A customer sent me the picture below of a crying eye (eye with tear) and asked if I could replicate the design for his girlfriend.
Below, you can see my design from this original photograph (with my personal touch).
First, I made a sketch with the measurements needed for the pendant.
Second, I chose sterling silver and solid silver as my preferred metals because that's what I had on hand.
Third, I chose a lavender color cz stone for the tear (as was required by the customer).
Initially we wanted to use a piece of beach glass as the tear drop but my sea glass pieces were too big for this project (and I didn't want to have to cut a piece of glass for it was just too small to handle).
In my original design, I had the idea of using PMC silver clay, which is a precious metal clay (a wonderful product because you can work it like clay then fire it in the kiln so that it burns off the clay and you're left with a solid piece of sterling silver or pure silver depending on the clay type you use). Actually, you can also purchase this clay in less precious metals like copper, bronze, and of course you can also get it in PMC (precious metal) gold. I've never used any other clays other than the PMC3 silver and the Art Clay 950. Although silver clay is available on Amazon.ca I noticed the others are only available on the Amazon.com site.
If you are like me, and love to learn about new techniques, then you will enjoy learning about how to use silver clays with this how to book (it's worth knowing what you're doing because this clay can be tricky). Here are a few good books from the Amazon.com site
*My blog contains affiliate links, which means that when you make a purchase via these links, the company may compensate me for promoting their products. I only promote products I use or that I know are of the best quality. Thank You.
What happened to my initial idea of using PMC3 Silver, you might ask? Well, I did the entire pendant with the exception of the bail and everything looked beautiful (I was quite proud of myself especially since I was using the Clay 950 for the first time).
After removing it from the kiln, I was giving it a good polish to get the metal to glisten like it should, and it looked amazing. I knew the client would be very pleased!
And then, to my horror, during the last shining, the pendant got caught in the polishing bit, twisted, under the pressure of the Foredom machine, broke into pieces that were flung across my studio (I have yet to find one of the pieces)!
I had no time to be emotional, no time to panic, nor to give up. The pendant was a surprise gift and my client was counting on me. He was on his way to pick up the pendant the very same day. I had to use my plan B (yes, I most of the time have a plan B with this type of project).
I took a breath, gathered what I needed to construct the eye (using silver .999 sheet and sterling .925 heavy gauge wire) and got to work.
To my relief, in no time, the eye came together quite nicely; I was satisfied with the overall look.
After cleaning and polishing it up, I added the cz stone and placed it in the jewelry box ready for pick-up.
Results: Happy client and a very happy recipient, the girlfriend!
Quote: Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success!
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