Sgraffito

I found these great leaf shaped blanks at Schlaifers Enamels. I made summery earrings from the smaller leaves but I knew the larger leaves would be perfect for a technique called Sgraffito. It's an easy technique with great results!

First I used an awl type of tool to put a dent where I wanted the hole to be and then drilled a hole. I used a chisel I found at a yard sale to make the spine of the leaf and used my dapping block to hammer it into a curved leaf shape.                               

I checked out some actual leaves and discovered the veins were both lighter and darker depending on the plant. For this technique, it's better to use enamels with a contrast of dark to light colors.

                Clean the shaped blanks well and fire one or two coats of your base color which should be light or dark.  Make sure you counter enamel the backs in the same color as the fronts. I did fire one with a medium green and the results were good but the veins did not show up as much as the others. The colors I used were Mistletoe Green, Harvest Green, Lichen Green, Melon Yellow, and Pine Yellow.

             Then sift the contrasting color or colors over the top. Wait for the adhesive to dry completely. Next using a toothpick, scratch off the top layer where you want the leaf veins to be. It will look messy but that's OK.

     Fire again and that's it!