Charms

Hi everyone!  I haven't been creating much as we have been traveling around seeing family and relaxing from our daily grind, but I'm back to making more stuff!  Yippee!

​I saw this post by Creations by Christie on Pinterest a few months back and I have been wanting to make these cool charms ever since.    They use a variety of Tim Holtz products, she has a video tutorial (love that!) and they are really fun and easy to make.  I can't wait to use some of the vintage papers I've picked up on Ebay for some one-of-a-kind pieces. 

Sunday Night Polka

Kiss me.

My first commission piece!

I was approached about a week ago to do a commission piece and decided to finally go for it.   Up until now, I didn't have the confidence to sell my work until I realized how many  times people were asking me about where they could buy my things.  I'm still researching the best way to set up a "shop", so please stay tuned.  I'm in no hurry on this and want to do the most prep I can before I jump into this exciting next step so please bear with me.  :D

The buyer's request was a bracelet for a friend that reflected her faith, interests and tastes.  Our wearer loves nature, being outdoors and the water.  I decided to do a beach-inspired charm bracelet with resin shell pendants in a subtle and beautiful sea green, sand, white and silver.    

My first step was selecting the items for the bracelet.  I had most things in my workshop to get started, (I needed crosses and water symbol (the swirly coil design) to complete the charms):

Gathering materials for the bracelet.  Pearl disks, green stones, glass and metal charms, shell images for the pendants and silver book chain for the base. ​

Next step was to wire wrap the individual charms and work with placement.   

Work table fun!​

Laying out charm placement. ​

The charms/construction are one component of this project.  The other key piece of this design are the shell resin pendants.  I used a new product called  Iced Enamels to do a cold enamel treatment on the back of the oval bezels.  This is a new product from the creators of Ice Resin and my head is reeling with the design possibilities.  

There are helpful videos starting here on how you use Iced Enamels and I took a few pics to show my progress.  I decided to go simple for this first try for two reasons: first - new technique - didn't want to get in over my head; second - the Relique Ivory color  and sandy texture was a perfect compliment to this design.

Didn't get a pic before this stage, but pendants have been sanded, Iced Enamels Medium brushed on, Relique Ivory powder applied and pendants are slowly heated with a heat gun to adhere the pigment to the metal.  COOL, huh??​

Here's a close up of the texture while heating.  ​

After the color has been applied, a coat of resin is applied to protect the color and gives the surface a glassy finish.  Gorgeous!

Notice the paper?  I ditched it after realizing that the resin, being self-leveling, was pooling in certain areas of the bezel.  Those paper crinkles made a difference!​

After the resin had thoroughly dried, I was now able to decoupage the shell images into the bezels.  After that was thoroughly dried,  I did my final resin pour.   

​Mod Podged Shells

So now with all the pieces and parts completed, we now have a completed convertible charm bracelet/necklace!  Check it out! 

I hope the recipient has lots of fun with this piece.  I had a blast making it and will definitely be using Iced Enamels for future projects!   Thanks for reading, y'all!  xoxo