Mixed Media Necklace

I'm still in the mood for mixed media collage.  I'm still trying to use up some of my painted paper stash that I talked about last week.  This week I want to show you how to make a necklace.  I started with a box of wooden dominoes. I drilled holes in one end of each domino with a Dremel tool.  I love this little power tool that is so versatile.  I made a template to mark the holes on the dominoes, so that each one would have the hole in the same place.  I decided to drill holes in each domino so that I could decorate them anytime that I wanted to without having to stop and drill the holes first.  That way I can make a quick gift whenever I need one.  With the holiday season coming up and being a busy mom, quick gifts are what I will be making. After the dominoes were prepared I picked collage papers that were in the same color family or that coordinated with each other.  I tore some of the papers into small pieces.  I used regular matte gel medium and covered one side of the domino. I layered the papers over the domino adding a layer of the matte gel over each new layer until I had the domino mostly covered.  Make sure that you keep the matte gel out of the hole in the domino so that the cord can go through later.  I used a variety of papers, some that were opaque and some that were translucent.  I let each side dry completely before adding papers to the other side.  I didn't add any papers to the sides since they are so narrow.  I usually make a few of these necklaces at a time. After both sides were dry I added a little paint to the collage.  On some of the dominoes I used Metamica paints to cover over the areas that didn't have any papers.  I also added paint along the edges and on any of the white paper edges.  I blended out the paint just a bit while still letting most of the paper show through.  I also painted the sides of the dominoes.  I like the extra shine that the Metamica paint adds.  On some of the other dominoes I used Silks acrylics glazes and painted over the whole domino.  They add a more subtle shimmer to the whole domino while still letting the papers show through.  I also used Viva Decor Inka Gold to add some shimmer to one of the dominoes.  Inka Gold works really well on wood and over collage. While the dominoes were drying I used punches to cut out shapes from more of my papers.  I also put a thin layer Glitterati fibers in Flamenco between two pieces of parchment paper and melted them into a mat of shimmery fibers.  If you touch a hot iron to the paper over the fibers for a few seconds they melt.  I used punches to cut shapes out of this as well.  The last way that I got some shapes was by layering the Celestial stencil over a painted paper and tracing out the star shape and cutting it out.  I choose which side I wanted to be the front of the necklace and I glued the prepared shapes to that side using more matte gel medium.  I used contrasting colors most of the time so that my pretty bits of paper and fibers would pop off of the surface. I let everything dry completely and then I used a black Pitt pen or paint to add a shadow around the shapes so that they would show up even more. I finally added a coat of varnish to both sides and the edges so that they would be protected more from wear.  Then I used hemp cord large enough to slip over the head and knotted the end to complete the necklace Here are a few more necklaces that I made. I hope that this gives you another idea on how to use up little pieces of paper and make a nice gift at the same time. Janelle