2016 #16 Buckle To Beauty {by Helen Chilton}

2016 Topic 16: Beads,Charms and Dangles

Hi everyone Helen here. Tonight I'd like to share with you this evening with a post about making jewellry.
I was digging through my stash and found an old belt buckle that I picked up somewhere just waiting to be altered. It's quite ornate so makes a lovely frame for a pendant - a bit of Snowflake paint and Treasure Gold shabbies it up beautifully.

I always like making miniature art and working out how to fit things together so this was an ideal project for me. I'm using Vintage Ink and the Dog stamps which also coordinate well.

Rub the buckle with Snowflake paint (I don't know where the middle prong went!):

Roughly colour a piece of silver metal with your chosen colour of alcohol ink:

Sand it back lightly:

Stamp the images from ID02 in black StazOn:

ID02

Frame with the buckle and start rubbing in some Treasure Gold (I used White Fire and Pewter):

Draw round the buckle with an embossing pen and cut out:

Glue buckle to metal, flip over and emboss the back with a paper stump:

Then you can start adding twiddly bits:

I inserted a wire headpin top and bottom to make loops for the chain and charm:

This is very easy to make - it would also work well with the owl head on the same stamp plate. When making something small like this you need to have an image that is clear - I chose the face because it's quite open and the background can shine through. You only need tiny amounts of metal/embellishments - it's a good way to use up scraps.
After making this I was on a roll and made a brooch with the same stamp set:

Hop on over to my blog to see how I made it!
Helen
Oh Helen I just love this, the buckle was lovely to start with but you made it extra special, it turned out amazing. All the twiddly bits look like they were just meant to be there. A great image to choose too, the vintage stamps really compliment the jewellery pieces perfectly. ~Darcy

We would love to see how you interpret this Beads,Charms and Dangles topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #16: Beads,Charms and Dangles, on this page HERE.
All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas, particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Beads,Charms and Dangles link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Sept 4th 2016. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.