Framed Painting Earrings

DIY: framed painting earrings

Follow this guide to make a unique statement piece of jewelry! Make a pair for earrings, or just one for a pendant necklace.

We love the classical look (exampled are Fragonard's The Swing and Morisot's The Cradle), but you can use whatever image you'd like-- a painting, portrait, or even a meme! Go wild!

print frame

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GgZQ_X06aWh4ZCjadUAYa3jTOfrdsJBf/view?usp=sharing

Above is the .STL file for the earring frame.
We suggest printing in Black Resin for best results, but you can use a filament printer if you're in a rush or want a fun color.

2. rub-n-buff

The Rub-N-Buff is stored in the Tech Shop, but it is free to use. Simply ask a technician where it is and they'll be happy to assist.

Lay out a paper towel to protect work surface.
Put on rubber gloves. Rub-N-Buff can be irritating or harmful for skin.
Squeeze a small dollop of cream onto your frame. You shouldn't need more than a pinkie-nail sized amount at most. (Start small. You can always add more, but it's hard to put back in the tube).
With one or two fingers, gently spread the cream across the frame until it is covered in your color of choice. Be wary of fingerprints in the paint.
Set aside to dry. This should be fast, but best not to disturb it and track paint around.

<< This amount of rub-n-buff was enough to cover the whole frame. Don't be wasteful!

3. cut acrylic

Complete the Lasercutter Quiz on the DCI Canvas.
>> read the instructions for the machine here: https://sites.google.com/chapman.edu/the-dci-lab/home/manufacturing-lab-equipment/laser-cutters/first-cut?authuser=0
Open Adobe Illustrator (free to all Chapman students)
Create a Rectangle that is 22mm x 33mm. Orient it to portrait.
Set the Stroke to:
1. 0.001 Width
2. Pure RGB red.
  1. Shift+click to get access to color controls. set Red to 255, and blue+green to 0
  2. Check the lasercutter instructions for more detail.
Duplicate the rectangle (so you have 2 panels) and cut them.
1. tip! tuck the rectangles extremely close to save on cut space.

4. print image

Place and Embed your image in Illustrator
Arrange its layer under the rectangle layer (so you can see the rectangle above it)
Resize and/or Crop your image to be Slightly bigger than the rectangle.
1. the extra image border will look cleaner than a white margin if the acrylic ends up misaligned.
Save as .AI and open on a DCI computer. use the Print function to send to the Sawgrass manager.
1. Make sure there are 2 copies if you want earrings!
2. check that Mirror is set to off
Print

5. heatpress

Set the heat press to 200
Loosely trim the dyesub paper to a manageable size, then tape the acrylic (Use copper tape!) on top of your printed image.
Place the piece Acrylic side Down and Paper side Up. Lay an interference sheet over it.
Press for about 40 seconds, no more than 50 or the acrylic will start to buckle.
Remove and let cool.

Once you've trimmed it, it'll look like this. A little wrinkle is ok :)

6. trim & glue

DO NOT peel paper off of acrylic; rather, we will be trimming it to size.
Grab an exacto knife and a cutting mat. Never cut directly on the table.
Trim the paper to be flush with the acrylic. Remove any tape.
Using a liquid glue (we recommend e6000, but anything besides hot glue works), glue the acrylic tab into your frame, paper side down so the acrylic acts like a glass cover.
1. The glue may take a while to set. Try not to jostle it too much.

7. attach hook

Take an earring hook and one Small hoop from the jewelry box (usually located above the cubbies, under the resin printers)
You'll need 3 parts-- ONE medium hoop, ONE small hoop, and a hook or stud earring.
1. Alternatively, for a pendant, use one medium or large hoop, to make threading easier.
Use pliers to bend the hoop and connect the earring hook to the hanger on the frame.
1. Be sure to orient the earring hook the right way!
2. Tip! Use two pliers: one to hold the hoop and the second to bend the other end into place. The hoops are small and fiddly; it's difficult to bend or keep everything in place with a hand.

and voila! it's complete.

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