Christmas decorations

Last year I made decorations for family and friends so decided to make some more as presents this year.
I used a large star mould that I bought from Jewellery Maker TV which is just thick enough for a good pour but not so thick that it takes ages to cool and harden

I wanted to make transparent colours so used clear UTEE and heat inks to add the colour and very lightweight glitter for added bling.

For this glorious green I used clear UTEE with some Cosmic Shimmer ink  I poured a few stars in green and then began to add a second green ink which is much more of a teal and created a colour gradation through to almost turquoise

 these stars have a rich gem like quality and look amazing with light shining through
Then I melted some left over transparent ruby  to make just a few glowing red stars

I used a deep blue heat ink with a mixed blue glitter for my blue stars and then a tiny drop of ink called tiger's eye which is a golden colour with plenty of gold glitter.

Once totally cold I used a soldering iron to melt a good sized hole for ribbon to string them up.

Finally I gathered all my efforts together for a curtain call

A rainbow of stars for Christmas

AUTUMN WREATH by Andrea Moorhouse

One of the great things about  jewel enamel is that it has so many different uses. So even though we are jewellery makers we can let our creativity loose as Andrea has done with this stunning Autumn wreath.

Here she tells us how she created this seasonal decoration........

The leaves were cut using Tim Holtz BigZ die Tattered Leaves, from some packaging and other pieces of coloured card.

The card was inked and then coated with clear UTEE using the melt pot. In this instance the fact that clear turns an amber colour as you use it would just add to the finished result



Here you can see the glorious autumn colours of the leaves after dipping









Once all the leaves were ready the assembling began.
 A hoop of galvanised wire was used as a base and the leaves and other decorations were hot glued on.

Most of the other bits were from Country Baskets

http://www.countrybaskets.co.uk/

 but the conkers are from a local field, washed and dried on the radiator for a couple of days.
Once everything was glued on gleams ( gilding wax) was used on the flowers, corn and conkers. 
It was a case of knowing when to stop!
Although designed to go on the front door it will be inside if the weather is bad.

 

Sharing the Knowledge

This blog is a joint venture by members of the Jewel Enamel Gems Facebook group.
We want to share our love of using jewel enamel also known as UTEE mainly to make jewellery but we do wander off into other creative adventures!
Although the Facebook group is a closed group we welcome members - you will find us here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/JewelEnamelGems

UTEE is well known by papercrafters and altered art enthusiasts and there have been one or two folk making jewellery but in the last 3 years it has totally taken off as an alternative medium to use for jewellery making mainly due to Liz Welch and Jewellery Maker TV.

The main tool we use is the Ranger Melt Pot and just recently Ranger made the decision to stop making it so although at the moment there are still a few to be bought from craft suppliers it is becoming scarce in the UK.

There are other DIY ways of melting the powder but as the temperature is about 140C you really need to watch your fingers!

Our blog will have lots of our members as guest authors sharing their makes and tips on how to create great pieces.

In the meantime check out some of our favourite blogs from the side bar list and have a look at a some of the stunning jewellery created using our favourite medium