About Aleene's Paper Glaze for jewelry?

Question

I'm going to be making some jewelry with paper images on them, like brass lockets and bezel cup type settings. I need a way to embed the images onto the jewelry but I don't want to use epoxy resin. Will something like Aleene's Paper Glaze work well? or is there any other products out there that might work well.

Also when printing the images what kind of paper would be best to use? I was thinking heavy card stock would be best but I wanted to ask anyways.

Answer 1

Don't know about the glaze but glossy photo paper would be a good choice for printing.

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Answer 2

I'm a little confused when you say embed the images "onto" the jewelry... are you talking about simply putting an image *into* a locket or bezel, then covering it with a thick layer of clear finish?

If so, you can  use Aleene's Paper Glaze (or other brands of "dimensional glue") but generally those won't be quite as scratch resistant as things like epoxy resin or polyurethanes, for example.  Your finish may be low enough inside the bezel of locket though to avoid much abrasion though, so that may be fine.

You might want to use a gloss polyurethane (from the hardware store), or the acrylic floor polishes called Future (or Pledge/Future) and Mop 'n Glo are sometimes used too.

Some people also use clear gloss "acrylic medium" but it would be about as scratchable as the Aleene's, though you can then coat it with a layer of polyurethane or Future.

If you print your images with regular inkjet ink onto paper or cardstock, you'll need to seal** the image-and-paper before using resin, and perhaps even before using the others since inkjet ink isn't waterproof and regular papers are porous and can become translucent when wetted with various things.

If you use a photocopy or a laser copy, or use your inkjet printer with "photo" paper, though there won't be "ink" to smear (it's toner instead) or the ink will be captured by the paper making it waterproof.

**spray lightly once or twice with acrylic spray, then can coat with permanent white glue thinned 3-4 with water if desired

You might want to check out some of the pages at my site on using thick finishes, using them with paper, or using polymer clay under the images, etc. on these pages and categories at my site:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/contents.h...

Finishes > Dimensional Glues (as well as Varathane, Future, Others)

Mixing Media > Paper

Transfers

Other Materials > Epoxy Resins > Simulations... and Cells, etc

HTH,

Diane B.