My friend, Kim Jelley, is a talented and prize-winning doll artist. I got to know her some time ago when she approached me to purchase tiny parts to make jewelry to go on her fairy dolls.
Kim is also a lover of old charm jewelry. She became fascinated with the old enamelled puffy heart charms and big effusive charm bracelets that she saw other artists presenting at Ebay.
After purchasing some of my remaining dresden enamel, she began to think....hey....I can do something like this! So, she availed herself of some of my pewter ox Victorian style stamped heart charms and the results were AMAZING! Have a look!
Be SURE you click on these pictures to get the best look. Kim has painted on the plated metal in a delicate style even MORE interesting than you'd see in the typical old dresden enamels. She uses the paint pens I sell on this site and regular acrylic paints you can buy in any crafts store.
Kim has a great eye for detail. Do you see the little heart lock at the back? This is a sterling locket with hinge clasp at the top, and this is what closes the bracelet.
Obviously Kim is no stranger to technique and has a very fine hand.
Here is an even closer look. Now I have to tell you, Kim has sealed all the painted charms with ENVIROTEX LITE resin finish. She has done it perfectly, making sure there remain no air bubbles to dry into the work (you blow on the stuff to get them out) and has let them cure thoroughly. The result is a HARD AS GLASS, LUMINOUS finish that will NOT chip, will not crack...it's amazing.
And, it works well over plating as well as bare sterling metal.
Kim says painting the charms is very laborious and that it takes her all day just to do 10-12 charms, a little at a time. Though these pix don't show it, almost all of her charms are done on BOTH SIDES, sometimes one color of pattern and type of design on one side, and another on the reverse.
Her bracelets are a labor of love and I feel so honored to be the owner of one.
You might like to try doing this....you may not have these results at first if you are not an experienced painter, and I will tell you, her work is very fine and small....but, you might just like to simply paint and colorize stamped charms. I think that's where I'll start! I used to tole paint but it's been many moons ago....so I'll be starting easy!
Hope you enjoyed seeing Kim's work. I know I am enjoying being the proud owner of this bracelet, which is indeed also artist-signed!