Friday, December 20, 2013

Working with Swarovski Crystals

Adding genuine Swarovski crystals to our work really gives our pieces that special touch and added sparkle. We mainly work with the "Hot Fix, Flatback" type.  When the clay pieces are baked, the special type of glue on the back is activated giving an extra secure hold.


The larger Swarovski Rivoli crystals like the one used in this scarf charm below, don't come as "hot fix" so we have our own method of securely fitting them into our designs.


We always have a wide assortment of Swarovski crystals in assorted colors and sizes to work with and found the little pill containers work great for keeping them all sorted and organized.



Some of the clay techniques we do require sealing such as applying mica powders or inks.  They will go through a process of two types of glazes, the first of which is a spray called Preserve Your Memories 11 (PYM11).  When applying the spray onto pieces that have Swarovski crystals embedded can leave a film over them so they require cleaning.  I have found that the Alcohol Blending Solution by Adirondack, works beautifully for this.  I just add a bit of the solution to a q-tip and wipe the crystals until they come clean and their sparkle returns.  I usually do this after applying the second type of glaze and before baking the pieces to harden the glaze.




3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was only recently wondering how best to seal items including crystals. I too use pymII so I found this very helpful. Thanks!

Carla said...

Hi Carol. Not sure if you have seen the hats I posted on my blog, but I really would like BIG buttons and can't find any suitable. My daughter in law wanted a big one that looks like wood. Can you help?

2 Good Claymates said...

I just checked out your hats and they look great. I believe that is one of our buttons on the purple hat? Does Katja not have more buttons in stock? Perhaps we need to pay her another visit!

I know sewing decorative buttons on hats are really popular this year and A Twist of Yarn in Vernon bought a bunch of new ones from us for that purpose.

You can always call or e-mail me and let me know what you are looking for and I can see what I can do for you.