Crystal Lacquer Treasure Chest

I got a cute treasure chest charm on a chain and thought it would be fun to put some Crystal Lacquer treasure into it.

Here’s the charm:

It opens up like this:

I partially filled the chest with clear Crystal Lacquer.  I added some gold Crystal Lacquer with one of Sakura’s Pen Style Applicators. 

Then I sprinkled gold glitter over that.

When the Crystal Lacquer started to set up, I shook off the extra glitter, then added some “jewels” with the other Pen Style Applicators.  Finally, I added some crystal clear glitter while the “jewels” were still wet.

Won’t this be fun for a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean to wear?  Or for Barbie on a hunt for buried treasure? 

I hope this will inspire you to transform plain objects into something special!

For the month of August, you can get 20% off your Sakura order with the coupon code aug08!

Making Crystal Lacquer Ornaments with a Silicone Mold

There are lots of silicone molds in the craft stores lately.  Sakura Crystal Lacquer Pens are perfect for filling in tiny spaces in these intricate molds!


These molds are flexible, so make sure your mold is sitting on a flat surface when you pour.  I set mine on an empty plastic package so I could move it after I filled it.  The Sakura pens come in lots of colors, and there’s even an empty pen so you can mix your own colors with Terri Sproul Mixers!  The tiny tip is perfect for filling in all the details in these little molds!

Here are my ornaments setting up:


I added some patina to a vintage brass locket with Vintaj Quartz and Onyx Patinas using a small paint brush.  I added some of the Vintaj Onyx Patina to the fleur de lis. To give it a bit of an aged look, I rubbed it off of the high areas of the ornament, leaving it in the low areas.



I used clear Crystal Lacquer to adhere the fleur de lis to the locket.  Then I sealed the entire outside of the piece with clear Crystal Lacquer, applying it with the small paintbrush. Then all I had to do was put it on a chain!


Now is a great time to try this project or one like it, because you can get 20% off your entire purchase at Sakura Hobby Craft for the month of August.  Just enter aug08 at checkout!

More Glass Tile Pendants!

I made more really easy pendants!

To make a pendant like these, you need one of Sakura's glass tiles and matching bezel cup, Crystal Lacquer and an image that fits the tile.

The glass tiles are available in rectangular, square and circular shapes.

There are bezel cups to match.  There are also bails you can glue right onto the glass tiles. 

I made two pendants.  They both use scrapbook paper.  One is heavy cardstock paper from Graphic 45.  The other is thin paper from Sandylion.  They both worked well!


You could use almost any paper, and I think fabric would work fine, too.  I think this would be great with a map featuring your hometown or some of your favorite text. 
I sealed the images with Mod Podge.

You could trace the shape of the glass tile onto your paper and cut the paper to fit, but it’s really easy to just adhere the glass tile to the paper with Crystal Lacquer and then trim it when it starts to set up.  Crystal Lacquer comes in a bottle with a small dispenser tip that is perfect for squeezing out small amounts.  I lightly coated the back of my glass tiles with Crystal Lacquer.  I didn’t spread the Crystal Lacquer all the way to the edges of the tiles, because it sort of gets squished out when you put it down on the paper.  After coating the tiles, I placed them where I wanted them on the paper.  The tile wants to slide around on the Crystal Lacquer, so you’ll want to hold it in place for a moment while it settles.

Once the Crystal Lacquer started to set up, I trimmed the paper with scissors.

Then I coated the back of the paper lightly with Crystal Lacquer and set the tiles down into the bezel cups.  I used a wet paper towel to wipe away a little Crystal Lacquer that got squished out.

And that was it!  All I had to do then was put the pendants on chains.  Sakura offers ball chain in several finishes.  I added a brass chain for the brass finish bezel cup.

I live in a really dry place, and I could make these in the morning to wear the same evening, but in other places, you’ll want to let the Crystal Lacquer dry for at least a day or so.

Just think!  You can make this pendant with absolutely any image you want!  I hope you will try it.  Now is the perfect time, because for the month of July, you can get 20% off your total purchase from Sakura by entering coupon code Summer07 at checkout!

Glass Tile Pendants

This is the easiest pendant you will ever make!

You will need one of Sakura Hobby Craft’s glass tiles and matching bezel cup, Crystal Lacquer and an image that fits the tile.

The glass tiles are available in rectangle, square and circular shapes.

There are bezel cups to match.  There are also bails you can glue right onto the glass tiles

I made two pendants.
 
One features a piece of paper I printed with my Gelli plate.

The other uses a Mad Hatter image from Graphic 45’s Hallowe’en in Wonderland Collection.

You could use almost any paper, and I think fabric would work fine, too.  I think this would be great with a map featuring your hometown or some of your favorite text.  You may want to seal the image with Mod Podge if you think it will run.

You could trace the shape of the glass tile onto your paper and cut the paper to fit, but it’s really easy to adhere the glass tile to the paper with Crystal Lacquer and then trim it when it starts to set up.  Crystal Lacquer comes in a bottle with a small dispenser tip that is perfect for squeezing out small amounts.  I lightly coated the back of my glass tiles with Crystal Lacquer.  I didn’t spread the Crystal Lacquer all the way to the edges of the tiles, because it sort of gets squished out when you put it down on the paper.  After coating the tiles, I placed them where I wanted them on the paper.  The tile wants to slide around on the Crystal Lacquer, so you’ll want to hold it in place for a moment while it settles.


Once the Crystal Lacquer started to set up, I trimmed the paper with scissors.

Then I coated the back of the paper lightly with Crystal Lacquer and set the tiles down into the bezel cups.  I used a wet paper towel to wipe away a little Crystal Lacquer that got squished out.

And that was it!  All I had to do then was put the pendants on chains.  Sakura offers ball chain in several finishes.  I used some chain I had on hand.

Wouldn't this be a great favor at an Alice in Wonderland party?  You could use a different character for each guest!

I live in a really dry place, and I could make these in the morning to wear the same evening, but in other places, you’ll want to let the Crystal Lacquer dry for at least a day or so.

Just think!  You can make this pendant with absolutely any image you want!  I hope you will try it.  Now is the perfect time, because for the month of July, you can get 20% off your total purchase from Sakura by entering coupon code Summer07 at checkout!

Fabric Cuff with Crystal Lacquer Embellishment

The heart on this fabric cuff was made from Sakura Crystal Lacquer and Terri Sproul Mixers in Green Pearl.  You can get 20% off your total purchase at Sakura Hobby Craft for the entire month of June by entering coupon code Crystal06 when you check out!

Here’s how I make the Crystal Lacquer “film.”  I save the packages from wafer thin dies.  They are perfect for this because they have a little bit of a lip that holds in the Crystal Lacquer.  I pour a little Crystal Lacquer into the plastic container, add Terri Sproul Mixers and stir.  When this hardens, you can cut any shape you want.  Once you trim the edges off, you can put the film through a diecut machine.

I chose my die and then used it to cut a template of white paper.  Then I used the template to cut a
piece of my Crystal Lacquer film.

This allows me to use the smallest possible piece of whatever I am diecutting. When I am cutting a small piece on a large black plate, it’s hard for me to see where to put the material I’m cutting.  So I placed the template on top of the die in the exact place it was cut from, and that told me where to place my Crystal Lacquer film.

I used an awl to make holes in the heart, so I could sew it onto my cuff like a button.

I tore a strip of canvas to use as the base for my cuff.  I cut two pieces, each 8 ½ inches long.  I wanted to turn under ½ inch on each end and I wanted a 7 ½ inch finished cuff.

I chose some materials to work with.  I recently took a class in Gelli Plate printing, and I had some canvas pieces I wanted to use.  They coordinated well with some gauze and  seam binding I had dyed, and with some vintage buttons I just got.

The printed canvas wasn’t long enough to cover the entire cuff, so I cut a strip, centered it on the canvas and stitched it down.

I cut a piece of seam binding, put Fray Check on the ends and pinned it in place to make a loop closure.  Then I cut a piece of the gauze.  The gauze had crinkled itself up while it was drying, so I didn’t have to do anything to it to give it that gathered look.  I decided to stitch down the seam binding before sewing all the layers together, so I turned the edges of the canvas under on the side with the loop and used a straight stitch to secure the seam binding.  It turns out that fabric cuffs are sort of like other bulky bracelets in that you have to allow extra wearing ease.  The cuff was going to be too tight for me this way, so I ended up not turning the other ends of the canvas under.

I assembled all the layers with a zigzag stitch, and I stitched all the way to the end of the unturned edge.

Then I sewed on my heart and my button:

And my cuff was finished!

As always, please let me know if you have any questions. 

Faux Fused Glass Pendant

You can make faux fused glass pendants with Sakura Crystal Lacquer and Terri Sproul Mixers!

I had just made some “Crystal Lacquer film” for a project I had in mind when I saw Tammy Tutterow’s tutorial on making faux fused glass pendants with shrink plastic and Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE).  It looked like fun, but I wanted to try it with my Crystal Lacquer film instead of shrink plastic, so I postponed the project-in-progress and used my “film” to make my own faux fused glass pendant.

Here’s how I make the Crystal Lacquer film.  The base is the package from a set of metal dies.  I pour in some Crystal Lacquer, add Terri Sproul Mixers and stir.  The package has a little rim that holds in the Crystal Lacquer. These were made with Copper Penny and Green Pearl.  When the Crystal Lacquer sets up, it is adhered to the plastic.  You can cut it with scissors or in a diecutter.



I diecut some hearts.


Then I heated UTEE in a Melting Pot.  A word of caution: The Embossing Enamel and parts of the Melting Pot get very hot! 

I punched holes in my hearts and put a piece of thin wire through each hole.  Using the wire as a handle, I dipped each heart into the melted UTEE.  The Crystal Lacquer film became very flexible when heated, so it is better to have a nice deep reservoir of melted UTEE and make a quick dip.  If you have to move the piece around in the UTEE for too long, it can become distorted (which might be a cool effect for some projects).

I set the hearts to cool on a heat-resistant nonstick sheet.



While you are dipping your pieces, you can scrape them against the edge of the Melting Pot to remove excess UTEE.  I was trying to get a thick coating of UTEE and ended up with the UTEE dripping off my pieces.  I trimmed it off with scissors while it was still warm and smoothed out the edges by heating them with a heat gun.  I removed the wires and cleaned out the holes with a small round file.


Then I made some jewelry!  Here is one of the hearts with a brass charm on a chain:



And here is one with a brass charm on a memory wire choker with glass beads:


This process is easy and has so many possibilities!  You can include embellishments or combine multiple pieces for more complex pendants!

Please let me know if you have any questions!