Stay Active, Exercise Your Rights
Do you know who your elected officials are? If not, find out here. Stay informed and don't be afraid to contact them with your concerns. Don't know where to start? Daily Action sends you a text message every day with all the information you need to make your voice heard. Feeling fired up? Five Calls makes it even easier to reach more legislators. Still not satisfied? Consider running for government positions yourself with help from the links below!
Don't forget that "action is the antidote to despair." ~Joan Baez
Namaste,
Karen
How to make the pendant "She believed she could so she did"
Wondering how my pieces come to life? Well, they start out as soft clay... Who could have guessed?! I use PMC (Precious Metal Clay) to make some of my unique designs.
PMC is a tiny bit like ceramic clay except it is more refined, dries faster and is A LOT more expensive.
I form it into the shape I want and let it dry out. Once it is dry I carve out my design "She believed she could so she did" and cut out little shapes to put on the design and fire it in my kiln.
My jewelry kiln is very small and fits in my studio. It is super easy to work with and you can purchase one at most jewelry supply stores.
Then I soak it in liver of sulfur, clean it up and attach it to a sterling silver chain. Here is the final pendant.
Namaste,
Karen
I can create interesting and organic shapes, carve in words, and add layers of detail using this medium. I then fire the pieces in my kiln and voilá, I now have a finished piece in sterling silver. Check out some before and after shots of the PMC process below.
Namaste,
Karen
A peek behind the scenes....
In designing my pieces I like to include quotes and sayings. Getting those words to show up and read clearly, however, takes an extra step. I soak my completed pieces in hot water with liver of sulfur, which gives them a darkened patina. While this process is quite smelly, it makes all the groves in my pieces nice and black.
Now comes the fun part! I use my Foredum to polish of the patina on most of the piece. This step takes the patina off the majority of the surface, but leaves the groves and lines black. You can watch several short videos of this step below.
I finish the piece by using a polishing cloth and some renaissance wax to make sure everything is nice and shiny, as well ensuring the patina lasts a long as possible.
This ring has a heart in front with "love everyone" on the band, I love it!
Happy creating!
Karen
