Vickie Hallmark – Master Muse Challenge #3

Vickie shares with us a brief synopsis of the steps she takes to create her beautiful clasp here in this Master Muse blog. If you are interested in the full step-by-step tutorial it is available.  The tutorial is in a handy bench format, easy to follow, one step at a time, at your pace!  This tutorial is 6 full pages with 61 pictures, 41 steps and tons of detail! 

Vickie’s tutorial is available at Whole Lotta Whimsy.  Click on the link, which will take you directly to the page.

Draw the desired shape onto an index card and cut out. Condition a ball of polymer clay and roll it out. Using the card template and a needle tool, cut out the design. Save excess polymer clay for another project. This shape will be your draping mold.

Roll half the silver clay. The texture shown is my Flock Texture available in March exclusively at Whole Lotta Whimsy. This will be avaliable when the full tutorial is for sale at WLW. Drape textured clay over oiled mold. Using a craft knife, cut away excess clay.

 

Roll the remaining silver clay on the same texture. Place domed clasp piece on top of fresh sheet of clay and trim to size with a needle tool or craft knife.

Using a small hole cutter or straw, cut a round hole at the interior end of the slot, then pairs of holes on either side of the slot as shown.

Roll silver clay 5 cards thick. Texture as desired. Gently form over oiled mold such as a marble to dome. The Hollow Mold Forms and Linda Kaye-Moses Doming Plates work great for this!

Roll a pea-sized ball of fresh clay. Flatten slighty to nearly the size of the domed circle. Add the wire connectors. Attach the bezel cup to the flat area, pressing firmly until attached.

Kiln fire at 1650°F for 2 hours for maximum strength.  Add stone cabochon and patina.  Remove patina on the high areas.

A wonderful clasp becomes the focal on this piece.  A secure fitting ball key-type clasp is perfect for a bracelet too!

We’d love to see you take the challenge as well to make an incredible clasp. Can’t wait to see your pieces. Send them and we’ll post pictures in a future Challenge Gallery. No toggle or c-clasps. Challenge yourself!  Don’t forget to post a comment.  This will enter you in the free give-away drawing.

Bridging many medias, Vickie Hallmark pursues her artistic muses in whichever direction calls: metal, glass or fiber. This cross-pollination of different ideas, coupled with her experimental nature as a research scientist, leads Hallmark to combine materials in novel ways. Metal over glass is a particular fascination, be it electroformed copper over lamp worked beads or silver clay formed around enameled-painted tiles.Over the last decade, Hallmark’s work has been exhibited in prestigious juried fine craft shows, including Craft Forms, Crafts National, and Materials: Hard & Soft. Chosen as a Glasscraft Emerging Artist in 2007, images of her beads have appeared in The Flow, The Glass Bead, and Bead Release 3, an annual compendium of the year’s best beads. Metal Clay Artist and Metal Clay Today have showcased her metal clay jewelry. The best of Hallmark’s creations are preserved in both private and museum collections.

Check out Vickie’s work at www.VickieHallmark.com. You can purchase her beads and work online or at Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee, WI, June 10th -13th.

Photo credit: final piece Drew Davidson; step-by-step Vickie Hallmark