For the past few weeks, I have been in a metal clay jewelry class. So far we have been working with copper metal clay, and it is so fun.

In the spring, I wanted to try working with precious metal clay, but it was a bit intimidating due to the cost and needing to work with a torch or a kiln (neither of which I have… yet). Most of what I have tried so far has been self-taught with the help of books the trusty internet for instructions. So I decided to enroll in a class and learn from someone who is familiar with metal clay.

I am so, so glad I did. In the first class I took, we started with silver metal clay. It was lovely to work with, but a bit intimidating because it is expensive. We did a little work with copper metal clay in that class, but not a whole lot.

The first picture shows a couple of necklace pendants I made in the spring class. The silver pendant has a piece of fused glass in it. I accidentally got some silver across it, so I just made it part of the design. I love how it turned out.

This time around, we started with copper metal clay. It has been nice starting with the less expensive clay, because I feel free to try different things without constantly thinking about how much the clay costs. It costs enough that I haven’t just been making stuff willy nilly with it, but it has been fun to try some new things.

The second picture shows the copper pieces I’ve been working on before they were fired. It is neat to see how different these pieces look before they are fired. They look like a bunch of pieces of terra-cotta. I’m really excited to see these fired when I go to class this week and to work with the silver again.

After this class, I feel confident enough to buy a torch and work with some metal clay on my own. If you are thinking about working with precious metal clay, I highly recommend taking a class from someone who is familiar with it. They should be able to show you how to properly work with it and how to fix mistakes along the way.

I’m looking forward to sharing some of these finished pieces with you! 🙂