IDEAS FOR USING UP SCRAP

I always end up with quite a large pot of scrap enamel in a gunge colour and have been wondering how to use it up.
 I also have a new cabochon mould with a variety of different sized cabochons so I thought I would try out the mould and see if I could use up the scrap.
First of all I wanted to try out a new texture sheet so I poured the mix into a leaf shaped cutter laid onto the sheet. I rubbed Versamark onto the cutter as a release agent which works very well.

the scrap mix poured into a cutter on a texture sheet with added gleams and mica powder to highlight the texture

I have used stellar flash in the past but not really been impressed with the results however this time I decided to sprinkle to flash into the mould before pouring a dark colour over the top.

My scrap gunge colours ranged from a murky grey through to a red tinged brown with some dark steel thrown in too.  By adding some scrap to a larger amount of diamond clear and a small amount of navy blue heat ink I was able to produce a colour mix that was more translucent than the scrap with an even dark colour which showed up the stellar flash well.
I created a few cabochons including a dinky pair of earrings with a definite opal look about them.

I really like these earrings which are about 8mm

I have also been playing with  a Karantha three hemisphere mould which has slits for headpins or wire and produces a pendant. This is one of my favourite moulds because it is so versatile. You can use it to make a graduated pendant or use one of the hemispheres on its own. Louise Jakobsen has even fused two hemispheres of the same size together to make a complete ball.

Here are three different pours using this mould - I have used the scrap and stellar flash mix  plus a faux lapis look with gold sprinkled on and then heat polished carefully and one of the Crafty Notions black metallics with added bronze. I quite like the effects produced

I used up the last of the scrap mix with a lovely tear drop shaped mould. I experimented by really heating up to front to see if I could make the stellar flash change colour ( it is small bits of fusible film which morph into stunning colours with a blast of heat ) You can see how the jewel enamel  has melted away from the flash and made quite a pitted surface which is not what I normally go for but I like this rougher rainbow effect.