Snowflake Glass Gems with Alcohol Ink and Vinyl Decals


Last year I made some alcohol ink ornaments with snowflake decals. When I cut those decals out on my Silhouette, I also cut a bunch of 1 inch snowflakes. I chose simpler snowflake designs and essentially made little snowflake stickers. So as the holidays are kicking into gear this year, I decided to use those stickers on some glass gems.


My large glass gems are all from either Dollar Tree or Walmart. I think I bought this batch at Walmart. The gems aren't completely smooth or completely round. Many of them have flaws. Usually I like the imperfectness of the gems, but for this project it wasn't ideal. I applied some of the vinyl decals to the flat sides of the gems, but the flaws showed through on the rounded sides of the gems.


So, I decided to apply some of the decals to the flat side and some of the decals to the rounded tops of the gems. That way I could test out both for future potential projects.


After I had applied half of the decals to the top and half to the flat bottoms, I got out my craft mat and my alcohol inks.


I selected my blues and the silver and pearl colored metallic "mixatives" and applied them with a stamper applicator and some acrylic felt. I dripped my ink onto the felt and tapped it onto the flat backs of the gems.


After I got a base of lighter blues, I decided to amp it up with some darker blues and stamped at the gems until I liked the way the colors looked. If the colors spread out more than you'd like, keep stamping. As the ink gets dry and a bit tackier, it starts to stipple and create a bit of a pattern.


After my blue gems had dried, I used some aluminum foil tape to back the gems. It seals the ink and provides a little additional metallic sheen to the gems.


Both the gems with the decals on top and the ones on the flat backs turned out great. They just each have a different look. I glued a few pin backs and glue on bails to the backs of the gems with some E6000 to create a couple of necklaces and a couple pins. I look forward to wearing them this holiday season!


I might turn the remaining gems (that I didn't turn into pins or necklaces) into ornaments by gluing some ribbon to their backs; I'll share a photo if I do. Happy crafting!

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