Jewellery Enamel

This is a wonderful medium - not really enamelling and not quite resin. It uses something called Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel UTEE which is well known by crafters for card making and encapsulating images or items in a clear coating.You can get it in a variety of colours as a granular powder which needs to be melted at about 140C so this is not a children's project. However once melted it can be poured into moulds or jewellery bezel settings, poured out onto textured mats or imprinted with textures. It can also be used to dip into to make beads and can be cut while warm with cookie style cutters into shapes. So pendants, charms for bracelets and earrings and focal pieces.For me the best thing about UTEE is the range of colours - they are rich and vibrant and there are a good selection to choose from but they can be mixed to create marble effects or even totally new colours. At the moment I am really enjoying shading from one colour through to another by adding small amounts of the new colour and gently blending.Here are some of my results.....

this was my first attempt at making charms

using a deep teal blue and clear with iridescent flakes

this is my pusscat Theo  trying to help

these are called Leandra  beads 

they are made using a headpin to dip into 

the enamel, take out and then swirl round to made a little bead

more dipping makes bigger beads

they have a look of pearls

I have curled down the headpin to create a curled loop 

so they can be used as charms

this stretchy bracelet has Leandra bead charms 

I like the irregular baroque shape

this hand made chain has butterfly charms 

made with a textured mould

the colour gradient was achieved by starting with a deep turquoise and adding more and more green

once cool the surface texture is enhanced by gently rubbing in silver mica powder paint

the earrings are made in the same way as the beads in the charm bracelet using a simple stud

another hand made chain with hearts from a mould

I started with red with transparent to give the marble effect and added more 

and more purple to give the colour gradient

the high gloss is achieved by heat polishing

again dipped stud earrings

So far I have been playing with colour - my next exploration will be to use texture stamping.

Watch this space........

A first look at my creations...

A place to to share my creations, makes and experiments in jewellery making.I always thought I was not really creative but this is something I love doing especially working with colour. Enjoy my work..........

a gift for an August birthday - peridot

                  

 

crystal stretch bracelet with hand made beads

a memory bracelet with a variety of gems - lapis lazuli, chalcedony, sodalite, quartz

rainbow haematite with mystic smoky quartz

in an open weave necklace

a selection of my shell pearl collection