Butterfly Necklace - Glitter Art - Paper Jewelry Project

Today I was in the mood to play with glitter, so I pulled out a great butterfly stamp image I had, some fun glitter colors and created this sparkly butterfly necklace for the grins and giggles of it.

 

This Necklace was created using a bold butterfly rubber stamp by 

Blockheads Rubber Stamps.

This stamp measures 3 1/4 x 2 1/8 inches and is part of a half sheet of rubber  

Essential Elements - DE501

  

Glittered projects using rubber stamps are fun and easy but they are messy and you do seem to get glitter everywhere no matter how careful and tidy you try to be. I currently have remnants of this project all over my work area and myself, but hey pixie dust makes me smile and I loved the way this project came out.

Tools you need for this project:

-Bold patterned rubber stamp (bold lines with lots of channels are best for this type of project)

-Various colors of Glitter (fine or ultra fine glitters are my choice rather than the chunk glitters)

-Glitter Glue with special tip by Art Institute Glitter (it's the tools that make the job easy)

-Versamark Ink or another sticky ink that will hold embossing powder to the image

-Embossing Powder

-Heat Gun

-Eyelets and Jewelry Findings 

Some of the items used in this project. 

Art Institute Glitter has an amazing array of glitter colors and their glue and applicator tip are a must have to make this job so much easier.  I use various brands of glitter for this project.

I start by dusting baby powder on my paper and brushing it off  before I heat emboss to keep stray powder from sticking where I don't want it.  Next I stamp the image with Versamark ink and sprinkling on my embossing powder.  For this I chose Midnight Bronze Obsidian Two-Toned Moon Glow embossing powder by Lindy's Stamp Gang.

 

Stamped Image with the Midnight Bronze Obsidian embossing powder - before heat

Using a heat gun I carefully melted the powder remembering to keep my heat tool moving so as not to burn or scorch the paper or the powder.  If you melt the powder too long it absorbs into the paper and you don't get a pretty raised image.  Also, heat guns get very hot so don't burn yourself in the process.

   

Stamped Image with the Midnight Bronze Obsidian embossing powder - after heat

Working in small areas at a time I apply the glue using the special tip.  The tools of a project really do make the difference and this small metal tip is a must have for this type of project.   

Add glue and glitter to small areas where the same color

 will be used to keep from mixing your colors.

 

Sprinkle your glitter directly over the glue, wait a second or two and then tap it off and move on to the next section.  I use a clean sheet of computer paper for every shade of glitter I use.  This helps me collect and reuse each color of glitter as well as keeps my mess to a minimum  or at least more contained.  Basically you just keep gluing and glittering one section at a time till you are done.
 

In this part of the butterfly wings I added a light pink glitter to the outer parts of the glued areas first one side at a time and carefully taped that off. Then I covered the remaining exposed glue with the darker pink glitter over both sides as seen above.  This gives areas a two tone or color fading look.  It takes longer to do and is a bit tedious at times but it has a wonderful effect and is worth the time and trouble in the finished product.

 

After I tap off the excess glitter; you can see the two shades of pink on that section of the wings. Darker pink towards the body and lighter pink as it moves out to the wingspan.

 

This is a close up of one of the side butterflies from the necklace. I only used two colors of glitter for those two butterflies; but by mingling the glitters, via the two-tone effect in some sections and then using each color individually in other sections they worked out great.

 

Some color variations using the same stamp and different glitter colors.

 

Once the glue had time to dry I carefully cut the butterflies out, inserted eyelets in the wings for added support and then attached my jewelry findings and chain to create the necklace in full.  Even though this is paper jewelry; with the combination of heavy cardstock, layers of embossing powder, glue and glitter plus the eyelets the butterflies become substantial enough that I have not worries that they will easily tear or come apart during normal wear.  They are just a fun piece of whimsy that will brighten up a dull day.
  

Close up of the center butterfly showing all the fun colors and the eyelets I added for extra support in creating this paper jewelry piece.  I also added extra glitter dots here and there to show you don't have to add glitter only to the channels outlined by the embossing powder.

 

These butterflies are such fun to create and can be used in lots of ways. 

I think they would be great all over a Christmas Tree or framed on the wall.

 

When working on my color combinations I had one lone pink butterfly left over and could not let her go to waste so I created a fun folding ATC (Artist Trading Card) to keep her safe.

 

 All the stamp images used in this ATC are by Blockheads Rubber Stamps.

  

Butterfly Gate ATC - Closed

 You only get a peek at the sparkly wings when the gate is closed.

 

Butterfly Gate ATC - Open showing the gate sides.

 

Close up of the Center portion with the ATC open.

 

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn (EKDuncan)