Crackle paint cabochons

I've had some crackle medium standing on a shelf for ages. Or at least it feels like that. I bought it just a week or so before reading about a cheaper crackling technique that uses ordinary white glue instead of crackle medium, which can be pretty pricey sometimes. Typical. Anyway, this weekend I finally got around to trying it and these are my very first pieces: two 30 mm wooden discs and two glass pebbles (of the kind used in flower vases etc).

This one is a bit so-so. I tried not to paint over the medium more than once, as recommended, but I think I was too worried about doing it and therefore got a very uneven layer of paint. To the right you can see an unsuccessful attempt to add some colour without blocking out the crackles in the semi-dry paint. Not a smart idea. Better to just paint, allow it to overlap if you have to (and don't do it too much) and then not worry about uneven painting or a few small bare spots. After all, that just add to the old and rustic look.

For both cabs/discs I used a blue base coat, pretty much the only darker colour I have apart from some purple paint. It was really a matter of using what I had at hand. Have to buy some dark brow paint soon as I think it'll make a better base coat, more realistic if nothing else.


I also tried to paint some glass pebbles. Here, I didn't use any base coat. Instead I painted the medium directly on the glass and then painted it over with acrylic paints. Beige on the amber yellow cab and the same blue as above on the clear cab.

I tried to add another layer of paint in a contrasting colour to darken the cracks on a third, green cab (not pictured). Didn't work very well. Perhaps I should've let the first layers of paint dry longer, making sure there's not even a drop of moisture left. Well, you live and you learn...

Have no idea what to do with these cabs. They were test pieces, but it would still be nice to use them in my jewellery.

I'm also planning on doing a few pieces that are only partially crackled, e.g. adding the crackling as a frame around an image or painting. Not exactly sure what I want to do, but playing with crackle medium is fun so I will experiment some more with it.