Source List

Bailey Ceramics, Big Ceramic Store, Clay-King ( High Temp Wire)

Beadaholique     (looping pliers)

Objects and Elements (heavy duty wire cutters)

                                          Amazon.com (orange sticks for nails)



New In the BOC Etsy Shop

Copper & Green Raku Charm Pair Donated by Suburban Girl Studio

                                          Earth Tone Links and Beads Donated by Macarroll

                                     Handmade Pendant and Beads Donated by Yolandas Clay

                           Heart of Bone Porcelain Heart Charm Donated by Beads Birds and Bones

                                White Glazed Terracotta Leaves Donated by Winchell Clayworks

      Lovely ceramic bead work. All of these would be great for your Fall creations.  You can see these pieces and 98 other handmade ceramic clay artists' beads in the BeadsofClay Etsy shop.  Hope you stop by and visit and then visit the individual artists' Etsy stores.

Tool Talk Thursday: Making Connections

Aqua Black Burgundy Connector bead by Artisan Clay

A great tool for making jewelry is having connector beads.  Today's post features a sampling of Beads-of-Clay artists' beads that are specifically designed for that purpose.

2 bisque oval connectors from BisqueBeadSupply

Dragon Fly Connector by JoanMillerPorcelain

Handmade Raku Connector Bead by LisaPetersArt

Blue Leopard Ceramic Link by maccarrol

Ceramic Connector Bead with Copper  Coil by Mary Harding

Ceramic Connector Oak Leaves in Green by Winchell Clay Works

I hope you have found these examples of connector beads inspiring and that you will find uses for them in your jewelry creations.

Tool Talk Thursday Indian Wood Block Stamps Part II

My small collection of Indian Wood Block Stamps

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about Indian Wood Block Stamps.  This week my post is about some ceramic art beads that several Beads-of-Clay artists have created using this kind of Wood Block Stamp and some of my insights into how to use them.  I also want to mention that the next Tool Talk Thursday post will not be until September 8th, as I will be on vacation.

When I tried out my wood block stamps I found that they did not stick to the clay which was on the dry side.  Because they are wood they can absorb some of the water in the clay and not stick to the clay. 
I found that they can make a very deep impression ( and not grab any of the clay)  but can be pressed more lightly for less of an impression.
My other insight into using them is to mix them up with some other surface textures for a really unique piece.  I haven't tried that yet but will in the future.
Glazes break beautifully over the deep impressions that these stamps make in the clay.  A real plus for me!!
Here are some examples by several Beads-of-Clay artists:

Bracelet Bar by Chinook Jewelry

Heart Pendant by Chinook Jewelry  Don't you just love the colors of her glazes!!
              You can check out her Etsy Shop for some of her Indian 
wood Block Stamps  that she is destashing.

Vlad from GolemDesigns Studio sent me several pics for pieces he has made using this kind of wooden stamp.  He tells me he bought his stamps in Istanbul at a market and was told they were made in Afghanistan. 

Golem Design Studio

Golem Design Studio

Button by Vika

Victoria Cochran, aka Vika on Etsy,  one of our blog authors, sent me this photo of a button she made incorporating an Indian wood block stamp.  Wonderful contrast between the two textures and the two colors.  Super nice!!

Shaterra Clay

Shaterra Clay

Sharleen of Shaterra Clay  gave us pics of these two examples of her use of wood block stamps. I like the way she integrates them into an overall design.

Toggle Clasp  Mary Harding

Toggle Clasp by Mary Harding

These last two are my first tries with the Indian Wood Block Stamps shown in the pic at the beginning of this post.  No glaze on this one and just a light bit of glaze on the one above it.

Thank you for stopping by.  See you in a couple of weeks!!

Color Inspiration Summer Blooms

Rosa Rugosa   Rose Hip    A wonderful intense red orange

This time of year colors are everywhere for your inspiration.  Here are a few that I am enjoying right now.

Catnip 

I love the mint plant greens..  Dusty and subtle.

Phlox

One of my favorite shades of violet.

Goldenrod

Such a delicate yellow.  So graceful and  innocent before the blossoms open

Tool Talk Thursday: Odd Finds

This is a mold line clean up  tool.  The curved blade is designed to cleanup the line left on pieces from a slip cast mold.  How cool is that?

I thought I would show some pics today of unusual, but useful clay tools.  You can find these on line at Bailey Ceramics and  Big Ceramic Store

This tool has two rubber ends.  Can be used to leave lines in your wet clay, remove wet glaze and a multitude of other uses not yet thought of.  I have always wondered what these rubber tipped tools do.

This is called the Steve Tool.  The tool includes a variety of these shaped plastic disks ( 10 disks in all) which you assemble  onto the Steve Tool to create different textures on your clay surface.  Endless possibilities for creating unique surface designs.  And in case you don't want to use this tool on clay, I found a video showing how it can be used in bread making here

The Art Roller. You attach the red roller to the handle  below and can roll a seamless pattern into your wet clay for any length you want.  Works like a paint roller.  They have about 30 different designs.( each sold separately for under $10.00.)  The roller is 7 inches wide and 2 inches in diameter. 

I hope you have seen a tool here you haven't tried before.  Let us know of any favorite tool of yours in the comment section.  Our readers would be most grateful for your sharing.

Tool Talk Thursday Stamping and a Winner

I found these wonderful wood stamps from India on Etsy.  This one is from  AmandaJames1  She tells us she buys them herself on her travels.  She has many more in her shop.

Like this antique hand carved wood fabric stamp.

I just love the leaves!!

A wooded Indian block stamp was used to decorate these delightful buttons from YolandasClay

Other stamps I found recently were on Bailey Ceramics.  They are now carrying a huge line of Mayco Stamps and I might add Mayco glazes too.  The stamps are fun and whimsical and quite well designed.

You can purchase these individually or as a kit.

I also found these Mayco stamps at ClayKing and Georgies

Mayco tells us that "these designer, flexible stamps are great for use not only on flat surfaces such as plates, but are perfect for wrapping around curved projects such as cups, bowls and more. Each stamp is 6.75"l x 2.125"w."

And if you want to make your own stamps I found this great page at RubberStamps.net   telling you just how to prepare your own drawings or images so that they can make you a wonderful custom stamp.

As far as I know all of the stamps referred to in this post allow you to use them on your art work.  The only restriction would be that you not make the stamp itself for commercial purposes. 

THE WINNER !!!!

The Winner of last weeks Giveaway of a set of Industrial Chic connectors and 4 Elaine Ray beads is:

Rising Designs

Congratulations Rising Designs.  Please send us your mailing address and we will send out your prize.

We had 4 comments about inspiration and the Random Number generator picked number 2

Thank you to all who participated in this Giveaway.  We appreciate your comments and interest in the Beads-of-Clay blog.

Tool Talk Thursday

Great new emag to hone your wire wrapping skills to enhance your ceramic bead stash. I downloaded my copy a couple of days ago. I am thrilled with the live videos that give you a close up demonstration of essential wire wrapping skills.
This emag also has fun projects for you to make. I love the button bracelet. And an added bonus is the fact that several of the projects feature ceramic beads or lend themselves to using ceramic beads.
Our own Artisan Clay Kristie has one of her fabulous donut and glass pendants featured in a project called Raindrops and Puddles.


You can get your copy, a reasonable $9.95, from Interweave. http://www.interweavestore.com/Jewelry-Making/Magazines/Live-Wire-eMag.html