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I created this pendant shrine for a friend. The symbols in it were specific to her interests.
When I started this project, I knew that I wanted to make a pendant/shrine using a matchbox, a Premo-covered book, and hemp and glass beads strung together.
The results were fabulous!
Here’s how it looks from the outside. First, I created the little book to match the size of the matchbox cover. It has just a few pages inside.
The book was printed on paper, folded and bound with muslin, glued inside the covers, and then bound with hemp twine, which is also used for beaded strands.
The pendant was made from a matchbox covered with metallic purple Premo (polymer clay) with added gold leaf accents. The images on clay were applied from laser prints, with gin.
It’s been years since I made this, but I think I printed it backward on paper, turned it print side down on the baked Premo cover, and then soaked the paper with gin so the ink transferred.
Images included a classic “palm reader” hand image and then the words “art” and “alchemy” scaled to the size of the mini-book cover.
I glued the mini-book to the matchbox cover, which I’d painted with a matching metallic purple paint.
When it was dry, I sealed the surface with a clear acrylic spray.
Above, the photo shows the outside of the art shrine/pendant. The book cover opens to a small book
Above, you can see that the inside of the matchbox slides out, revealing the tiny art shrine inside.
The shrine was lined with black velvet fabric, glued in place with Perfect Paper Adhesive.
Inside the shrine, there is a tiny, metallic-looking photo image of an ancient Ishtar figure. (I think it was reduced from a photo in National Geographic magazine.) On either side of the figure, I placed two tiny, actual candles. (I used the smallest birthday candles that I could find, lit them for just a second so the wicks would be black, and then placed them in miniature candleholders made of Premo, as well.)
The beads are glass, or made from Premo and gold leaf, strung on thin hemp cord.
It was a successful gift for a good friend.
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