christine-murphy dot net

Faux soldered pendant

April 21, 2008 12:08 pm Christine stamping and scrapping

Well, here it is. Not too bad for a first effort! You can click this image to see a much larger version. (opens in new window) I might try making a few more to see if I can come up with something I like better. I just remembered that there is a new beading store up the street from me…maybe I’ll walk over there and see what can be had in terms of beads and charms.

Anyhoo, here is what I used to make this:

• Photo - 1.5 x 1.5 inches
• Two pieces of cardstock, cut to size of the photo
• Glue stick
• Jewelry wire (I used 26 gauge here)
• Memory Glass - 1.5 x 1.5 inches, 2 pieces
• Melting Pot
• Kool Toolz Spatula or other heat-proof silicon stirring tool
• Ultra-Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE), clear and gold
• UTEE Flex
• Beads
• Dog Tag (from QuickTrophy.com)
• wire cutters
• round-nosed pliers

Most of the above can be purchased at a chain craft store, such as Michaels or A.C. Moore, in the scrapbooking and jewelry making departments.  Since it’s been my experience that most people who work at these stores know little to nothing about what they sell, I will save you some frustration.  The Melting Pot, UTEE, Kool Toolz, and Memory Glass can be found in the scrapbooking department, usually in the aisle where the rubber stamps are.  Beads, charms, wire and the tools are in the jewelry-making department.

The Melting Pot appliance costs about $35.00, but you can do what I did and use one of those 40% off coupons the chains keep offering to get one. It’s an excellent investment, as there is so much you can do with it besides this project.

First, you want to start with a good photo. Use the highest-resolution version of the photo you can find…do NOT use a shrunken-down version, it won’t print well. I simply opened up Paint Shop Pro, digitally cropped the portion of the photo that I wanted to use, making sure it was perfectly square, and saved that. Then I opened the photo printing software that came with my printer, opened the file of this square photo, and told it what size I wanted the photo to be (1.5 x 1.5 inches). The smallest photo paper I have is 4 x 6, so I had it print out a small sheet of six little photos…extra in case I screw up.

At the craft table…plug in the Melting Pot, turn the temp all the way to where it says *UTEE*. Put in some of the clear UTEE, a little bit of the gold (not too much), put the lid on the appliance, and leave it to melt. Glue the photo to one of the squares of cardstock. Cut a length of wire about a foot long, and glue it to the other piece of cardstock…have it in the middle, so that half extends over what will be the top, and half out what will be the bottom.

When your UTEE is all melted, sprinkle in a little of the Flex…this product will add strength to the UTEE and help the finished piece to hold up better over time. Not too much, though! I think I used a little too much, because my UTEE was very thick. Stir it gently with the spatula.

Now, make a *sandwich*. Lay down a piece of the Memory Glass, on top of that, the cardstock with the wire glued on it, on top of that, the photo, and finally, a second piece of the glass. Be sure that the wires are sticking out the top and bottom, or else your picture will be sideways on your finished pendant!

Make sure it’s all lined up evenly. Holding the whole thing carefully, dip one of the non-wire sides into the UTEE, quickly remove, holding diagonally to let drip. Then dip the opposite side the same way. You just want to dip the edges, to make a frame, as you see in my finished piece.

To dip the top and bottom…bend back the wire, dip, and IMMEDIATELY bend the wire back after removing from the dip…this stuff sets up fast. If you don’t un-bend fast enough, fear not…you can just scrape off the UTEE and have a do-over. Put the scraped off piece back into the pot to re-melt.

To finish the piece…string some beads on the wires, both top and bottom. To make a *jump ring*, take the round-nosed pliers and hold the wire about 1/4″ from the last bead. Loop the wire around just one half of the pliers. Remove pliers. then string a charm (or, as seen here, the dog tag) onto the loop.. Holding the loop with the pliers, wrap some of the wire above the loop a few times to tie it off. Use wire cutters to trim off any excess. You do the same thing to make the jump ring for the chain at the top. Here, I used the chain that came with the dog tag.

Other than the UTEE being a little too thick (which is why the frame came out lumpy, but lumpy is okay, too…I wish I had been able to find the 22 gauge wire that Tim Holtz called for in his DVD presentation of this project. Michaels didn’t have any. I thought that the 26 was a little too thin. But maybe that beading store up the street does, which is another good reason to go and check that place out!