I’ve been interested in enamel on metal for a while now but I don’t have a torch just yet (though after the silver smithing class I took this spring I’m saving my pennies for one) so when I saw ICED Enamels for cold enameling at Winter CHA in Anaheim I knew I had to get my hands on some.

Luckily, the fabulous people at ICE RESIN were able to send me some to try out.

Look at the great colors and textures. Everything from a fine powder to a chunky mix and then mica bits too. The colors are rich and beautiful.

Adding the ICED Enamels to the metal is super duper easy. All you need to do is spread the ICED Enamels Medium over the surface and hit it with a heat gun. My pal Jen Cushman created a video showing how ICED Enamels work here: How to Use Iced Enamels.

One thing I did figure out was that to start heating the metal without blowing the powder away was to put the piece on sturdy cardstock and hold the cardstock in the air with one hand while heating the metal FROM BELOW with a heat gun in the other hand.  There is a nice side benefit to this as any ICED Enamel powder on the paper will heat up and create some interesting color and texture on the cardstock. I set aside that paper to be used in other projects down the road.

And here are four pieces I made using ICED Enamels and ICE Resin. I can’t wait to put them into some projects that I’m thinking about.

I have to say that I’m kind of mad for the ICED Enamels. They are easy to use and give lots of fabulous color and texture to metal. I’m looking forward to using them in some different ways to see what else I can come up with!