Book Review - Metal Clay Animal Jewellery by Natalia Colman

Cute and quirky metal clay projects for animal lovers!

This is the latest book on Metal Clay from Natalia, author of 'Silver Clay with Style' (2012) and 'Metal Clay Jewellery' (2014). It contains 20 projects, each with an animal theme and the designs are as cute and quirky as you have come to expect from Natalia! 

'Perfect Pets' - delightful designs for all

The book is divided into five chapters, including ‘In the Jungle’, ‘Feathered Friends’ and ‘Beneath the Ocean Waves’. We particularly love the ‘Perfect Pets’ section with tutorials to make a Scottie Dog ring or Sausage Dog pendant (for the dog lovers) or a sleek, stylised cat necklace (for the fans of felines) amongst others. The cute little mouse charms are a particularly good beginner project as they don’t use a lot of clay (depending on how many you make!) and the silver version can be fired on the hob or using a torch.

The book includes a comprehensive ‘basic techniques’ section which would act as a great refresher to those already familiar with metal clay jewellery (perhaps from Natalia’s previous book!). However, the projects incorporate several more advanced techniques, which, whilst accurately and clearly described, may be a little daunting to beginners. It should also be noted that many of the projects will require access to a kiln for firing, particularly those using copper and bronze clay. We certainly think that those new to this medium, would be advised to read Natalia’s Metal Clay Jewellery Book before embarking on the projects in this one, particularly as some require quite large amounts of metal clay to complete.

Clear and detailed step by step instructions

This being said, the book is beautifully photographed and very clearly laid out, with detailed step by step photographs and easy-to-understand written instructions. The reference section at the back is particularly useful with a firing guide for a large range of gemstones plus a quick look up for the firing requirements for each project.

Learn new techniques!

Overall this is a fantastic book for those who already have some experience with Metal Clay and who are looking to learn new techniques to complement this exciting medium. Additional skills you will learn in the projects include making clay rope, stone setting, mixing metals, adding colour and mould making.

Metal Clay Animal Jewellery is published by Search Press and is available from Amazon,
priced at £14.99

ISBN 978-1-78221-077-1

GIVEAWAY - We have a copy of Natalia's book to give away. Look out on our Facebook page for a competition post this week!