Tulip Jewellery!
ByWhen I came home on valentines day these were waiting for me on the bedside table :)
Of course before they died I had to put a few away for jewellery. I preserved them and finally had a chance to make something of them this week.
This is a 2 inch wide silver plated bezel on a white gold chain. The tulip petals are preserved perfectly inside using jeweller’s grade resin. Can anyone guess what book I’m using as a background? Here’s a hint: ‘Take me with you, for laughs, for luck, for the unknown. Take me with you’.
I love how vibrant the colours in the tulips stayed. After I had preserved them they had an almost metallic sheen to them. The texture is just gorgeous.
I also did silver plated cuff-style bracelets. The bezel in this case is 21mm square x 5mm deep. The centre of the tulip was used for this; they had deep purple centres that retained their colours beautifully!
This front-on view shows the pattern well. I arrange my compositions before I preserve them, so there is a minimum of fussing with the afterwards. The pieces are very delicate, more so than with preserved leaves.
The piece of pottery I’m shooting on is a piece by Phillis McCulloch from Clay Design here in Toronto. She is an extremely experienced and talented potter :) This piece is a 21mm square bezel ring, also silver plated. I love the variety of colours and tones in this one.
I also did 1 round piece – this one is 21mm in diameter. The shape is lovely, though I confess I’m partial to the square designs.
Sometimes you just hit a sweet spot – I’m really happy with how this round of jewellery turned out and sorry that I only made 4 pieces. I kept over some of the tulips, a light pink series that I’ll be starting this weekend. I’ll be aiming for more necklaces this time as well. Stay tuned :)
Really lovely idea, Shireen. And yes, the colours remained beautiful!
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Absolutely gorgeous!!!!! I LOVE!!!
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They are beautiful! I have a question for you though. I had a pressed flower that was an amazing color. So I wanted to make a scrabble tile necklace with it. I used a special Mog pog and it turned brown. I was so disappointed. I don’t suppose you can give me any hints??
thanks,
Kerry
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Hi Kerry
flowers are so picky! I’m not sure what you could have done differently, I’ve used modpodge in the past and it’s worked out for me – I did have to make sure the flower was pressed for a long time though – any remaining moisture at all could cause the piece to decompose when you introduce the modpodge. Press it in plain cardboard, this should allow the moisture to escape, it’s the only thing I can think of that might stop it turning brown on you!
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These look so beautiful. I cannot believe it is a natural flower. The colour is so vibrant it looks like glass! So amazing.
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Wow! So beautiful. Love the simplicity and the elegance of them. And the color is lovely.
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