Tuesday, December 28, 2010

KC PMC Guild 2010 Charm Exchange

This was our third annual charm exchange, where members spend the November meeting making charms to exchange with one another in December. We have done both silver and copper clay, this year returning to use PMC3 silver clay. Although more signed up, at our December meeting we had 12 people with finished charms.


This is the collection of charms I received - not everyone made their charms identical, so some of us likely have a different collection. It's always interesting to see how people decide to use their variety of charms, so in the coming months we will share finished jewelry photos.

Artists' names included when known. We'll try to identify and add names.


The tab-style charm with musical not design was by Cheryl Coleman. 
Some of her charms were stamped with a sun-face motif.
Jules Van Hoecke (sweet heart imprint with darkened detail)

Lynette Fisk  (used 2-part silicone molding putty to create a mold from an old spoon handle, then added LOS patina.)

Darkly patina-ed flower from


This one looks a bit like an ancient coin.

(square charm with added chrystal)


Great patina on this 4-pointed star by Linda Maloney. She used stamps on both sides, cut the charm freehand and heavily oxydized it.

Dainty textured star

Leafy cutout from a textured round charm by Liz Willis. Liz enameled most of her charms but this is one of several on which she experimented using different hole punches.
Floral imprint, perhaps from an old button?

Jen Finley  (Man in the moon charm with crystals)
Carol Harder (leaf charm to which she added a variety of colored glass beads)

Monday, December 27, 2010

Thanks, Carol Harder

At our December meeting and Christmas party, the members of the Kansas City Chapter of the PMC Guild surprised our host Carol with a thank you gift - we pulled off the surprise! Members were all invited to make a charm (or two) in their favorite medium (PMC or other) to add to a bracelet for Carol Harder.


Since our first meeting several years ago, Carol has generously hosted our meetings in her driving school's classroom space. She makes us coffee, offers treats, bottled water and we use her paper supplies. She frequently is a presenter, sharing her many years of teaching experience and jewelry-making skills as well as her supplies. We have done pewter casting, glass enameling on copper, and many other things thanks to her sharing of supplies and equipment. Carol has an MFA in metalsmithing and taught high school art in the KC area for over 30 years.

She has also battled cancer more than once, including now, and yet never complains and always attends our meetings or makes sure we have access to the room if she is ill or out of town.

So....here is the nearly finished bracelet....

Some of the charms are PMC and others are beaded, fabricated, woven, felted, wired, found or sculpted.
Janice Lemasters created three charms, using wire, beads and found objects.

Leanne Doljac created a sparkler from PMC and a rhinestone bead ball.

This amazing charm was made by Betty Chaisson by painting a leaf with PMC paste and adding a pearl.

Robin MacIntosh created a large (1 1/8" long) PMC charm with a bead.
Jules Van Hoecke created a sculptural layered flower with a topaz colored CZ fired in the center.

Jen Finley's creation features PMC paste fired onto a large round lava rock bead.
Joyce Reed knows Carol's love of color, and combined beads with a silver headpin to create this charm.

Carol Hale used her fabricating skills to create this tree or arrowhead shape from sheet silver and added gold and silver beadwork.

Pat Kuehn used a variety of techniques to make charms from a felted bead and wire, press glass beads and a doll's eye with a seed beaded bezel.

Liz Willis (also a beader) created a beaded bead, weaving a hollow bead from tiny seed beads and using it to create her charm.
Lynette Fisk's charm is faux antique coral bead, created from polymer clay, sterling and brass wire and acrylic paint.

 Linda Maloney created a PMC coin which she embellished with dice and heart charms.

Mindy McLaughlin made a charm using pearls, turquoise and Bali silver on wire.

Cheryl Coleman's charm has symbolism, representing her nickname (Pooh bear), her company (Angel Stamps) on a yin yang bead.

 Janie Clark's adorable bird charm was lost in my Christmas card pile! It will soon be added to Carol's bracelet.

We were pleased with the results...

Our guild chapter has nearly 50 names on our roster, though not all are currently active. However, if other members want to add to Carol's bracelet, they still may. She's a jeweler, after all - she can add them herself!

We did print a 4x6 photo of each charm to be signed by the artist and presented to Carol so she can remember each of us by our charm.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Merry Christmas!

Tonight is our annual members charm exchange - watch for pictures later this week of the great items we expect to see tonight. Guests are welcome - we'll start at 7:00 p.m. Bring a snack to share.

Directions on our website at www.kcpmcguild.org

Thursday, November 11, 2010

November Charm Workshop

Time for our annual Charm Workshop! Get ready for our Charm Exchange in December by attending our Charm-making Workshop, Tuesday, November 16. Address and directions on our website.



Bring your PMC, tools, textures, etc. We'll all work on making charms (and making arrangements for firing if you do not have a kiln.) Make as many charms as you can or want to trade in December. You'll end up with a wide variety of charms to use any way you want.



If you ordered PMC clay through Jules last month, you should have received her email about your order and how much you owe. Please remember your checkbook or cash to reimburse her for this purchase. If you did NOT order clay, please bring your own.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

October Swap and Shop

The October 19 meeting of the KC PMC Chapter of the PMC Guild will be a
SWAP & SHOP Night.

It is also the deadline for ordering PMC3 clay for our November Charm Workshop.Click here to print out the order form.

Cheryl will be our Swap Organizer with a system of colored stickers to indicate relative value of items. You may want to swap 3 red items for 1 blue, etc.

Bring items to swap for other good stuff! Here's a sample list of items
  • Extra art supplies
    • metal clay (unopened, please)
    • inks, dyes, markers
    • chemicals - in original containers, marked and sealed
    • kiln supplies (blanks, mits, shelves, cones, tongs, etc.)
  • Duplicates of books, magazines, craft supplies
  • Tools
  • Carrying cases
  • Storage items
  • Containers of all shapes and sizes
  • Rubber stamps
  • Findings, beads, wire, etc
 You may also
  • bring and use cash 
  • bring finished items to swap or sell
  • just come and shop

 We will also have a brief demo and report on mini-firebrick copper clay firing boxes. These are easy to carve from soft firebrick - Hadar Jacobsen has recommended them for more consistent sintering of copper and bronze clay firing.


Don't forget to bring your Show and Tell - we love to see what you are doing.

Friday, September 10, 2010

August Meeting Followup

Janie showed us how to coat a leaf (geranium leaf shown) with PMC3 paste. Many layers are applied, dried thoroughly between each layer. When fired, the leaf burns away leaving a perfect silver leaf.


Be sure to apply the clay to the back side of the leaf only.




Carol and Lynette showed a few variations on using wire to make a ring.




Some show and tell items - not all are PMC, obviously!!

September 21, 2010 Meeting

Next meeting is Tuesday, September 21. Jennifer and Jules will give us a report on the many demos and new techniques they learned at the PMC Conference last summer. Check the website for map links and directions.

Show and Tell: Bring your recent creations to share with us!

Jules will demo using Water Resist  - to create textures on PMC. I'm not sure what that means, but sounds very interesting. This will be a "watch and learn" only demo due to the drying time needed between steps.

We will be taking orders for the Silver Paper Clay for our charm-making workshop in November and planning for the October Swap and Shop!

Silver Paper Clay: At the August meeting we decided to change our November charms from BRONZE clay to Paper clay mostly because we do not have enough members who are willing to fire bronze or copper pieces for everyone. The firing process is complex and dirty (for the kiln) so most are reluctant to do it.
Note: There may be a breakthrough coming - but for now we don't have many options.

Swap and Shop: Here's a chance to unload some of those extra items you may have in your studio (duplicate books, extra findings or materials or beads or???, tools, or things you no longer use). Cheryl is setting up a color-coded value system so have an idea what your things are worth - for trading purposes. This is NOT a "dump your junk" event but a chance to swap usable things. Remember, we have a lot of new members who may need basic items.  You may also want to bring finished jewelry or things you sell, but mostly this will be a barter night.

Friday, August 13, 2010

August Meeting Plans

The August 2010 KC PMC Guild meeting will feature a DEMO plus a Hands-on Make and Take project.


Janie will demo what she's learned in her certification classes about using PMC paste on real leaves to create super-realistic looking leaves (or pods or flowers....you get the idea).  She'll be showing us samples and detailing the steps, but the process to too slow to have us all join in.

And since watching PMC paste dry isn't the way our lively group likes to  roll we're going to add a hands-on project - making a ring with wire. Carol and Lynette will guide you and we call all make at least one ring to take home. See the tools list below.

We also plan to discuss our annual fall Charm Making and Christmas Exchange and start to get ideas from you about what you'd like to learn in 2011. This means taking some time for discussion. Bring your ideas!

Tool list:

  • Ring mandrel or dowel rod or ring forms (to shape wire)
  • Rawhide Mallet or Nylon Mallet
  • Hammers
  • Chain nose pliers
  • Round nose pliers
  • Wire Cutter
  • File or emery board
 Materials:
  • Wire (we'll have some copper, BYO if you want to use Sterling or other wire)
  • Beads (large holed, flat like coins or buttons, or other interesting items)
  • Headpins and crystals or smaller beads (if you want to have dangles)
To receive our monthly meeting notices by email (we use EVITE to send out details) please send me an email at "bylynette @ gmail.com" . See information on our website or meeting info here.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

July Meeting Projects and Demos

Tuesday, July 20 - 7:00 p.m.
Carving Textures - Janie Clark and Jen Finley
How to make your own texture plates and designs for using with your PMC and Art Clay silver and copper and bronze. Learn to  use carving tools on eraser or soft carving medium to create your own custom texture plates. Photo-polymer plates are another way to make complex plates. PPP plates and supplies available online. 
Prep PPP your art:
1. Original line drawing or copyright free design, copied onto transparency film at Kinko's. Staples, Office Max, etc.  Make sure to have your copies made on the very dark setting.  The lines need to be really black so you can't see any light through them.   Plan to use a 2 X 2" image for your plate.

You can also draw directly onto transparency film with a black opaque marker or paint pen, or use black stick on decals on transparency film.  If you do this with letter stickers, they will be backwards.  Auto striping tape works well, too.

If you are advanced and want to try to use a non-line art image, make sure that it is done in half tones.  No guarantees on how well this will work.

If you use any writing or other images that are directional, they need to be made as a mirror image

We will have some extra line art in case you don't bring your own, and some 2X2" PPPs plates available for purchase for around $3 each.

2. A UV light like is used on artificial nails if you have one. We'll have one or two at the meeting.
3. A medium stiff fingernail brush.  Dollar Tree has these for $1
4. A cheap plastic bowl or tub to scrub your plate in.

Carving Blocks

  1. Speedball Speedy-cut carving block, or similar- available at Hobby Lobby and other craft stores or at Whole Lotta Whimsey
  2.  (or) erasers, soap, wax blocks
  3.  linoleum carving tools
  4. tracing paper
  5. soft lead pencil

Monday, June 21, 2010

More Faux Bone

Photos coming in from folks who finished their faux bone project after last week's meeting.

From Chari Peak - a doll body. (His head is paper clay, body (with bird) is faux bone.)


From Cheryl Colman, a sample of faux bone stamped with ink and rubber stamp. She heat-set with a heat gun and the color stays just fine.

From Linda Maloney - a button ring, held together with a long mini nut and bolt.
A few of the demo samples:

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

KC PMC Guild Explore Faux Bone

The June meeting was a hive of activity, with participants buzzing with idea as we explored Faux Bone, the carvable medium developed by Robert Dancik. Armed with files, hammers, and other tools each person received a 5/8 x 4" piece of 1/16th inch faux bone. There were also some various sizes of round scrap blocks (thankyou, Judy) to experiment on.

Some people designed, some carved and drilled, gouged and colored with ink and shoe polish.
Some people got their first hands-experience with using a jeweler's saw - remember, don't hold it too tightly, gently move the blade vertically, up and down, and SMILE. It helps you relax.
And don't forget to use your bench pin!

Carol Hale had been working ahead and brought several finished pieces using faux bone and copper, brass, rivets and beads. Her flower pendant is mounted on a textured copper backing. The stem is "sewn" on using fine brass wire and the back is protected with fine suede.

Her collar neckpiece uses brass, beads, jump rings, and rivets. She scribed words and designs, which were stained before riveting them to the piece.

This bird necklace uses copper, rivets and beads.

My favorite piece was a bracelet, each link of faux bone different. The small, pewter figure lashed to the center bead was from one of her very first casting projects.
 Great job experimenting, Carol!! Lynette made a mess, as usual, but we all had fun.

If you were there, send me photos of your finished rings and we will add them here.

Don't miss our next demos. Check our website meeting schedule for upcoming demo topics.