This tutorial will show you how a single element or just a few crystals glued on top of a larger crystal can make all the difference between just another SW crystal earring or a pendant and a designed piece of jewelry that looks much more impressive.
Choose the elements you want to work with:
Empty jewelry bases, large size crystals and small metal casting elements
The first thing you need to do, is gather some small metal elements that need to be smaller than the crystals you want to use, because they need to be glued on top of the crystal, and you don’t want them to stand out to match and may be caught in something and fall off.
Also, choose the jewelry base you want to use, if it is a pair of earrings, a decorated pendant, a ring or a centerpiece, here you will see some examples of different jewelry items, each one has a small metal casting element or a flat back SW crystal glued on top that makes it look even more beautiful.
The larger crystals you use you have more place to glue elements and crystals as you like, but also 13X18 Octagon, or Teardrop or and even 39ss and 29ss have enough place to glue one element, or a single crystal on top.
How to glue the elements on top of the larger crystal:
There are many kinds of glue you can use, but the best ones from my experience would be the E6000 which is a very strong transparent silicon glue which is very easy and clean to work with.
The second option is the CG-500 Swarovski glue which is a really good glue made for professional work with crystals - To use it you will need to mix the two components together and you will see that its color is a bit yellowish but when it dries it becomes transparent with a great glossy finish. Its honey like texture is quite easy to use, but you will need work in a very clean and precise way so you don’t leave any traces of glue which are quite hard to remove.
Start by embedding the larger crystals into the jewelry base, and then use a toothpick to apply the glue on the back side of the metal element and gently place it on top of the large crystals.
The best way to glue the small flat back crystals would be to use the toothpick and make small dots of glue where you want to crystals to be. Then gently place the crystals on the glue and press them a little so they would sit straight and glue would hold it tightly. Now you need to leave it aside so it will completely dry.
Have fun creating and making beautiful jewelry each day!
GITA team.