January 2022 Class - Metal Clay in New Berlin

This class was suggested by my friend Tracy, and I’m so glad she invited me! This was something completely new to me.

The class was at Eclectica Beads in New Berlin. They have a great assortment of classes, and we were taught by Irina. She is amazing and knows SO much! After being in the room with her for an hour, I realized that all the craft books that were displayed on the walls were authored by her – so a GREAT resource, and a wonderful teacher!

The class was held in a separate back room of the store, and it was equipped with tables and equipment that comfortably held the 10 (ish) students. She walked us through the steps of using metal clay.

Metal clay is just what it sounds like – it is a clay that is almost completely made up of silver “dust”. It is held together with some sort of binder. Once you work the clay into the shape you want, you put it in a kiln, and the binder is burned away and you are left with just the silver.

In the class, Irina led us through the correct way to handle the clay, roll it out, shape and form it. When we were done, we left our pieces there for her to put them in the kiln later. We picked them up a few days later, all done and polished!

I tried to do a bird pendant. I have made a bird shape in a lot of the crafts I do, so I thought I would give it a try. It worked out ok, but I like fan shape better.

I loved this class and am looking forward to taking another one at Eclectica!

A few of the key take away from the session:

1. Metal clay is super expensive for a little bit, but you only use a very little bit, and you get a nice looking pendant.

2. There are a bunch of classes at Eclectica and they are not all about beads.

3. There are places where you can get something into a kiln without having to buy a kiln!