Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Last time you read about the tortoise project, the silver clay was ready to fire.   After programming the kiln and waiting the required time, I held my breath and opened the door.   There it was!   Of course I had to try it on to see if it fit before I did anything else.   Success! When silver clay gets fired, the organic part of the clay burns up and the heat fuses the micro filaments of silver to become 99% fine silver.   After the firing the silver looks white.   Once I brush it with a brass brush, the color turns to the silver color one expects.      Now comes the sanding and polishing.   I want to be able to see the pattern of the tortoise better and that requires a patina of liver of sulphur.   The water is warm when I put a small amount of the liver of sulphur gel, mix it, and put in the silver pieces.   After the silver pieces start to darken to the color I want, they will go into a separate dish of water with baking soda to stop the color change.   The fin

A recap!   I carved a tortoise from red polymer clay in my previous post.    The turtle needed a little more detailing with a carving tool to make the design on the underside more visible.   Now it’s time for the next step – Making the Mold from the red tortoise model.        The two part mold compound in this case is Part A white and Part B purple.   When part A and B are mixed I have about 10-15 minutes of working time before the mixture sets.   A small amount of this mold making compound went with me to Tanzania where I made a mold of a beetle.   It amazed the guide and I gave him some to take home to his kids.   I always wondered what they did with it. Part A and B were mixed by pressing and folding them into each other.   Then I wrapped it around the red tortoise pressing so that the designs on the model would show in the mold.   To give a separation for the top and bottom of the turtle, I took an x-acto knife and cut the mold in half without removing the turtle.   The mold

After my last post on the Reptile Show, I have decided to make a tortoise out of silver clay.   Thank goodness I have artistic license!   My vision (goal – hope) is to make a small recognizable tortoise that could be duplicated and used as a ring, a pendant, earrings, or beads.   Not having done any of this before, I decided to share the experience with any of you who might be interested!   First I need to decide on which kind of tortoise….so I Googled ‘tortoise’ and got some amazing pictures.   What a variety!   After looking and thinking, I selected the Star Radiated Tortoise.    It has a very pronounced star pattern and will be a challenge.      My plan is to carve a small tortoise out of polymer clay, a medium that is easy to work with and manipulate.   I chose red because I like red!   I put my new Craftoptic glasses on and start conditioning, moving and carving  referring to the pictures.   As I work with the polymer clay, it gets warm and a little squishy so that my finger pri