Moondog's Jewelry Article Gets Published

I'm so honored to have my article, All About Precious Silver Clay with Moondog Treasures, published in this month's issue of Jewelry Business Success News with Rena Klingenberg.  I have subscribed to this publication for several years.  It's actually the first place that I ever heard about Etsy.  Thank you, Rena!!


Bronze paua shell and sterling silver
wire pendant by Rena Klingenberg

Merry Christmas from Moondog Treasures

Our family has a Charlie Brown tree.  It's a scrawny little Christmas tree, but we love it.  We treasure this tree because it's the one where we hang all of our hand-made, sticky-finger-kid-made ornaments from throughout the years and from the current year. 

We have a regular Christmas tree too, with all the expensive ornaments and trim, but our favorite will always be the Charlie Brown one.  I hope that when my kids are grown that I will continue this tradition and keep creating hand-made ornaments each year.

Featured Etsy Artist

Featuring Fire Bug Candles on Etsy.  I met the artist, Tina, at a local yoga studio where I practice.  I have one of her double-wicked candles and the smell is delicious!  It's a blend that smells like butter and vanilla.  Yum!  Tina just recently opened an Etsy shop, and I'm so happy for her!  I think this candle (pictured) would make a perfect Christmas gift:

Peppermint Bark Candle

From the artist, Tina: 

"My Dad called me a firebug when I was a young girl, as I loved poking at the woodburning fire and watching the flame of burning candles. I started making candles as a hobby a couple of years ago and shared them with friends and family. I just began my Etsy store in November of 2011, ready for the holiday season. I hope you enjoy the candles as much as I enjoy making them!"

For more from her shop, click here.

A Tip for Recycling PMC Silver Clay

PMC (Precious Metal Clay), or silver clay, is a recycled product.  See my posts here and here for details about how it originated.  It is so much fun to play with (I mean work with) this product.  You can imprint just about anything into the clay, put it in a kiln, and it comes out looking like this...

One of my favorite things about PMC is that you can actually recycle and reuse your "mistakes" (pieces that were chipped or just didn't turn out right).  I had been saving those "mistakes" for just such an occasion.  I read countless tips about how to reconstitute unused dried clay - adding distilled water to the clay, wrapping it in cling wrap and waiting for it to magically turn into the expensive clay that I had bought.  It didn't work as I had planned.  I found it difficult to get the right consistency. Using a little rolling pin (pvc pipe) to press out the lumps helped, but the clay was too sticky to work. It kept clinging to my hands, until... 

I discovered a new tool - the toothpick!  I kept working the clay, poking it with the toothpick, exposing it to air to dry it out, then spraying with water for more moisture. Voila!  I came pretty close to re-creating the original product.  Here are a couple of photos of my new discovery and how it worked for me:

I especially loved how once the clay was in ball form, I was able to use the toothpick like a handle and pick up all the loose bits of dried clay that sticks to the cling wrap.

Hope this tip helps those out there who are frustrated with the challenging process of reconstituting pmc.