My First Attempts at Magnets

These were my first attempts at joining glass to paper - with my first bottle of Diamond Glaze I made some magnets that I was (am!) very proud of.  They still grace my fridge to this day.

In those days, I'm talking about oh a good couple of years ago, all I could find were these glass drops, they were all uneven, full of bubbles and prone to splintering, but it was a revelation to me how they would transform a simple image into something that seemed to move as my eyes glanced over it - if I moved this way, the image would move that way, if I moved that way, the image would move here - now I know this as the dimensional effect of glass, and certainly round domed glass seems to show this more than square flat glass.  There is probably a very good scientific reason for it, but I won't go investigating.  I'm guilty of always wanting to know the why of everything, but sometimes it is refreshing to just enjoy without probing.

New In The Shop - Glass Coins!

Oh my - aren't these beautiful?

They measure about 24mm and fit into the 25mm trays I sell - they are lovely clear glass and the novelty factor here is that they are flat!  If the domed ones are not your thing, try these.  They will be perfect for jewellery and magnets.

Just arrived in the shop, they sell at £3.00 for 10.  Find them at the Jasmin Studio Crafts Shop.

Printed Mosaics for Jewellery

These babies will eventually make it into some of my pendant trays and will go for sale in my other shop - they are ceramic mosaic tiles which I have imprinted with various images from my collection.  I will offer a tutorial for these little beauties soon but for now, I just wanted to show them off, because I'm rather pleased with them!

How NOT To Make a Glass Tile Pendant Part 3 - Bubbles

How annoying is this?  You make a beautiful pendant, it is flawless, yet a few days later you notice that bubbles have set under the glass...  grrr.  This was not even an intentional mistake for blogging purposes! This was a piece I made for myself because I love the combination of the ornate vintage bronze tray and the red paper.

The papers were well sealed, and I had coated the tray with ModPodge to avoid the blue rinse.  So what went wrong?  Here is what I think - I set the paper to the tray, and then the glass on top, and generally, you need to glue the paper to the glass first.  I have a sneaky suspicion that because the tray is slightly ridged on the inside, tiny air bubbles were trapped under the paper, which surfaced through the layer of fresh DG under the glass but couldn't then escape because the edges of the DG had already dried.  Just my theory!

I get far better results when I glue the glass tile to the paper first, let this dry, and then attach it to a tray.  Bubbles are definitely less, but one potential problem with doing it in this order is re-soaking the paper from the back, but that can be lessened by using a different type of glue in the tray, such as E6000.  Again I recommend experimenting to work out which method is best for you!

I'm going to keep this piece.  The camera blows up all the little detail but I still like this pendant and it is not that obvious at first glance, so it will be my little flawed piece and I will still wear it!  And ssssshhh, nobody need ever know about the bubbles.  Wanna see a super close up?

 
(Amazing that this would have printed out as an A2 size ...I looove my new camera!!)

Just Arrived!

Just arrived at the shop - gorgeous new rectangular glass tiles! These babies measure 24x48mm and trays to match will be arriving in the next few weeks!! They look perfect with bails too - one for a vertical pendant, two for a horizontal pendant. Try them out! You can find them here.

Crafty Diamond Glaze Projects Video

Here is a useful little video tutorial by Judikins creator, Judi Watanabe.  Judikins are the makers of Diamond Glaze and in this film, Judi shows us how to make a resin pendant and how she makes glass tile pendants.  There is also a sweet little project for using Diamond Glaze to capture tiny glass beads inside a tray - mmm I must try that!



And hey, aren't we all glad we no longer have to cut glass at our kitchen table? ;)