Working with fusing decals and dichroic glass

August 26th, 2009 in fashion, gifts, jewelry making

AAEglass, member

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This is the first, in a series of "tips" or "tricks of the trade."

I wanted to share a technique that I use when making dichroic glass jewelry with waterslide decals.

When I first started working with these decals I would center them on the glass and complete the piece. The decal looked great and I could change the color of the background. But after making hundreds of these it began to get repetitive. So I asked myself, "Self, how can we get creative with these pieces?"

I experimented with combining 2 decals on the same piece of glass. I remember it like it was yesterday. I put a tree of life decal on a pendant, I cut out some birds from another decal and put them above the tree of life. I used 2 decals for awhile and then I introduced a 3rd decal. Now whenever I look for inspiration, I lay out several different decals and put together a scene that I think people will like. Remember to be aware of your background colors when picking out your decals. Some decals may fit best with a blue or green background, or you can get really creative and make the background a sunset or sunrise .

This pendant was created with 3 decals. If placed correctly on the glass, you should not be able to tell it consists of 3 separate decals. It should just look like one complete image. It takes some practice to perfect this technique, but once you do, you will have a trick up your sleeve that other artists do not. It will separate your work from others.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. I come from a family of teachers, so I love teaching. We will be adding new decals to our store in the next day or so. Also, if you join this blog as a member, you will have first chance to buy our new custom tree of life decal. You will also receive access to special sales.

Tune in next time for tip #2, how to photograph your jewelry to sell.

I look forward to seeing the fruits of your labor.

AAE