TRUE BLUE

I have been struggling to produce a really true Santorini blue with my UTEE jewel enamel and the melt pot. I have created some lovely teals and greens and turquoise but that wonderful deep blue has been quite illusive.

However I have discovered alcohol inks which give a wonderful clear colour and so I set up some experiments to find that blue.
As I was starting with clear base which can go amber after a while when heating I decided to use small amounts which can be quite tricky so rather than use the whole melt pot I used small foil pie trays with different amounts of ink in each

It didn't take too long for the UTEE to begin to melt

and it was easy to top up and dilute the deep blue

I used a range of silver bezels to create some great shapes

Once cooled the UTEE will easily pop out of the bezel which can be used again

this one is made in the large hearts bezel with a portion of texture added while still warm

I also poured onto texture mats and cut some discs for pendants

I then created a bright fuchsia pink

and a deep ruby red

Using the pie trays meant I could make very small amounts of colour and indulge in some colour mixing

Once everything was set I used gilding wax to highlight the textures

I am very happy with  these results.

The discs will be made into pendants on seed bead threading and the other shapes will have bails glued on.

watch this space for the results

UTEE Jewel enamel tutorial - faux sea glass and more

I love the bright opaque colours that working with UTEE jewel enamel produces.
I like the swirls and mixes that you can get when you pour a mix of colours
BUT
I hadn't tried transparent colours and my one foray into pastels ended in disaster - the pink looked like body parts!!
So after being inspired by a picture in Pinterest of faux sea glass I thought I would do some experimenting.

I started with a melt pot of clear and added a tiny amount of Crafty Notions blue sapphire then gently stirred until it was all combined.
The colour was quite ethereal.
I have recently bought some Ranger texture treads so poured the melted UTEE onto a swirly part of the texture mat and then used a cutter to press down. I left it to set for about 3 or 4 minutes.
Once set but still warm I eased to excess off the cutter and gently prised the circle out of the mould.
The result was quite impressive

faux sea glass circe apporx 40mm diam.

The disc is very pale sea green and looks very much like sea glass. An extremely gentle heat polish brought out the gloss in the raised parts and emphasised the matte on the impressed parts. 

My next experiment was to re-melt the waste and make some more shapes.

faux sea glass shapes

as you can see the colour is darkening and becoming tinged with the amber that UTEE clear turns after quite a short time when heated.

I didn't want the yellow/amber tinge so thought about how could I melt just a small amount. The melt pot needs quite a bit so I improvised with disposable mini metal pie tins.

I added the clear powder to the pie tin and put it into the melt pot. It melted quite quickly and then I added a small amount of purple then poured onto a texture mat.

I had only made about 2 tablespoons of mix which was just enough for a disc.

I kept the waste for re-melting

I then did the same method for a red/coral colour and a copper colour. Once could I added  a little mica powder to accent the impressions

translucnet shapes approx 30mm diam

the result is subtle and very different from my usual pieces.

I had a small amount of the excess from each piece left and wondered how well it would re-melt.

I tried the lilac colour first and poured two of my tiny charm moulds which gave me an idea.

I used the remaining coral which had begun to go quite orange, then created a rich red followed by a deep blue-green and a bright yellow.

All colours were on a clear base so quite translucent and jewel like.

Once set I heat glossed them and added them to a charm bracelet

they look almost like sweeties

Fusible Film - Dichroic-ish glass!

The amazing Liz Welch launched a product on Jewellery Maker TV a couple of weeks ago. Liz is an alternative craft media artist and as become the jewel enamel (UTEE) expert on the show.
The product was fusible film which when shredded is also known as Crystalina and Angelina fibres. When you heat the film it gives off a rainbow of oil slick colours which looks great embedded in clear enamel and backed in black.
Ever one for a challenge especially in an area of a craft I really enjoy, I decided to get the film and have a go.
Ha Ha - it was not as easy as it looked - Liz is a master of her craft.

The technique uses a melting pot with clear enamel (UTEE) and pouring a plain (rather than textured) mould.
Knowing I would never remember everything I took notes!
The first time I tried it I used a larger piece of film and popped it into the melting pot to heat in a little clear. It was supposed to shrink and curl changing colour and texture - it shrunk totally into a lump which I couldn't open out!
Take 2 - I didn't leave it in as long and managed to open it out.
Then I topped up the clear and poured into a plain cabochon mould and tried to add the film. Everything poured over the side - and it is HOT!!! Still undaunted I left it to set. Once cool I turned it out only to find the film had turned bright pink and stuck to the bottom of the mould and not got covered with enamel.
I did know that at this stage it might not look wonderful so carried on and melted black for the backing. Slight problem here - because the black is so hard to remove totally from the melting pot I had decided to use a project pan which fits over the pot but I couldn't really get it hot enough to give a smooth and quick pour. Black blobby gunge was all over the place. Still as a scientist I photographed the results

I think it looks like a wound!

The next attempt I used little pieces chopped up and sprinkled them into the clear after pouring.

once covered with black this certainly showed potential

so I poured a puffy heart with a forest green insert and poured a much hotter black onto the back.

It seemed to be successful but as I trimmed the black it all came away from the clear.

I decided to separate the two pours so hat I could get both clear and black really hot.

But I would use the heat gun on the back of the clear before pouring black

this is the square from above heat polished and smartened up.

I really like this heart

this looks super in real life - a friend has said it looks like an opal

Top right is a ring with a hand made shank embedded in the molten enamel

All in all for a first attempt I am very pleased. Half way through the process I was unsure but once the black was poured and the edges trimmed the true colours shine through.