Scratch Foam

Today I'm going to share some of my newest Foam Board Textures.

I really like this long and lean design, I made several mistakes which I was able to disguise (below) but I think I'll try this one again and see if I can do a better job!

I've had it in my mind for awhile to use the coptic cross shape and do some original texture in them and I really love results! 

I should have taken a picture of these before I rolled the copper on it, they would have looked much prettier without all that copper left behind but I was too excited to see what they looked like.

Very Tribal inspired, I haven't even cleaned these up so they are very rough around the edges.

I'm really looking forward to firing these.

Now for some bloopers, these could not be saved!

I didn't even see how much it looked like a flag until I rolled the copper on to it, I tried to doctor it up but nothing worked.

I know you can't see much with that sign over the top but you're not missing anything.

I rolled copper on to it to see what it looked like but nope, it is a reject!

Sometimes you can't tell what it's going to look like until you roll it out,

and sometimes rolling it out doesn't help one bit.

Click HERE to see one of my previous Scratch Foam posts.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

KristiBowmanDesign on Artfire

October Component of the Month Giveaway

A week or so ago I saw this amazing picture on Pinterest and then found the original on Flickr.

This inspired my October Component of the month.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/144396731776123971/

I could just picture how cool it would look with different sizes and shapes of Ammonite on a piece of copper, all over lapping each other.

This is the result!

As you can see each one is different. Different textures in different places on each piece and the copper colored differently as well. I really worked hard to get some nice color on each one of them which isn't always easy with copper but I'm pleased with the results on these.

I made 2 extra to give away and the rest go to my AJE team mates.

I plan to make more to have available in my Etsy shop as well in the future.

Here's how it goes!!

Please read carefully

• I will give away 1 component to each of 2 winners selected randomly from those who leave comments below this post by midnight,  Sunday September 29th, eastern time. 
• Please include your EMAIL address in your comment so that I can contact you ASAP should you win.
• Please only leave a comment if you can commit to creating a finished piece and blogging about it on the reveal date!
• The names of the 2 winners will be announced on Monday September 30th.
• The blog reveal will be on Wednesday October 30th.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

Firing Copper Clay

I pulled an old post from my blog to share with you today. For those of you unfamiliar with Copper Clay I thought you might enjoy seeing the process.

Copper firing, basically from start to finish.

 There can be variations in the firing schedule of pmc, this is the one I've been using on my Copper work and it's worked well for me.

Here are the pieces all molded and shaped and filed and ready for the kiln.

First phase of firing is open shelf, 15 minutes at about 650 degrees.

This is what they look like after open shelf firing. All the black stuff comes off during the second Phase.

Then they get packed in Carbon for the second phase, 1700 degrees for about 3 hours.

Here they are all layered in the carbon and loaded in to the kiln.

3 hours later...

I let the container cool off to under 500 degrees before I attempt to remove it. Then I let it sit until it's much cooler. Below it's still hot enough I need to use my heavy duty welding gloves to handle it.

There they are peeking out of the carbon when I pour it out of the container.

Used my gloves and a metal spoon to start to unearth the pieces. Everything cools off rather quickly from here and by the time I've found the large pieces I can usually start using my bare hand to find the smaller ones. There are usually one or 2 that don't want to be found, so when it's completely cool I sift them through the slotted spoon back in to the container and find the stragglers.

Then...

And then...

Some of them are just about perfect out of the kiln, just a little brushing and they are good to go. Some need to be tumbled for awhile and then I usually take a torch to them to give them lovely variations in color.

So there ya go, approximately 7 hours later I have some pretty Copper goodies, not counting the time it took to get them ready for the kiln. Copper and Bronze are not quick processes.

Then some of them get listed on Etsy!

I actually don't do the open shelf firing these days and go straight in to the carbon.

Seems to work well for me. It's still a very long firing process, from start to finish about 6-7 hours. I usually fire it up before I go to bed and it's cool enough to remove in the morning.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

52 Earrings

All this year I've been participating in a Flickr group challenging artists to create 52 earrings during the year, technically 1 per week but I certainly didn't post mine weekly. I just posted pair number 52, I wanted to finish a little early because there's so much going on the last few weeks of the year.

Here at AJE we're working on creating a similar challenge

 where you can link your creations to a special pinterest group

 and to our blog bi-weekly.

Watch for details coming up in the new year.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

Giveaway and FLASH DISCOUNT

Don't miss out on all the goins on, read to the bottom before you move on!

I'll be giving away this Large 2 sided Ammonite Focal,

Comment HERE to enter.

There's more!!!!! Keep on reading!!!!

I'm also offering 15% on everything in my

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy Shop

This includes Components and/or Finished Jewelry.

Tomorrow Black Friday through Cyber Monday

November 23-November 26

Use Coupon Code

AJEHOLIDAY

at checkout

BUT

for the next 30 minutes use Coupon Code

AJEHOLIDAY30

to receive 30% off for the next half hour only.

After that it use the previous coupon code for 15% off for the rest of the day.

Check in throughout the day for all the Holiday Open House activities going on,

 recipes, giveaways, discounts and just alot more fun!!

http://artjewelryelements.blogspot.com/2012/11/welcome-to-our-holiday-open-house.html

Do not comment on this post to enter the giveaway

Click HERE to enter!

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

Copper Experimentation

A week or so ago I took my copper out of the kiln earlier than I normally do, it was about 500 degrees. When I rinsed it under water it coughed and sputtered, but with a few swipes with a wire brush I really liked the results. Much more rustic than when they are tumbled to a high shine and then torched.

Although I was pleased with most of them the results were fairly inconsistent.

So when I fired a load last night I tried something else, I did take them out of the kiln while hot quickly quenched them in cold water then I gave them a very quick tumble, no more than 5 minutes.

I liked that too!

These were ok but I thought what happens if I torch them now...

LOVE!!!

It softens up the bright sort of brassy look the copper can sometimes get and give it a soft iridescence,
a soft matte glow.

Here's a grouping, the 3 on top are given a micro tumble and then torched,

2 bottom micro tumble only.

Here's a comparison of a long tumble, bright copper that has been torched on the left and

on the right, micro tumble then torch.

I've created this piece and the first piece at the top of this post on Scratch Foam,

 here's some info on that in case you missed it.

Scratch Foam Original Textures

I love that you can do so much with copper, it's like a Chameleon!

I hope you enjoyed my little experimentation!

Here's some more I posted on My Blog that I fired last night using micro tumbling.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

Building an Ammonite Focal Tutorial

Like the Acorn Bead I shared last couple of weeks ago,
 I've never made this kind of 2 sided Focal before either.

Here's a step by step of how I made all the pieces and put them together and the finished piece.

Create 2 identical round pieces with whatever texture you would like,

Ammonite is one of my favorite so of course that's what I chose.

I made these 3 cards thick.

I made 2 strips the approximate width I wanted to separate the 2 pieces,

they are 4 cards thick and I dried them on the next size smaller circle cutter.

I tested them out and cut one in to a smaller piece

 to allow for fairly substantial stringing material to be able to fit through if that's what I choose to use.

More testing, next step, filing things down so they have a nice snug fit

before I attach it all together to make a single piece.

Moisten both inside surfaces of the rounds and the edges of the connecting pieces,

put together and put pressure on them to give them a chance to bond.

Fill in any gaps with paste...

Continue to use a clay shaper and watered down copper clay to fill and smooth until all the spaces or gaps are filled and nice and smooth.

Almost ready for the kiln!

I placed it in the container on end with the holes on the bottom so it won't fill up with carbon and put the other pieces I'm firing with it around it and cover it up 1 layer at a time.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy