Copper clay is my latest craze. I have been busy creating wildlife jewellery using Art Clay Copper. I love the warmth of the copper and it works really well with Rose Gold findings. Maybe I should change my name to Little Copper Hedgehog!
I create tiny copper hedgehogs, red squirrels and birds in the copper clay and use embeddable copper findings for the hanging loops. Just like my silver clay work, each piece is entirely sculpted by hand – working under a magnifying lens to ensure I can create beautiful intricate details.
Firing copper clay
After drying for 24 hours, the copper clay creations are fired in my jewellery kiln at a super hot 970 degrees for several hours. I have been firing them in coconut carbon to avoid having to quench each piece as soon as the firing ends. You can watch a video on this process below.
The warmth of the copper is really suited to creating red squirrels and will hopefully increase the appeal of my designs to those whose skin tone doesn’t suit silver.
I’m able to create most of my silver designs in copper but I am more limited in the gemstones I can use, due to the much higher firing temperature of the copper.
The designs have not yet reached my shop but if you are interested in finding out more, please drop me a line.
Little Silver Hedgehog 