Do you enjoy designing, making and wearing your own handcrafted jewellery? Many of us get the jewellery-making bug as children after being given beads and jewellery making sets for Christmas or birthday presents. Of course as a child stringing brightly coloured beads was easy and fun, it gave beautiful results that the child could wear or offer as a gift for their Mother or Grandma.

In America a product has been developed which enables you to fashion precious metals into stunning and unique pieces of jewellery, it is called metal clay. Like the bead set, it is easy and fun to use and creates beautiful items of jewellery.

Metal clay comprises of fine metal (silver or gold) and an organic binder, which is non-toxic. The substance behaves like clay and it can be shaped, moulded, modelled, pressed and textured in the same way clay can. Specialised moulds and tools are available to assist in the creating items.

Once an amount of metal clay has been shaped, it has to be left to dry before firing. Drying times can be artificially accelerated, however drying only usually takes a couple of hours depending on the thickness of the finished piece.

To fire your jewellery you can use your kiln, however if you are making jewellery for fun you don't want to go to the expense of buying a kiln. Metal clay can be fired with a blowtorch on a heat resistant surface or in the flames on a gas hob. During firing the organic binder is burnt away so all that remains is the gold or silver metal. So simple yet ingenious.

Once your piece has cooled different finishes can be applied to give the piece different looks i.e. - brushed metal, polished antique or enamelled.

Your unique piece of artwork could be threaded to a chain, or piece of leather or ribbon. An array of backing can be brought to turn your item into a broach, earrings, cuff links or hair slides. Your own imagination is your limit.

Once you have tried out your first metal clay kit you will be getting the bug for it, because you will see how easy it is to achieve stunning results.