Etsy MetalClay Charity Charm Bracelet

Awhile ago the EMC Team had a charm exchange. All of the participants made extra charms with the hopes of donating a complete charm bracelet to a worthy cause. After some discussion the team decided to donate the latest charm bracelet to the Red Cross through Ebay Giving Works. 100 % of the sale of the Charm bracelet will go to the Red Cross. Please view the ebay listing here. The Charm Bracelet auction will end on May 12th! Please spread the word on this lovely bracelet it is for a good cause!

Description of the Bracelet

This charm bracelet is composed of a sterling silver 7.5 inch cable chain with 21 handcrafted fine silver, copper and bronze charms. The charms range in size from 1/2 inch to 1 inch. These handcrafted charms were made by members of the Etsy MetalClay Team. The Etsy MetalClay team is a global group of jewelry artists and designers using silver, gold, copper and bronze metal clays to create their work. We strive to make innovative, unique, and boundary pushing designs -embracing both modern technology and old world traditions.The Etsy MetalClay Team would like to donate 100% of the sale of this charm bracelet to the Red Cross in a effort to help the people of Japan.

The Button Nut's Favorite Search Words

I am a button nut. As you can see from the picture above, I have an addiction to Victorian black glass buttons. I probably take a half hour each day to search through the eBay and Etsy. My favorite search words is "black lacy glass buttons" Why black glass? In the late part of the 19th century the most detailed buttons were comprised of black glass. These black glass buttons are also called mourning buttons, this is due to the fact that Queen Victoria wore only black jet buttons after the death of Prince Albert. Another favorite search word of late is "carved celluloid". Bakelite or celluloid was the first plastic of the 20th century. It was not until the I came across this celluloid bird shown below, that I paid more attention to carved celluloid.

(Vintage carved celluloid bird bottom left, bronzclay bird from mold upper right)

I live close to a Hobby Lobby (aka Michael's or AC Moore) that sells my favorite two part silicone mold maker. I use a product called "The Amazing Molding Putty" I love this stuff it is very rare when I can not get a good mold from this product. Another product I use to create molds is polymer clay. I specifically use sculpty when making molds that have very fine detail that is not recessed enough for the silicone mold to pick up.

Below is an example of my Sunflowers Pendant, you can see the finished silver pendant, the unfired greenware, the original black glass button and the two part silicone mold.