Well, Hello World

For the last few months, this blog may have been silent, but work continued on my creative endeavors.  I was researching new techniques and ideas for basic jewelry and for my Goddess series necklaces.  I've also started listing more items on the Melusine's Jewels Etsy Shop.

One technique I've been playing with for a couple of weeks now is painting glass gems with nail polish (which is, essentially, a strong enamel paint).  I loved the effects people were able to get with them and wanted to try my hand at them as well.

The tutorial I used is located at Sweeter Lemon: Nail Polish Jewelry Tutorial – Pendants, which was the best tutorial I had found online.  First, I started with basic glittery pendants and did one more intricate painting.  (Pictures will be posted later.)

This week, however, I've dived into experiment with painting jellyfish, seahorses, butterflies, a dragonfly, a mermaid, and a mandala.  I feel I'm really getting a feel for what I can start accomplishing with this technique.  I don't really know if I would prefer nail polish instead of using actual enamel paints from the craft stores... except for the fact that I may have more color and glitter options using nail polishes.  Also, I'm curious how well the glass enamels would work with the adhesives I use, since I've  noticed some issues with how the nail polishes react to it.

I'm working on making my own wire bails for my gems, especially the painted ones.  The hope was to use them on the crackled gems as backings, but the effect was not what I had hoped for.  The silver plate bails I use are far better for the crackled and unpainted gems.  I do like the freedom of making my own bails and backings, though, so I may experiment a bit to see what I can come up with.

Lastly, I've started working on new jellyfish pendant designs.  I like them far better than the ones I previously made.  Previously, people didn't quite know they were jellyfish, but now I've had people take one look and say, "I love your jellyfish!"  So I'd like to think that makes the new designs a success.