Just click on the arrow above to watch the AMNW TV video demonstration.
You'll probably want to also click the bottom right square to view it up close in full screen mode.
There is lot of jewelry for sale these days with little images in them with a glass dome or clear thick resin covering the image to magnify it. The only thing is it can be quite expensive to purchse. So, why not try making your own jewelry with custom images, photos of family or friends, your favorite quote...really, the skys the limit! The best part is everything you will need is all in on place at Beadaholique!
Designing your jewelry is easy when you use images from one Beadaholique sheet. They have done all the work for you by coordinating colors and themes. And many images they carry have a same size coordinated bezel to place the image into.
Jewelry Findings (Pieces) You'll Need
Beadaholique has a huge variety of jewelry making products beyond what I have used on today's demo. You can browse all of their products on the:
Here is a list of the Beadaholique jewelry kits and findings I have used on ALL today's jewelry display and demo pieces:
~Antique Brass Adjustable Ring with Round Bezel 25.5mm Diameter #FRG-0795
~Antique Brass Color Round Bezel With Glass Round Cabochon 38mm Kit #PND-PKIT-0034
~Antique Brass Color Heart Bezel With Glass Cabochon 25mm Pendant Kit #PND-PKIT-0031
~Czech Fire Polish Bead Silver Plated Link Chain 4mm Jet Black Round 1 Meter (approx. 3.25 feet) #AXC-99908 (for heart toggle)
~Silver Filled Cable Chain 2.1mm-Bulk By The Foot #CHA-0260 for butterfly image with red rhinestones bottle cap necklace)
~Sterling Silver Closed Jump Rings 14mm 17 Gauge Heavy (has 2 pc.) #FJR-4148
~Round or oval jump rings:
Air dry clay (such as Model Air or Paperclay)
Paper towels
Jewelry Tools
~Needle nose pliers
~Round nose pliers
~Scissors (small pointed and sharp)
~Small flat paint or glaze brush about 3/8" wide
~Popsicle sticks (for use with Ice Resin only)
~Optional - jump ring tool
~Optional - craft punches in 1" round, 1" square, or sizes of chosen images
~Optional: A rubber mallet and anvil or heavy pounding block or a large die cutting machine (like a Big Shot) used to flatten bottle caps
Basic Instructions for Using Epoxy STICKERS
1. Choose an image that is the same size or a little larger then epoxy sticker. Leave sticker on carrier sheet until you are going to secure it to the base! Cut away one sticker from sheet at a time.
2. If you are sure your base and sticker are the exact same size of your craft punch, turn punch over, line up image in opening and punch out the image (*Test on a piece of scrap cardstock!). Or press sticker down over the printed side of the image and cut around edge with pointed scissors. Be careful not to touch the sticky side of sticker to prevent marring it.
3. For the Nunn Design heart toggle, use the coordinating Nunn Design "Song Birds" heart or another Nunn heart image (like "Paris Postmarks" or "Various Birds" etc. Or, trace the heart on an image and cut around shape. Turn the image over, place the heart bezel on the image and trace the circle. Cut out (or use a circle punch-turned over to the back if you have one), an opening that's the same circle size, as shown. Tip: punch a hole int eh center of the traced hole to put your pointed scissors into the cut out the inner toggle hole form image.
3. Apply an even layer of Crafter's Pick glue (not so much that it will seep out beyond the base!) to the bottom of image. Firmly press onto your surface (into a bezel, top side of bottle cap, inside a bottle cap, inside a bracelet bezel that has had the elastic cut and removed (necklace and ring shown above) or onto a scrabble tile. Allow to dry for at least 15 minutes. For the ring, use E6000 to glue to a flat pad silver ring.
Note: The bottle cap can even be pre-flattened (before adding your image). You can hammer bottle caps flat with a rubber mallet, on an anvil or heavy pounding block. Or even better, run 6 caps through a die cut machine using the correct pads for the bottle cap thickness (see video links below).
Scrabble Tiles
1. I have seen people use either side of a scrabble tile for jewelry. Some like to keep the letter on the backside to show that it was an altered scrabble tile. Either side works! Follow the instructions for bottle caps above to secure your image. Beadaholique has images made specifically for scrabbles tiles, which by the way are not a square, but a slight rectangle.
2. You can also easily trace around a tile onto an inkjet printed photo (printed on cardstock) and simply cut out the shape. horizontally as shown in the Cheshire cat pendant. If your image is wider then high, you can turn it The best covering in my opinion is to use scrabble size epoxy stickers over your image. Cut away one sticker from a sticker sheet at a time. Refer to step 1 of "Basic Instructions for Using Epoxy STICKERS" above.
3. Remove the sticker holding it by the sides and secure over the image, being careful to line the sticker up, centered on all four edges.
4. To hang a tile, I like to glue a bail (heart or leaf shapes work well) on the backside with E6000 adhesive (shown in last photo above of step 1). Place glue on the top shape and press it against the back of the tile and keep it flat to dry several hours.
Instructions for Adding a Thick Glaze or Resin Over Image
1. You will need to cut or punch out your image to the correct size first. Then you MUST apply two coats (allow to dry between coats) of sealant to the top, bottom and sides of the image with a small flat paint or glaze brush and allow them to dry completely. *Note: if you skip sealing your image the glaze will absorb into it and cause it to look like it has a grease stain and darken it too much.
2. Secure the image to your base (in bezel, inside bottle cap etc.) by applying an even layer of Crafter's Pick glue and pressing in place. Allow to dry for at least 15 minutes. Note: You cannot use resin on the top of a bottle cap, as the base needs to have a well to fill.
3a. If Using Glaze: To add a very shiny (level) glass-like look to your image, you can squeeze Diamond Glaze into the bezel or inside a bottle cap. Allow to dry flat, undisturbed for 24 hours days depending on the thickness and the humidity in your area. I like to place a plastic cup over the piece, upside down, to avoid any dust or debris getting in my glaze (keep out of reach of children and pets).
3b. If Adding a Two Part Resin: Working over a protected work surface or inside a plastic container (shown), completely mix a small amount of equal parts of each liquid from the (Ice Resin) kit with a popsicle stick, following the instructions on the package precisely. Set a timer for 5 minutes and allow the resin to sit so that the air bubbles caused by mixing, will pop.
4. Scoop some resin up with the stick tip, place the stick in the center of the bezel or bottle cap and allow the resin to slowly run down the stick and spread over the image. Soon a dome will begin to form. Add a little more resin at a time until there is a nice dome and the well is full, but do not overfill the well as it will spill over the edge. You can place a clear plastic cup, upside down, over the project to avoid any dust or debris getting into the glaze. *Place out of reach of children and pets.
5. Allow the resin to dry (making sure the bezel is level), for 6 hours. It will then take about three days to cure (harden completely) to a beautiful domed glass-like surface.
Using Glass Domes to Cover Images
1. Beadaholique carries kits that come with a bezel and a matching glass dome to fit over your image. For this photo pendant, turn over your craft punch to the bottom side, slide in your printed photo (non-shiny cardstock is best to use) and punch out your photo (step 1 in photo above). You can also trace the glass dome shape onto the photo and cut out with scissors. (Step 2 shows the cut out/punched cardstock photo above.)
2. Apply an even layer of Crafter's Pick to the bottom of image. Firmly press image into the bezel, top side of photo on the top center (step 3 of photo above). Allow the glue to dry 15 minutes.
3. Add three drops of Diamond glaze directly onto the photo and press the glass dome in place firmly. Hold in place for 2 minutes to make sure the dome doesn't shift and blur the ink on your photo. Let dry for several hours.
All About Bottle Caps
*Bottle caps are fun to use and have a retro look. For jewelry or crafts, you want to find caps that do not have a rubber liner inside the cap. You can color them with permanent felt tip pens. You can also use either side of a cap for jewelry or magnets. Caps can also be flattened and form a nice outer edge. You can either hammer a cap flat (sharp edge facing up) with a rubber mallet on an anvil or heavy pounding block, or flatten 6 at a time through a large die cut machine (Sizzix Big Shot or Cuttlebug with a No More Shims Embossing Mat by Scor-Pal). See video links below.
1. If your image is going on the top solid side of the bottle cap (black with rose), roll a 1/2" ball of air-dry clay and press it into the cap until it is level. Allow to dry overnight then carefully wipe any excess clay or clay dust form the cap with a slightly moist paper towel.
2. Follow "Basic Instructions for Using Epoxy STICKERS" steps 1-3 above.
3. To create magnets, just glue a 1" strong Ceramic Disk Magnet to the dried clay bottom side or onto the top solid side of the cap.
Embellishing Bottle Caps
1. You can add a metal filigree piece to the bottom of a bottle cap to give it a fancy lace edge. I filled my caps with air-dry clay (see "Using the Top Side of Bottle Caps for Magnets" above for directions).
2. The clay in these caps are dry. Place filigree pieces, right side up, onto a plastic covered works surface. Apply a dab of E6000 glue to the clay on the cap and press, centered onto the filigree. Let dry several hours.
3. To match the bottle cap, I used a black permanent felt tip pen to color the filigree. I also antiqued the bird charm by applying black marker then immediately wiping off the top surface with a paper towel so the black remained in the indentations only (see finished necklace photo above). Let dry for 1 hour to before wearing to make sure no ink rubs off onto clothing.) See "Finishing Jewelry" below to assemble necklace).
4. You can also embellish bottle caps to give them a high end look by framing them with rhinestones in the wells of a flattened cap as seen here, or just adding one or two to accent a bottle cap. They really make a difference!
5. I will only use clear GS Hypo Cement Precise Applicator for it's ultra-fine point tip, to add rhinestones. Apply a tiny dab and press in stone, that's it. Allow glue to dry completely, then run your finger over the rhinestones, pressing gently, to make sure they are secure. If not, simply re-glue.
Finishing Your Jewelry
1. Many projects above have the instructions for finishing your project. You will use mostly jump rings to secure pieces together. There is a proper way to open and close a jump ring (see photo in step 2 below). You can use either two pairs of chain nose pliers to grab each end of the jump ring (first photo on left) to twist the ends in separate directions, or just one pair of needle nose pliers and a jump ring tool (photo on the right-I recommend this technique!). Place the jump ring tool on your index finger of the hand you DO NOT write with and use the pliers to bend the ring with your other hand.
2. Grab the ring near the cut ends and push one side forward (away from you) and the other side toward you. This is correct. Do NOT pull the jump ring ends apart so the ring shape is distorted.
3. After ring is open, thread ring onto a chain link or a ring that's been glued onto a bracelet link (see photo above step 1 of "Scrabble Tiles"). Or thread through the loop on the top or bottom of a charm or the loop at the top or bottom of a bezel. Anywhere a connection is needed.
4. Close the ring the same way you opened it, moving the ends back together in the opposite direction.
