Making enamel and metal work jewelry requires skill and training. But if you love the look of cloisonné then check out this tutorial on how to make a faux cloisonné pendant.  It uses Friendly Plastic where the pellets are warmed  and then formed into a clay.  Before you sniff at the word "plastic" bear in mind polymer clay, resin, resin clay and Friendly Plastic are all different forms of plastic!



The tutorial uses stickers to simulate the metal cell work. The rest is just down to one's artistic skill in coloring the plastic. The instructions do not include how to mount the pendant. Try wire work or do a beaded bezel.

The sticker idea will work with either Friendly Plastic or resin clay because neither of these need heat to harden.  It's probably not a good idea to try the sticker on polymer clay because it has to be baked.

However, try experimenting with wire instead of the stickers and embed them into the Friendly Plastic, resin clay or polymer clay.



The wire's purpose in the ancient craft of enameling was to stop the enamel (powdered glass) colors from running into each other during kiln fusing. Check out my past post on How Enamel is Made. The pieces are incredibly beautiful.

Champlevé enameling is a particular style where no wire is used. Instead troughs and depressions are created in the metal base via carving, etching or die striking which are then filled with enamel. The untouched parts are now raised and act as frames for the enameled areas. In medieval times, the raised parts were gilded.

Watch the amazing brief video on how a modern day master replicates a plaque from a 12th century Limoges enamel pretty much the way the old masters used to do it.

So you could also try and carve out areas in resin clay like for champlevé enameling and fill the low areas with dimensional paint. Right?

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips