BarbFernaldJewelry

Phew! After a much longer hiatus than planned, I'm back!!!

Welcome to my jewelry shop where I feature a variety of work from my studio on Little Cranberry Island, Maine.

More than any other medium, I love to work with Precious Metal Clay. PMC starts out as very fine, pure silver particles combined with a water-based binder to form a moldable metal clay. Once a piece is shaped and dried, it is fired in a kiln at a high temperature. (1500º to 1650º F.) The binder burns away and the particles fuse together in a process known as sintering. The result is a solid piece of pure silver, ready to polish, to become an earring, a bead for a necklace, a pendant, a pin or a necklace clasp.

As the price of silver has been higher over the past year, I have been working more with copper and brass clay in addition to brass and copper sheet. I am always looking for new components to combine with silver.

A large portion of the handmade silver beads are made by me, using metal clay, though I enjoy collecting and working with beads from all over the world.

I hope you enjoy browsing through my pieces as much as I enjoy making them. If you are curious about life on a small island, I encourage you to visit my blog!
http://barbarasfernald.com/