Make a Pate De Verre Clover Pin

Before: Glass by GeltDesigns.com & pin

OK, so today's project is not made with found objects... but I really wanted to share the pate de verre pin we made to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. We toyed with a number of different colors and designed and bothe the girls at NJAD were really pleased with the results with this pin.


Materials
Pate de verre clover
1-inch pin back
Glue

Tools
Glass fusing tools
Bullseye glass powder

After: Pin by GeltDesigns.com

Step 1
Make the pate de verre glass clover. Make a mold and fill the mold with glass powder. Place the filled mold in the freezer for at least one hour but no longer than overnight. Unmold the frozen glass powder. Fire the glass in a glass fusing kiln taking care to anneal the glass. Allow the glass to cool to room temperature. Remove the glass from the kiln. File rough edges, if any, with a diamond file. Wash the glass.

Glue pin finding

Step 2
Glue the pin back to the back of the glass.


Related Tutorials
Make a Beer Bottle into a Heart Pin
Make a Pin from a Glass Pebble
Make Glass & Copper Earrings
Make a Pendant from a Bottle
Turn a Glass Jar into a Pendant
Make a Glass & Knotted Leather Necklace
Make a Glass & Brass Link Bracelet
Make Recycled Glass & Sterling Silver Earrings
Make a Kiln Formed Bracelet
Make a Glass Charm Necklace
Freeze & Fuse: Pate de Verre the Easy Way

Questions about Glass Clay
Fused Glass Tutorials by GeltDesigns 
Further Reading
"Warm Glass: A Complete Guide to Kiln-Forming Techniques: Fusing, Slumping, Casting"; Philippa Beveridge, Ignasi Domenech, Eva Pacual; 2005.
"Contemporary Warm Glass: A Guide to Fusing, Slumping & Kiln-Forming Techniques"; Brad Walker; 2000.
"Kiln Firing Glass: Glass Fusing Book One"; Boyce Lundstrom, Daniel Schwoerer; 1994. 

Day 117. Month 5. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent: 0
New Jewelry a Day.  

Make "Kiss Me" Heart Earrings

Before: scrap book hearts

Today is project four of NJAD Valentine's Day week. We had some plastic hearts that were leftover from a scrap booking project. We decided the two pink "Kiss Me" hearts were perfect to make into post earrings.


Materials
2 plastic hearts
2 surgical steel post earring findings with 4mm pad

After: Earrings by GeltDesigns.com

2 surgical steel ear nuts
3M wet/dry sandpaper

E6000 or glue of your choice
Black Sharpie marker


Step 1
Select the hearts you want to use.

Step 2
Color the lettering with the black Sharpie or marker of your choice.

Step 3
Sand the pad of the post to rough up the metal and make the glue stick better. Sand the plastic where you plan to glue the pad.

Glue on earring post

Step 4
Glue the earring post to the back of the heart. Allow the glue to dry overnight or according to manufacturer's instructions.


Related Tutorials 
Make a Valentine's Day Pendant from a Scrabble® Tile
Make a "True Love" Bracelet from Scrabble® Tiles
Make a Valentine's Day Pendant from a Copper Washer and Scrap Sterling
Make a Heart Pin from a Glass Pebble
Make Button Earrings

Further Reading
"500 Earrings: New Directions in Contemporary Jewelry (500 Series)"; Lark; 2007.

Day 82.  Month 4. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: scrap booking supplies
New Jewelry a Day.

Make a Valentine's Day Pendant from a Scrabble® Tile

Today is project three of our get ready for Valentine's Day count down. We had so much fun playing with Scrabble® tiles yesterday that we decided to make a pendant to coordinate with yesterday's bracelet. 

Before: Paper from catalog

Every year around Christmas time we are inundated with catalogs from department stores. The folks on Madison Avenue spend a LOT of money trying to make the paper images as appealing as possible....and that makes catalogs a great source for attractive paper to use for decoupage.


Materials
Scrabble®  letter
Scrap paper
Glue stick
Black Sharpie Marker
Mod Podge
Transparent embossing powder
18-gauge round brass wire

Tools 
Automatic center punch
Drill
Size 41 bit
Xacto knife
Heat gun

Round nose pliers
Chain nose pliers

Pick a tile

Step 1
Select a Scrabble® tile. Mark the top center of the Scrabble® tils with an automatic center punch and then drill a holes in the tile for the finding.

Step 2
Select some attractive paper or fabric. We used some paper cut from a Bloomingdales catalog sent to us in the mail, but any attractive paper or fabric will do.

Step 3
Glue the paper to the tile and cut off the excess paper using an Xacto knife or scissors. My daughter then used a black Sharpie to draw a design on the paper.

Step 4
Coat the paper with a layer of Mod Podge. Sprinkle the transparent embossing powder on the glue. Tap off the excess embossing powder. Use a heat gun to heat the embossing powder until it melts. The embossing powder will protect the paper and make the pendant water resistant but not necessarily water proof. Set the pendant aside and allow the embossing powder to cool to room temperature.

After: Pedant by GeltDesigns.com

Step 5
Make the pendant bail from 18-gauge round brass wire and attach the bail to the tile. Slide a neck ring chain through the bail to wear the pendant.

Related Tutorials
Make a Bracelet from Scrabble® Tiles
Make a Pendant Bail
How to Drill
How to Use a Drill Press for Jewelry Making
How to Use a Dremel to Make Jewelry
How to Use a Flex Shaft to Make Jewelry

Further Reading
"500 Pendants & Lockets: Contemporary Interpretations of Classic Adornments (500 Series)"; Lark; 2008.
  
Day 81.  Month 4. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: scrap paper, Scrabble® tile
New Jewelry a Day.

Make a Spider Pin from a Toy

Before: Toys in the box

We've made pins before. We've made jewelry from toys before. We've made jewelry from scrap metal.

This pin also began as a toy -- a plastic toy spider. The toy needed a backing to both highlight the spider and allow enough surface to attach the pin finding and allow the pin to sit well when worn. We used scrap metal for the backing since a good part of the disk would be covered by the spider and the damaged area of the disk would not show.

Materials
Toy
Disk
Pin back finding

After: Pin by GeltDesigns.com

Tools
Disc cutter or jewelry saw
Half round file
Wet/dry sandpaper
Soldering torch 
Soldering & annealing pan
Charcoal soldering block 
Flux
Sparex pickle
Pickle pot
Copper tongs
Third-hand or tweezers (optional)
Glue

Step 1
Assemble the tools and materials. You will need a disk,

Before: Parts Needed

a pin back finding, a toy and some glue.

Step 2
Purchase a disk or cut the disk from scrap sheet metal using a disc cutter or jewelry saw. Flue the edges smooth. Sand away any tools marks or other damage to the disk.

Solder pin back to disk

Step 3
Solder the pin back to the top third of the disk. Pickle the soldered pin to remove oxidation. Rinse with water. Dry.

Soldering the pin back to the top third of the disk (rather than the center) will cause the pin to sit better win worn.

Step 4
Use chemical bonding (otherwise called glue) to attach the toy spider to the soldered disk. Allow the glue sit overnight to cure.

Related Tutorials
Soldering Tips
Thoughts on Soldering Torches & Other Equipment
Soldering Tips for Jewelry Makers
How to Correct Soldering Problems when Jewelry Making
How to Solder Using a Small Butane Torch
How to Make Pickle
Make a Lizard Pin from a Toy
Make a Pin from a Glass Pebble
How to Make a Pin Back
 
Further Reading
"500 Brooches: Inspiring Adornments for the Body [A Lark Jewelry Book]"; Lark; 2005.

"Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box"; Madeleine Albright; 2010.
"500 Plastic Jewelry Designs: A Groundbreaking Survey of A Modern Material (500 Series)"; Lark; 2009.

Other
Jewelry Making Set

Day 63.  Month 3. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: toy, scrap metal
New Jewelry a Day.