Faux Enamel Flowers
I love retro enamel flower jewelry. The bright color and bold design appeal to me, not to mention the shine. My own crafting style tends toward all three of those things, and I am a jewelry designer, so....perfect fit! Nice metal, retro flowers are not easy to find, nor are they inexpensive. So, what does a smart crafter do? She makes her own faux version of them, of course!
A little sidebar: I enjoy combining materials and techniques because I have such a varied past as a crafter/teacher. So, my projects almost always involve combinations of painting, jewelry making, papercrafting, stitching, and whatever else is on my mind at the time. Here is a charm bracelet made with a simple 1" round punch. It is never boring!
Making your own faux enamel flowers is quite easy. And fun! Here is what you need:
- heavy paper: I used both 90 lb. watercolor paper and posterboard. They worked equally well.
- cardstock: solid brights
- Fiskars punches: I used a 1" circle lever punch, a heart squeeze punch, 2 sizes of oopsie daisy squeeze punches, and a large scalloped circle squeeze punch
- Plaid's Dimensional Magic in clear
- Mod Podge for paper, or your favorite paper adhesive that will hold with moisture
- white acrylic paint (optional)
- small flat paintbrush (for Mod Podge)
- buttons or gems for flower centers
- hot glue gun and glue sticks
- wire cutters (if you have shank buttons)
Try this:
1. Punch shapes. For every watercolor paper shape you punch, punch two color shapes the same.
Apply a second coat of Dimensional Magic on the front. Let dry. Also apply a coat to the backside of the flower. This makes the flower very sturdy.
At this point, your flowers are complete and fabulous. Glue on pinbacks, magnets, or add them to a necklace.
To complete a necklace like mine, you will also need:
- silver wire
- embroidery floss
- scissors
- a chain necklace
Cut a 2" piece of wire. Fold in half. Glue to back of flower.
Using a piece of floss, knot the flower wire to the chain. Repeat with all flowers you want on your necklace.
No doubt, it makes a statement! How fabulous for spring and summer?
P.S. Clicking on the photos will enlarge them and give you a close up view.
Use your Vitamin C to make yourself a garden of flowers!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 creative thoughts:
Wish you a great day!
Leave a Comment