Boardwalk Pendant

I can't seem to get away from my beach-themed projects this summer!  I've even been decorating my deck in a beach theme - even though I'm at 6100' elevation in the mountains!  I can see the ocean from my deck, so I thought....why not!  I really love the way this necklace turned out.  I've been wearing it quite a bit too! 

 To start off, here are the products that I used.

Zinc Jewelry Finding

Silver Ball Chain Necklace

3D Crystal Lacquer

Graphic 45 Bathing Beauties paper scrap

Distress Embossing Powder - Old Paper

Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

Starfish charms (from my stash)

Assorted Beads (from my stash)

My Underwood font printed on white paper

I couldn't wait to make a collage style scene in this deep pendant finding - it just took me awhile to figure out just how I would do it.  I knew I wanted depth and had a fair amount of room to work with, although this was a very tiny space to work in.  I first decided on my background, which is this vintage beach scene that I found on a Graphic 45 scrapbook paper scrap and glued it down using 3D Crystal Lacquer.  After it dried, I started layering the Crystal Lacquer and the embossing powder (it's what I had on hand that mimics sand).  I let each layer dry overnight, so this process took me a few days to achieve.  After the second layer, I added the starfish charm, which was part of a necklace that I took apart.  I glued the charm down, and added more Crystal Lacquer and embossing powder over the charm to make it look like it was partially buried in the sand.  There was another loop on the bottom of the charm that I snipped off.

These jewelry findings came with what I thought was a piece of cardboard that fit nicely on the top.  I didn't realize that it was a piece of acrylic, until Chelsea (a talented Design Team team mate) had explained it in her post a few weeks ago!  Thank you Chelsea!  This shows the acrylic 'lid' after I peeled off the protective paper.

I printed several versions of the words I wanted to go in the pendant and finally decided on the My Underwood font.  I cut out each word, distressed it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and glued them into place.  I curled the word 'seashore' a little bit and attached it to the top of the starfish for dimension.

Here you can see that I glued a small clear rhinestone over the loop on the charm, a small pearl in the sand and a green pearl bead in the background.  The rest of the beads were just placed on the sand area and not glued down.  When I was happy with the amount of beads, I glued down the acrylic cover using Crystal Lacquer just around the tiny edges of the pendant.  The smaller beads can move around inside the pendant.

Here's another close-up of the charm itself.....

And here is the finished piece. 

 I added another starfish charm on the top with a jump ring and put the pendant on a ball chain.  All ready for summer outfits!

Until next time....stay creative!

Be sure to check out Sakura Hobby Crafts amazing blog at www.crystallacquer.blogspot.com

You can find more info on product and additional tutorials on their website

www.sakuracraft.com