New Base and Bling

The new 2014 idea book has a new line of wearable art in the Base & Bling line.  The last book had base & bling, but it was mainly used with textiles to make necklaces, hair bands, bracelets, and the like.  This time around it focuses on creating personalized pendants.  I was rather intrigued when I first saw it and ordered some to make for our open house back in January.  I chose to make mine very personal with monograms and pictures.   It was trial and error for me, because these did not come with any instruction.  Close to My Heart has recently released a video with instructions, which I'll include below.

Here's the board I made for the party.  I only had two chains, one silver and one gold, so I had to do a little improvisation, hence the ribbons.   I have to say, the grey organza ribbon was a big hit. And for those with skin sensitivity issues, this may be the way to go.

The first pendant I made was the "S".  I used our Token Alpha stamp set and heat embossed it with gold powder.  The alphabet was perfect for these 1" circles.    The one on the left below I made for a friend of mine for her birthday.  I used our Lollydoodle paper and I had some metallic alpha stickers in my stash.  These stickers were very flat and were on a clear base.  They work perfectly.  I also made the "Z" pendant further down the same way.   

We also have a variety of charms you can add to your chain in addition to your pendant.  

After I made the monogram pendants, I decided I would try to add a photo to one of these.   I love the way it turned out.  

This was a picture I had taken of my daughter a few years back.  The picture was much larger so I simply cut it down to a 1" square.   The closeup on her face it gave it a real artsy feel to me.  

I did use liquid glass to put my pendants together.  A word of caution, where the liquid glass touched the printed side of my picture it did cause some slight discoloration.  In this case with the black and white, it gave it a hint of pink.  Personally, I loved the effect..lol.  I print my own pictures, so your results may vary.

When I put my pendants together, I used liquid glass, but I did not cover the entire thing.  In the video you will see her use a liberal amount of liquid glass under the glass covers.  What I did was use the liquid glass in a very thin coating behind my cardstock or picture to adhere it to the pendant.  Then very carefully, I put liquid glass on the very inside edges of my pendant and then added the glass cover.   If you do cover the entire face of the pendant with liquid glass, definitely make sure you have it covered evenly.  If you get any bubbles under the glass, they look like discolorations at certain angles.  

Another note, when using photos, be sure to check out your positioning under the glass cover before putting it together.  Because the glass covers are rounded, they tend to have some magnification to them.  So be careful of the placement of faces or objects.  They may look slightly distorted under the glass closer to the edges.  I found it less of an issue with the circular ones.   You can tell a little bit with the chevrons behind the "Z" below.  Again, I thought it added a little something to the design..lol. 

These pendants are very easy to customize.  Your options are limitless.  They are inexpensive and fun to make.  What more could you ask for? :)

Here's the video from Close to My Heart with more examples and some instruction. 

If you have any questions or would like to see more of the Base and Bling line or purchase some of your own, contact me or visit me at my website, here.   

Thanks for stopping by!