Married to the Empire

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

New Craft (for me): Pendants

Again, I'll be showing off a new thing I learned at the Rubber Stamp Festival I attended last month. This time it's jewelry, which is totally different for me. I've never messed with jewelry before because 1) I have 2 friends who already make beautiful jewelry that I sometimes benefit from, and 2) I'm a bit of a jewelry snob. There, I admit it.

But this just looked so fun.

I bought a stack of 20 glass blocks for making pendants. I'll just apologize now for not discovering the macro button on my camera until the end of this process, so you'll just have to endure blurry photos for the first steps.

First, find pretty paper to glue to the back of the glass block. I used an Amy Butler print that I'd added some glitter to quite a while back:



Either cut it first to fit the block, or just glue it where you want it, then cut it down to size with an exacto knife. I used the latter method:



I simply used a gel glue to adhere it to the glass:



The glitter I'd added to the paper made it a bit bumpy, which meant the paper didn't stick flat to the glass. I placed the glass block under a heavy book. I'd have done this regardless of the unevenness of the paper; it just ensures good bonding:



The next day, when I could be sure the glue was good and dry, I moved on to sealing the paper with Modge Podge. It's just a basic decoupage technique. I wound up doing 2 coats:



Once that was dry, I used a jewelry glue to adhere the bail to the back of the pendant:



I let that dry overnight. All done!




These are really inexpensive to make, and I think they could make fun little gifts. But this one is for me.

13 comments:

A. said...

I've seen these, but never knew how they were made. I've also seen them in a bracelet version. They require the fine motor skills that I, alas, lack. I like your final result!

Allison

AnneK said...

These are really pretty. Are there any crafts left for you to learn? :)

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

Thanks to both of you!

Annie, there are TONS of crafts left out there. I have no intention of moving much farther into the jewelry-realm. I'm pretty useless with needle crafts. My sewing skills are minimal. Admittedly, I bought a cheap embroidery hoop and checked out books on how to embroider from the library, but I don't know how far I'll get on that. No interest in cross-stitch. Can't see myself picking up knitting needles or crochet hooks, although I can see the appeal of a craft that can travel with you...

I mostly just tried this because I already had most of the materials, and in a way, it's just an extension of paper craft. Besides, it was just so stinkin' easy!

Anonymous said...

That is so cute. Can I come over for craft time sometime? : ) You are so creative.

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

Jill, you are always welcome here! And how much would Calvin love it if he got to see his "Aunt" Jill?! My craft table opens up on 2 sides, so we'd each have our own work area!

A. said...

I tried embroidery once, but I didn't have the patience for all that repetitive work! My sister picked up knitting in college. She was a wild party girl who went to a wild party school, and the thought of all these party girls getting together and knitting just cracked me up!

Dana said...

WOW. These are so simple sounding, but the finished product is stunning. I love the blue/green one especially. Simple jewelry is my favorite and these totally rock!

Thanks for visiting my blog and YES, my ink storage is two old cassette tape shelves I found at a yard sale a few years ago.

Amy W said...

You're tempting me here...that looks like one of the best, fun and easy projects ever!!! I am likely to get sucked in.........

Unknown said...

That is great! Guess people will be getting jewelry this year for presents.

New to your site and now my son wants an outfit to add to his Star Wars collection! After all it is totally okay now that he sees plenty of adults have them too:)

Most awesome posts are the fact you guys go to the children's hospital thanks for making me get teary-eyed for the day... :} You guys rock!

Eliza

anita said...

i love this idea..but after visitng three craft stores, i have yet to find tiles or bails like you usedl just wondering..where you found them?

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

Eliza, thank you for the nice compliment!

Anita, I bought the tiles at a rubber stamp convention. They were purchased from a vendor called Craft Fantastic. Their website is www.craftfantastic.com. The tiles I used are 7/8" square. (I think you have to actually call them to place orders.) I hadn't looked for the tiles in stores, so I wasn't aware they're not easily found.

As for the bails, I bought mine at Hobby Lobby.

anita said...

Thanks so much for the info!

anita said...

Thanks so much for the info!