Hannah Willow Silver Workshop Day 1

So on Saturday I set off through the rain to drive over to blue-ginger gallery in Cradley to attend the first of a two day silver jewelry making workshop with the lovely and talented Hannah Willow.

I spent Fri evening musing and sketching and thinking about what I wanted to make.

Then arrived at blue ginger on Sat morning to meet up with the rest of the group

After introductions and hot drinks, we settled down and got to work. First we made models of our designs from polymer clay, to serve as the pattern for a mould.

I wanted to make a bear necklace

Finished bear model :)

Making the moulds out of silicone

We then used silver clay, rolled thin and pressed into the mould, to make our designs for real. Very nerve wracking because the silver clay dries out really fast! Once it was dry and solid I then cleaned it up and added detail, holes etc.

By the end of day 1 I had made several pendants and earring "dangles", eaten some delicious food, had had a wonderful day and made new friends :) Hannah took away the things we had made, to fire in her kiln, ready for the second day of work.