Projects:
Packed with 50 projects to try, if you are not sure where to start or what to make, this section can help get you started quickly. This is where I learned how to make a Leaf Bead , and after trying that project, I adapted the same technique for my Quilted Silver Beads. As Tim explains in the beginning of the book, learning techniques and adapting them to your own ideas is exactly what he hopes you will do when using his book. Along with a number of great bead project, including a very interesting raku donut bead, he has even more jewelry making projects including earrings, pendants, rings, and even charms. If you want to try making non-jewelry related items, he has other projects such as buttons, spoons, boxes, and a cute little tea pot. Each project is ranked in difficulty from 1 to 5, along with the finished weight of the piece and approximate time it should take to make it.
Tips:
Before getting too crazy with just following his projects, it would probably be a good idea to look through his "Technical Tips" section. In this section, he explains some important points about PMC such as understanding the shrinkage, sizing for ring projects, setting gems, polishing finished pieces, and, of course, firing PMC in a kiln. With 28 pages of tips, this section is an important part of the book.
Tools:
One of the best parts about working with clay is that fact that almost any object can be used as a tool. Many items can be stolen from your own kitchen such as cookie cutters or even vegetables. Besides showing how to make some basic tools, this section also describes how to create more advanced pieces of equipment such as an extruder and tumbler.
I’ve described the three main sections of this book, but there are a few more subjects covered. Information is provided about health and safety of working with the clay, melting points of materials used with the clay, resources and suppliers found around the world, and an over-view of basic PMC data. I can’t wait to try more projects in this book as well as learn techniques to create my own PMC designs. If you are interested in purchasing this book, it is available from most PMC suppliers and retails for about $30.
All graphics created by Tammy Powley.