Jewellery Patterns

Here are a couple of pendant/broach designs I've been working on for casting in silver or bronze.  The materials don't really suit the task though.  Polymer clay is a great medium for creating models but when a finer level of detail is required, epoxy resins such as Milliput or Green stuff, or even wax based materials work better.  I just used what came to hand:)  I can refine these patterns a bit more, particularly the owl's plumage.  But the feather's are small and fiddly.  But once in metal I should be able to get a good finish.

The jewels in the owl's eyes are just placed there to give an idea of the intended finish to the piece.  I haven't got any proper lost wax casting equipment so i'm going to try using a sand casting type method using Delft Clay.  This will probably work for the owl but not for the heart as it is probably too delicate using this technique.  I'll give Prometheus Bronze clay a go by making a silicone push mould and pressing the clay into this.  

I had to invest in some photographic equipment to improve my Etsy submissions.  I managed to find this decent set up with continuous daylight lighting including a soft box providing diffuse light from above.

Just need to brush up on my camera skills:)