Glass Tag Pendants
by Kiki Clark
I was going to start this column by using glass as a
metaphor for memory and pointing out the almost universal use of the
medium in hagiographic art of different cultures, but instead I'm
going to cut right to the chase:
Glass is pretty! Let's make some pendants!
What you'll
need:
Small glass circles
(make sure
you look at the examples at the bottom of the page)
Diamond Glaze adhesive
Page Pebbles
Itty-bitty
pictures or stickers
Whatever shiny, glittery stuff you have lying around
The basic technique is simple: You glue stuff to the
glass circle and string the whole shebang on a cord or chain. So
this column mostly consists of warnings and finesse.
Color choice
Here's the thing with glass: you can see right
through it. Are you going to wear your pendant so it hangs on top of
your clothes or your bare skin? What color clothes? What color skin?
The transparency of glass means that whatever is behind your pendant
will effectively become part of the jewelry. Frankly, I think a
white T-shirt is the glass pendant's natural habitat.
There are two sides to every glass tag
...and one
of the sides has a slight texture. I use the smoothest side for the
front of the pendant. For the above example, I used a
heart-shaped
paper punch on a piece of sheet music. I glued the resulting
heart to the back of the pendant with Diamond Glaze. On the front, I
stuck the
"Sing"
sticker, and then I glued a tiny red rhinestone beneath it.
Finesse & Warnings: The Diamond Glaze dries
pretty quickly. I didn't want a bunch of it seeping out around the
edge of the paper heart, so I put a dollop of Glaze on the heart,
then took a piece of card and spread it thinly before pressing it to
the glass. I could have been quicker. The heart reflects light back
a little patchily because the glue was already dry in places when I
laid it down, but it's a minor flaw. When the initial, adhering glue
was dry, I covered the back side of the heart with Glaze so the
paper wouldn't be damaged by rubbing against my clothes.
Page Pebbles = Instant Jewelry
See the little fairy? She and the
loving couple in the red pendant below are both from the
"Circle Pix" collage sheet by Art Chix. The fairy is
exactly the right size to fit beneath one of Making Memories medium
Page Pebble circles. Page Pebbles are basically clear, domed
stickers that provide a slight magnifying effect. You can put a
puddle of Diamond Glaze over something for a similar effect, but
it's hard to get clear margins with it. It's perfect if you're
putting the picture in some kind of frame that will retain the
Glaze, however. Those are Mylar confetti stars glued around the
fairy.
Finesse & Warnings: Cut out the little circle
of clip art, glue it to the glass, and then put your Page Pebble on
top of it when it's dry. Tweezers are pretty much essential for
placing small, gluey pieces of paper. For the stars and rhinestones
(also placed with tweezers), I dotted the glue onto the glass, laid
the items on the glue, and then pressed them down with the
non-business-end of the tweezers.
Red is the Color of my True Love's glass
pendant...
 Finesse
& Warnings: This pendant was a rescue operation. This piece of
clip art was originally under a large Page pebble. When I glued
everything to the tag, I found that the red showed through the gluey
paper and darkened it so that it didn't show well at all. I pried
everything off with a pocket knife blade (Diamond Glaze adheres
mightily to glass) and scraped and rubbed the glass clean. The
picture's original black border was ruined but the center part was
unharmed. There was no taking it off the Page Pebble, so I cut
through the Pebble to remove the ruined black border. Then I glued a
piece of bright-white cardstock behind the picture before putting it
back on the glass tag. I think two layers of cardstock might have
been better but it's not too bad, and I really loved the picture.
That many small rhinestones were difficult to handle. The Glaze had
dried a bit before the last ones went in, making them hard to angle
correctly. I won't use that many again.
Can you spot the Diamond Glaze in this project?
 It's
gluing the "capping beads" to the end of the
swirly wire.
This pendant is pretty self-explanatory. I will say that getting the
beads on the wire was no easy task. I had to put each bead in my
hand and manipulate the wire end until it went in. Some of the
beads' holes were too small to navigate the curves, and those were
the beads I jammed on the ends of the swirly and glued to keep the
others from coming off.
So there you are! In addition to necklaces, these
babies would make good keychain fobs, tree ornaments, sun catchers,
and wind chime or mobile elements. Oh, and if you should find
yourself scraping off glued rhinestones with your pocket knife, make
sure to wear eye protection.
Next Month: Combat cabin fever with another fun
project!
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Eating Healthfully
By Stephanie Rowe
Eating healthfully doesn't mean starving yourself or
eating food that tastes like cardboard. With very little effort, you
can be nice to your body and still enjoy your food, even sweets! The
holidays may be behind us, but evidence of the big holidays might
still be hanging around. Here are a couple of healthful recipes to get
the New Year off on the right culinary foot.
Mom's Lemon-Basil Fish
This works best with a light, flaky fish like haddock or cod. This is
how my mom makes it, and I think it's the best! When you buy the
fish, make sure it's fresh. If it's a couple days old, pass on it!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Ingredients
(amounts vary depending on how much fish you're making)
-
Fish (1/3
lb. per person-Did you know that 3 ounces of fish, chicken or meat
constitutes one serving? That's about the size of a deck of cards.
When I learned that, I realized I was overeating just a little
bit. Ahem.)
-
Whole
wheat flour (Try using whole wheat flour instead of white flour in
all your recipes for overall fiber health.)
-
A butter
substitute that doesn't have saturated fats (e.g. I Can't Believe
It's Not Butter, Take Control or Benecol)
-
Olive Oil
-
Fresh
lemon (Bottled lemon juice isn't the same. Splurge for a real
lemon or two.)
-
Fresh
basil (Dried spices work okay too, but the fresh spices really
make a difference. Try it once. You'll see what I'm talking
about!)
-
Fresh
parsley
Roll each piece of fish in the flour until it's
covered. Sauté it in a small amount of olive oil and butter
substitute until the flour is a golden brown. Set in glass pan,
sprinkling the remaining olive oil mixture over the fish. Squeeze
lemon generously on each piece of fish. Sprinkle fresh basil and
parsley generously on each piece of fish. Bake until fish flakes
easily with a fork (10-30 minutes depending on how thick the fish is
and how thoroughly you cooked it on the stovetop). Keep an eye on
the fish and don't overcook.
Serve with an extra wedge of lemon.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
(Who says you can't eat dessert and still be healthy? These cookies
taste delicious but are high in fiber and use vanilla extract and
cinnamon for added sweetness instead of sugar. Try it. You'll like
it, I promise!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Ingredients
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (No refined flour allowed! We love fiber!)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter substitute that doesn't have saturated fats (e.g. I
Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Take Control, or Benecol)
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups uncooked oats (Wow! Has fiber, plus reduces cholesterol! We
love oatmeal!)
3/4 cup raisins
In a small bowl, combine then set aside:
whole wheat flour
baking soda
salt
cinnamon
In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, butter
substitute and vanilla extract. Beat until light and fluffy
(electric mixer recommended unless you have great biceps). Beat in
egg. Gradually add flour mixture. Gradually add oats. Fold in
raisins. Drop at regular intervals on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake
at 350 degrees for 15 minutes (or until edges are golden brown).
To read last
month's Stuff to Make article, click
here
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