The R&T Extra! September 2007
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The R&T Extra! September 2007 |
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Subscribe/unsubscribe to this e-mail newsletter In this issue: |
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Torch Firing Art Clay™ Silver Several of you have asked us if it's possible to torch fire regular-series ("original") Art Clay Silver, and yes, it is! There's no problem with torch firing these materials as long as your piece is 25 grams or less. The strong middle-orange color temperature of a torch flame is approximately 1600°F, which is definitely hot enough to fire both regular-series ACS and the lower-firing 650 series.
Silver is such a great heat conductor, that you don't need to be concerned about the heat not penetrating to the core of your piece. If you keep your piece under the flame a little longer than recommended, you'll get about 1-2% additional shrinkage and some added strength. As long as the clay doesn't get so hot it begins to melt, extending the torch time a bit is fine. (The two most important torch-firing factors are time and heat consistency). You can also combine different ACS materials when you torch fire (except oil paste), for instance regular-series and 650-series clay forms. You can even add 650-series clay to a regular-series slow-drying piece and torch fire it. The important consideration is that you always fire at the highest temperature for the longest firing schedule. (Firing schedules are provided in every package of ACS material). Here's an example. Say you have 50 grams of regular-series slow-drying clay, but only have 650 paste to use with it. You can use the two materials together, but you'll need to fire the piece at 1470°F or hotter for 30 minutes minimum. Hope this helps! If you have questions, feel free to ask our metal-clay expert, and ACS Master Instructor, Kurt, in the Rings & Things Forum. (P.S. Kurt just got back from the Metal Clay World Conference, and he said it was great!) |
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BeadforLife: Fair Trade Company Improves Lives with Beads
Uganda has long suffered political violence. Until the 1840s, numerous tribal groups inhabited the area independently. Then, European and Arabian explorers entered the area looking to expand their own wealth. It's said that local leaders allied with the British in an attempt to stop Egyptian expansion. This resulted in the area being taken over by the British Empire until 1962, when Uganda gained independence as a modern nation state. Unfortunately, Catholic versus Protestant struggles (imported from European colonists), old tribal affiliations and arguments over right- versus left-wing political strategies combined to create an atmosphere in which leadership corruption flourished. One such corrupt leader was Idi Amin, recently portrayed by Forest Whitaker in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland. Amin led a coup in 1971 and ruled Uganda brutally until 1979 when he was deposed with the help of forces from neighboring Tanzania — at which point another brutal leader took over. In addition to governmental corruption, guerilla groups have long terrorized civilian populations in their own bids to gain power. Today, factional violence has decreased, but a cease-fire (declared by opposing factions in 2006) is tenuous and negotiations with guerilla groups are said to be slow going. Environmental damage to Lake Victoria and the overworking of arable land has added to Uganda's worries, especially since agriculture constitutes the majority of its economic activity. Foreign debt and the spread of HIV/AIDS only increase the burden felt by the country's population. BeadforLife works to improve individual people's lives in the midst of this stressful scenario. It focuses on sustainability by using locally-available recycled materials to create colorful, handmade paper beads. It works with other non-profit organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, to provide basic necessities for its Ugandan employees. And, it pays its African employees wages that far exceed what they could make elsewhere in their local economy. Furthermore, BeadforLife's sales strategy is primarily "woman to woman," focusing on sales at home parties and events. Visit the BeadforLife Web site to read news stories, view photos, sign up for their newsletter, buy finished jewelry or host a BeadforLife bead party! See p 42 of BeadStyle's September 2007 issue for a great use of festive BeadforLife beads with our exclusive Rings & Things' leather cuff ends! |
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35th Anniversary Event a Barrel Bead of Fun!
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R&T Employee Spotlight: Skylar Nobbs "Lifelong" employee Skylar Nobbs (Sky for short) just keeps moving! Watch out for him at road shows and in the papers — the images shown are from an issue of Spokane, Washington's weekly entertainment paper The Inlander. (The article was on getting out of the cubicle for summer).
R&T: Wow, that's quite a record! What is your job with the company?
R&T: Sounds like you stay busy. What's your favorite part of working for R&T?
R&T: I guess you get to see plenty of that at the road shows. What about non-work-related hobbies?
R&T: That is a lot of hobbies, and all very active! How about books or movies - do you ever slow down enough for either of those?
R&T: Do you have any favorite sayings?
R&T: I'm not sure whether to call that cynical or realistic. If you could be any R&T stock item, what would it be?
R&T: How do beads make you feel, then?
R&T: Do you have any life goals you'd like to share with our readers? R&T: Well, we hope you continue to do so! Thanks, Sky, for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us. |
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September's Free Jewelry Project
To view Designer Tip Sheets (PDF files), you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download it free here. Then, simply print the quick-loading or high resolution version of "Aikanaka" to get started on your guy necklaces today!
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R&T's String of Events: September 2007 Calendar
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Thanks! Russ, Kim and the whole Rings & Things crewP.O. Box 450 Spokane, WA 99210-0450 USA Phone (509) 252-2900 Fax 509 838 2602 Order toll free 1 (800) 366-2156 Web site: http://www.rings-things.com You can subscribe/unsubscribe to our free newsletter and/or our e-mail sale flyers in seconds! If you've moved, please help us get our next catalog supplement to you. Just fill out this form: www.rings-things.com/addressform.htm. Newsletter Home |
The trick to successfully torch-firing regular-series clay is to get your piece up to the right color temperature. To achieve this, make sure to hold your piece under the flame for a sufficient amount of time:
BeadforLife is a 
R&T: Hi Sky! How long have you worked for Rings & Things?
Between road shows, classes, purchasing trips and more, there's typically a lot going on at Rings & Things! Here's what's happening this month: