Foil Backed Alcohol Ink Glass Gems


A couple of weeks ago I revisited my alcohol ink decorated glass gem project.  I made a couple of necklaces and was still left with quite a few decorated gems.  The first time I made the glass gems, I thought it might be a good idea to back them with paper or foil to make them appear a little more solid/opaque, reflect light, make the colors pop, and hide any magnets or bails that were glued onto the back.


So I tore off a sheet of aluminum foil from the kitchen stash and grabbed my one-inch circle punch and made myself some foil circles. (Punching aluminum foil is also supposed to sharpen your paper punches--I'm not sure I believe that, but I guess it couldn't hurt.)


I decided to crumple a few and leave a few smooth to see the difference. I chose the lightest (in color) of my gems to put the crumpled foil on. I spread on some mod podge with a foam brush--making sure to put plenty of glue on the gems that were getting the crumpled foil so that it would make a good seal. 


Since there is nothing porous for the glue to soak into when gluing the foil onto the glass, be sure to get it carefully smoothed into place and then let it dry well. I left mine overnight before coming back the next day and painting another coat of mod podge over the top of the foil to seal everything.


Then you can glue bails or magnets or do whatever it is you want to with these gems. The crumpled foil added texture and reflection to the lightest gems and turned out the best (in my opinion).


I took some photos of the finished project in my light box. The above photo is diffuse lighted from all sides, the photo below was lighted from the front with a flash. You can see how much more reflective the foil makes these gems. In regular light they look more like the photo above, you barely notice the foil unless you look closely.


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