We love to experiment with new techniques and materials, so when we were asked by HomeCrafts to take part in a cold enamelling competition we jumped at the chance. I've never done any enamelling before, and hadn't really considered using it to create or decorate jewellery, so the first port of call was actually researching what you can do with the stuff. Turns out there's loads of stuff; from creating patterns to coating different forms and sealing objects into the enamel, a lot like resin.
So I popped over to see Vina at The Birmingham Bead Shop to get some bits and pieces to have a play with. I picked up a few cabochon mounts and Vina gave us these sweet little penguin charms to have a little play with. They're perfect to enamel, and Vina was even more excited than I was to see the outcome. I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, but I love their colourful bellies!
I decided to make some earrings. I wanted to create some texture with the enamel to contrast with the smooth shiny spike, so I ripped up some tin foil scrunching it between my fingers to fit into the mount. I used the enamel beneath the foil as a glue, and then covered it in a thin layer of white. Once that had about an hour to dry I filled the mount with clear enamel. I love how only some of the white enamel mixed with the clear to give a detailed effect, rather than an opaque colour. To me the overall effect looks like a precious stone, very festive. I've attached the mount to earring findings and dangled a spike (which I dipped into the enamel before hand) from the bottom.
We did some other experimenting with colour and pattern with these pieces as well:
These little beauties are perfect for collar tips, so expect to see some of these in our Etsy shop real soon!
