Saturday, February 16, 2008

Pretty pendants


I have a new addiction - making pendants using metal washers and alcohol inks! I saw this idea on Splitcoast around Christmas last year, and finally tried it before Christmas this year. I made some for Christmas gifts and they were a big hit - to the point that some of my cousins were asking me to make some for them and offering to pay me to do it! I finally restocked supplies and made some a couple of weeks ago. The one above was a gift for my sweet friend Joni who recently had a birthday. I bought the shiny silver washers, about the size of a 50-cent piece, at Lowe's. They take Ranger's alcohol inks very well. I used Stream and the pearl mixative on this one, then when the alcohol ink was dry, I stamped a CTMH flourish around the washer using black stazon. I embossed it using clear EP from Ranger, which can be tricky because the metal gets super hot! I'm also thinking it might be worth investing in some ultra-thick EP for this, because I had to do about three coats to get the look I liked. Before the final coat of EP cooled, I added a small rhinestone gem for a little sparkle. To finish the pendant, I looped some black satin cord through and tied the ends in a knot.

Here's a set of three finished washers. On some of them, instead of finishing with EP, I just sprayed them with acrylic sealer. It gives it a less polished look, which is kind of cool. And they look great without any stamping or other embellishing.
I also made some using cranberry and butterscotch inks and copper mixative. These turned out really cool, colorwise. On the right and left washers, I stamped the branch from Artfully Asian in stazon over the washer. The center one has no stamping, but I did emboss it and attach a gem.
Supplies:
Stamps: Artfully Asian, SU; Free Spirit, CTMH
Ink: Ranger acohol inks (from the Nature Walk and Farmer's Market collections) and mixatives in pearl and copper, versamark for embossing, black stazon
Accessories: washers, alcohol ink applicator, EP, satin cord

4 comments:

Jen said...

This is such a neat idea! I love your different samples.

PattyB said...

Michelle How do you blend the ink so well? I finally got all the supplies and they don't look anything like yours!

Kanani said...

Isn't it funny how hobbies are so addicting! I love the pendants.

The Crafty Goddess

Anonymous said...

What fabulous results ... I'm going to have to give this a try ... gorgeous.