Decorative tree made of amber (or other stone) using an element of filigree technique. Can be used to decorate the interior, either alone or in a composition. You can complement paintings or mini-gardens with such trees. Amber can be replaced with sparkles, buttons and beads or other stones. Small cups or natural stones are used to support the trees. Both a master class and photographs of various finished products are presented.
Varieties of amber imitations
There are several options for making amber:
- resins of other plants;
- Polyburn;
- ambroid;
- an artificially obtained alloy of polymer resins.
Group 1 includes:
- Copal is a hardened resin of legumes, for example, acacia, araucaria. Under pressure and temperature, a still fresh resin drop hardens, into which an insect is often slipped.
- The resin of the ancient kauri tree is released up to 0.5 tons in case of damage to the root of a large plant. Its chemical composition is not similar to amber; it is used for the production of varnishes, but after certain processing it hardens, resembling the original.
Polyburn is a stone created from amber crumbs and small pieces glued together - fragments of solar stone. It is given color and shine, but the components inside are clearly visible. The jewelry is cheaper than the original, production has practically stopped.
Ambroid is a heated and compressed crumb of amber. Opaque, composition identical to the original.
In the 2nd half of the 20th century, chemists synthesized substances used to imitate:
- Bakelite – 1st colored and tinted artificial plastic;
- faturan – bakelite modified in composition;
- celluloid - imitation was used to decorate the handles of cutlery;
- Galalite is a plastic made from casein;
- polyester – even premium products have been counterfeited.
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Post from Cat&Fox Jewelry Co. (@catfoxjewelry) Oct 16, 2015 at 2:15 PDT
How to cut a rose
Amber is a mysterious and amazing mineral that has a special warmth and enchanting magic. Having touched this stone once, you want to touch it again and again, which is why crafts made from amber are especially popular. Craftsmen and craftsmen carve real works of art from the solar mineral, among which amber roses stand out.
Amber is fragile, so creating an amber figurative product is complex and painstaking work.
However, even novice craftsmen can cut out a neat and beautiful rosebud. To create a stone flower, you will need the following materials:
- large piece of amber;
- abrasive wheel;
- felt circle-lens;
- various attachments for the engraver;
- hand engraver;
- sandpaper;
- polishing paste.
Amber carving
To carve a stone rose from an ordinary piece of amber, you need accuracy, perseverance and a little inspiration. Armed with the tools and mentally drawing a beautiful carved flower in your brain, you should proceed to action:
- To make it you will need a large unprocessed amber stone. It can be of any shape, since it must be cut later.
- An even circle is drawn on the amber stone so that a rounded piece can be cut out of it.
- Using tools, remove excess parts and use a cutting disc to round the stone.
- If there are small amber pieces left after work, you should not throw them away - they will be useful for creating beads or paintings with amber crumbs.
- On a round shape, draw an even circle, which is divided into 4 equal parts.
- Then draw 4 segments outside the circle, drawing a curved line from the center to the tip of the lines forming a cross.
- Using a tool, four deep cuts are made in the amber stone - the future edges of the petals.
- Using the tool, continue to work on the petals - cut one groove above the petal and two below. After this, a circle and four lines arranged in a fan are drawn on the surface of the amber stone.
- According to the borders, cut out the remaining four petals from above. Each of them should start with a small depression, gradually intensifying towards the center.
- Having finished with the second row of petals, you should proceed to the third, proceeding in a similar way.
- The finished amber rose is ground and polished using a hand engraver.
How to make amber at home
Making artificial amber is not difficult. This can be done at home with your own hands. It is most often made from cherry resin.
Preparing Ingredients and Molds
Amber can be made at home from natural resin (resin). Cherries are best suited for these purposes.
You can make amber from epoxy resin, which is sold in hardware stores.
The poured mass is very sticky, so the molds must be prepared in advance. You can make them yourself from metal, foil, wood or paper. Before pouring, lubricate with glycerin or vegetable oil.
You need to think in advance whether fillers will be added, and prepare them if necessary. It can be:
- small dry leaves, twigs;
- dried insects;
- sticks.
You can make fancy jewelry by adding dye, beads, and sparkles.
To process the finished product, you will need sandpapers of various grain sizes and acetone.
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Posted by Yantar Baltic (@amber.diver.39) Jun 30, 2022 at 6:57 am PDT
Method 1
You can make a gem at home as follows:
- Melt 1 part resin in a water bath, add 2 parts shellac. Stirring, cook until translucent. Then add 1 part rosin.
- Cook for a long time until completely transparent. The time spent on the process depends on the desired result - the longer the better, but it is important not to overcook - the mass will begin to burn to the bottom.
- Pour into molds and leave to cool for a day.
Method 2
To make amber using this method, you will need:
- epoxy resin;
- hardener for it;
- lukewarm water.
Take 1 part hardener, mix with 9 parts resin, mix well. Add a few drops of water to introduce air bubbles and other fillers. Pour into molds. Leave to harden for a day.
Watch videos on the topic:
Method 3
Another example of how to make amber yourself from cherry resin. To do this you need:
- Dissolve the resin in acetone. Fresh dissolves quickly, dried ones should be left for a day, closing the container with a lid to prevent acetone from evaporating.
- Add regular white foam and stir until completely dissolved. The more polystyrene foam there is, the thicker the mass will be - in consistency it should resemble a not very thick jelly.
- Pour the resulting composition into molds. It is very sticky and should not be allowed to come into contact with unnecessary surfaces.
- The acetone evaporates, the resin and foam dry out. The product dries for 2 hours, after which it is ready for processing.
The rate of dissolution of resin is affected by its age and the brand of acetone. Therefore, for each case of amber production, the proportions are determined experimentally. You need to start with a small amount of acetone, gradually adding it as needed until the resin is completely dissolved.
Getting to know amber. Amber jewelry master class
Irina Pavlova
Getting to know amber. Amber jewelry master class
This summer, on my long-awaited vacation, I visited a wonderful place in our huge country - the Kaliningrad region. In five days I visited several beautiful cities: Svetlogorsk, Zelenogradsk, Baltiysk, Yantarny , the village of Rybachy on the Curonian Spit and Kaliningrad. I was very impressed by the architecture and nature of this region. I was left with an unforgettable impression from encounters with nature: the sea and the most beautiful birds - swans.
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But I would like to share my impressions about amber . 80% of this precious stone is mined in the Kaliningrad region.
about what amber for a very long time. Various peoples to whom the stone was known composed myths, legends and theories in attempts to explain its origin. Tears of birds, tears of Heliad, sisters of Phaethon, tears of the sun, sea - what poetic names were given to amber . Of course, everyone has long known that this is resin (resin that coniferous trees cried with millions of years ago. During this time, the resin became petrified, but, nevertheless, remained warm, as if it had absorbed sunlight.
Amber is one of the first gems touched by human hands more than seven thousand years ago. It has absorbed more than 200 colors. The amber palette is dominated by shades of golden yellow, honey, and brownish colors. There are samples of red, white, greenish-blue, and black. Tiny air bubbles trapped in the resin make it cloudy, and water droplets “paint” it.
milk stains. All this creates bizarre patterns on the processed surface of the stone, which, together with the unique color scheme, have attracted the attention of people since prehistoric times.
Amber is very valuable , containing inclusions: insects, small animals, moss, plant pollen, pieces of bark, mineral formations, sand, pyrite, calcite, etc. All of them are captured during the release of resin, which allowed them to survive until our days. Such specimens, in addition to their jewelry and collection value, represent scientific material of the greatest importance, giving an idea of life and its development in distant geological times.
We learned all this from the guide during an excursion to an operating enterprise for the extraction and processing of amber in the village of Yantarny .
We visited a quarry where up to 300 tons of amber are mined annually .
Of course, I tried to search for amber by hand .
I sat and breathed amber vapors in the amber pyramid .
At the Amber I tried on beads and a diadem made of amber .
But the most important and interesting thing for me was to take part in master classes on making jewelry from this solar stone.
The stone that stores solar heat has a number of advantages: softness, lack of cleavage, viscosity, soft polishability, which makes it possible to process it with improvised means.
First master class - assembling a bracelet from unpolished amber (unpolished amber is considered medicinal )
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For us amateurs they prepared small pieces of amber and wire for a bracelet.
Our task was to select ambers and string them on a wire.
This is how we worked.
Here is the result.
The second master class is making a pendant.
In Svetlogorsk, during a tour of the Amber Hall, we visited a workshop for making amber jewelry , where everyone was given the opportunity to make their own jewelry . I wished.
This is the form in which amber arrives at the workshop .
Sorted by size, color, shape, etc.
And then it goes into the hands of jewelers.
I also decided to try my hand at jewelry making.
amber that I liked .
Then I learned to grind using abrasive wheels.
When all the irregularities of the stone are smoothed out and the shape I conceived is ready, the amber is polished .
I left the unpolished part on one side of the pendant so that it could be seen that it is real amber .
Next, I had to make a hole in my pendant for a loop fastening. This stage was performed by the jeweler herself, without entrusting me with a more complex instrument.
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The lace is threaded - the decoration is ready !
Amber is a fairly affordable stone in Russia. You can also use it to decorate crafts , paintings, and panels yourself. In addition, pieces of amber are used to make soap, creams and other cosmetics, as well as in medicine.
amber for myself and I hope to use it with the guys in the group in our joint productive activities within a year.
Trees made of stones | Country of Masters
Trees are made from stone chips, but out of habit I put them in the Beading section))
One very good girl gave me a lot of stones, just like that)) She didn’t need them, but I put them to use, and this is what happened.
This is my first, most successful and most favorite tree.
The stone glows beautifully in the sun.. It’s not hard to guess that the tree is called Autumn)))
This is a tree in, so to speak, “jeans” style. I love the color of denim))
This tree simply tormented me... The first time I assembled it very successfully, and I was lucky with the stand, I even managed to paint it, but... The paint turned out to be ruined: within a day it never hardened, it was very light, the branches softened and sank down, the tree lost its shape . In short, we had to cut the stones and do everything from scratch. I did it without interest, just to do it. I made it and put it in the far corner, I definitely won’t keep it for myself.
And I did this on a whim; there were no ideas at all initially. I listened to my inner voice))
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DIY leather necklace
This type of neck decoration goes well with other leather accessories (bag, gloves, belt) and looks beautiful both on a white shirt-type blouse (office option) and on a turtleneck.
Complex multi-component floral or other patterns can only be made by professionals who have certain skills in working with leather.
In order for a beginner to make a necklace with his own hands, you need to use an easy-to-make ready-made template.
Necklace made using stained glass technique
Necessary materials:
- a piece of thick genuine leather of the required size and color;
- small but sharp scissors;
- decoration template on thick paper;
- leather glue "Moment" colorless;
- 2 blocks;
- 2 rep or satin ribbons of the required length, 2 cm wide;
- marker;
- awl.
Before you start working, practice translating the diagram and working with leather.
Transfer the template to the wrong side of the product using a special marker or chalk pencil.
Starting from the center, start carefully, without making unnecessary cuts, to cut out the design. Start from the inside and end with the outer outlines.
Use an awl to make two holes at the upper ends of the necklace and insert the blocks. Thread the ribbons through the holes.
Carefully secure the ends of the ribbons in the blocks on the wrong side with glue.
The decoration is ready! The necklace is tied with a bow at the back.
Cheap replica or amber?
Counterfeiting amber is a criminal offense; beads, ornamental mosaics and decorative plates are created using the methods described.
In addition, imitation does not have the healing properties, warmth, and sparkle of natural stone. The components included in handicraft products can cause an allergic reaction and irritation of sensitive skin.
The store offers jewelry made from natural Baltic amber. The products made by experienced jewelers are environmentally friendly, beautiful and unique in their diversity, just like nature itself.
Amber processing usually includes: peeling, cutting, shaping, grinding and polishing . Before you start processing stone, study it carefully. First of all, you should choose transparent stones. To see how the material will look in the finished work, cut thin slices from both sides of the stone. After sanding them with sandpaper, look carefully at the light. Transparent stones are smoother, while cloudy stones have a more wavy texture. Having decided what the amber will be used for, you can begin processing. » alt=»»>
Natural stones are a powerful amulet and talisman
For each person, you can choose your own stone or several stones that will protect him. Even from completely different stones you can make interesting amulets with your own hands, such as the “Amber Miracle” stone tree, for the manufacture of which we will use stone chips of amber, amethyst and obsidian.
1. This tree of gems will be small, only 15 cm. But even for such work we will need a fairly large number of stones - 3 different types of stones 50 cm long. You should also prepare copper or other wire for beading.
2. Remove the stones from the bottom and mix amber, amethyst and obsidian. We string several stones in random order onto a wire.
3. We retreat 7 cm from the edge of the wire and secure the first stone separately.
4. We attach other stones to the wire on the sides.
5. For a twig, it is enough to weave 4-5 rows of stones.
6. Now we move the stones forward and down. We get a twig.
7. Group the branches into 3 pieces. We twist their wire legs together.
8. Weave until all the stone chips are gone (leave a handful for decorating the base). Now we fix each branch on a piece of copper wire 1 mm thick. We secure it with floral tape.
9. We got 12 branches. We will assemble a tree from them.
10. Connect 4 branches together and secure them with floral tape. This will be the top of the tree.
11. Connect the remaining branches below until we run out. All that remains is to secure the tree to a thick aluminum wire.
12. Straighten all the branches.
13. All that remains is to bend the tree from stone chips and give it the desired shape. We bend the wire from below, achieving stability.
14. Plaster the base in a container of a suitable shape, covered with cellophane. Gypsum is diluted with water and poured into the mold.
15. After 10 minutes, the plaster will set. The wood can be removed from the mold and the base can be adjusted with a knife or sandpaper.
16. To protect the stones on the tree from the gypsum mortar, we group and lift the branches up. Cover the tree trunk with a solution of gypsum and PVA glue. Leave to dry.
17. Again cover the gem tree with a solution of plaster and glue. We pass over the raw mixture with a blunt stick, making grooves in the bark.
18. Cover the dried tree made of amber and other stones with brown acrylic paint.
19. We also paint the base.
20. When the paint has dried, go over the wood with a semi-dry sponge dipped in gold paint.
21. The final touch is the decor of the base. We'll cover it with stones (you'll probably keep them). We glue the stones with PVA or polymer glue.
22. Straighten all the branches down to one, erase the alabaster or paint from the stones if they get dirty.
23. The work is completed. To extend the life of the tree, generously spray it with acrylic varnish from a can.
Source
What kind of amber is used in making paintings?
Typically, when making an amber painting, raw pieces without holes are used. Amber is convenient because it is much lighter than natural stone and easier to glue to the base.
When creating a painting, all types of amber are used. It can be very different. Transparent amber is considered the most expensive, since it is rarely found in nature, and it is very often counterfeited. Mostly amber is honey-yellow in color. But there are samples of both brown and almost black colors. There are also examples of greenish amber, but such stones are practically not used in paintings due to their rarity and high cost.
Amber is a capricious beauty gifted by nature
The cost of raw amber depends on 4 technical characteristics:
- fragility;
- transparency;
- color;
- presence of inclusions (plants and insects frozen in resin).
The hardness of sunstone is comparable to gypsum, and is 2-3 on the Mohs scale (1 to 10). Due to its fragility, the technology for processing amber is considered complex, because there is always a risk of crumbling the stone. That is why jewelry made from high-quality natural stones was highly valued at all times and was not cheap.
Amethyst tree (history of creation)
One day I came to see my friend, whom I met at the 1C: Enterprise course, and met Natalya Kulikova, a wonderful master of applied arts, as her guest. We started talking and became friends very quickly, because... he is a very positive and bright person. The highlight of Natalya’s work already at that time was grandiose embroidery of icons from beads, large, serious works (more than 30 pieces), but what attracted my attention most of all were >>> trees woven with wire with crowns of semi-precious stones.
Natasha is one of those people who doesn’t hide her secrets in needlework and doesn’t worry much about competition.
