Stone pendant sandblasting: Step-by-step process

Carol Dekle-Foss

Recently, someone wanted to know how I sandblast my stone pendants. I did a tutorial on my personal blog but not on Love My Art Jewelry, so for this post I thought I would share my process. 

First, it took about a year to even start sandblasting. I did tons of research, and then we went to work building or modifying all the equipment. It was very frustrating for me because I had a hard time understanding the mechanics. Thanks to my husband explaining to me hundreds of times, we finally figured it out! I still get confused with how my OWN equipment works! Then, I had to learn how the special film worked. What a pain! I went through tons because it wouldn't expose or develop right. Luckily, the companies I work with give you samples to experiment with. Even today, after five years, I still have issues with the film.

I really do enjoy this creative process though, and over the years have found many ways to use my sandblaster, including creating stamps for porcelain. (My current new obsession)      

Here is the simplified version: You apply a stencil to a product and then sandblast the stencil image with a special abrasive applied at high pressure. The abrasive then erodes the surface in the open areas of the stencil and leaves a permanent carved impression.

Simple right? Umm, ya right. Here are the visual steps.

Step One




I either draw the image I want or I use a royalty-free graphic.  I then upload the image to Photoshop where I darken it and scale it down to the size I like. Now it is ready to be printed on a special type of vellum paper shown below.

 My father is an electrician, so together with my husband, we built this lightbox to expose the film. These are fluorescent black light bulbs.

Step Two
The next step is to expose. I place the special film (I'm currently using Rayzist as my film supplier) on top of the vellum and turn the light on for 30 seconds.

Step Three

After exposing, the next step is to pressure wash with warm water to develop the film. I use Ikonics Triggerjet and it works like a charm. You can buy washout boxes or just use a sink or shower.

Step Four

I then place the stencil in my handy dandy Nesco food dehydrator. The alternative is using a photoresist film dryer or you can also use a blow dryer.

Step Five

After the film is dry, I remove the carrier sheet and apply to the pendant.

I then position the film and remove the protective carrier sheet. I wrap the film around the stone and tape the back so the stone doesn't get damaged in the sandblasting process.

Step Six
The next step is to sandblast the piece. I bought this equipment from a very nice gentleman who hand makes these out of Texas. We modified it to use a foot pedal so there is better control and installed a smaller more fine tuned tip for blasting.

When I sandblast, I use a half mask respirator, eye protection, and cover my hair. I also open the garage door for ample ventilation. 

I use silicon carbide grit which is an extremely fine sand and sandblast at approximately 35 psi. I went through different grit, and different film until I got the exact formula that I use for my process.

Step Seven

The final step is to airbrush, or hand paint the sandblasted piece with the film still on. I use non toxic acrylic paint with metallic colors. I then spray a coating of acrylic top coat to seal in the paint and to give it a shine.

I let the piece sit over night so it's nice and dry and then I remove the film and clean the stone.

There you have it! You can buy sandblasting equipment, but at the time I started it was very costly. Maybe the prices are better today? That's why we decided to build our own setup. I'm glad we did because if a part breaks, we can fix it ourselves. Well, my husband. He fixes it. Ha!

Thank you for reading! 

forgive me..and a giveaway

Carol Dekle-Foss

Recently, I discovered just how fragile and delicate life really is. I was reminded that we need to take care of one another, and show kindness, love and forgiveness. 
 I know death is hard thing to think about, but what if you knew that you were going to die tomorrow. What would you do today? What would you be doing during those very last breaths? 
Some events in life can be painful and crush our hearts. That's why it's so important to live in the NOW and LOVE, while we still have the chance. Maire did a wonderful post recently on breathing that is very helpful to bringing us back to the present moment. 

I haven't been able to create or blog over the past few months unfortunately, because of a painful event. I am slowly making my way back to creating. So for this post, I have decided to offer a giveaway!

I am offering one lucky winner a leather bracelet, earring set and a sandblasted stone keychain! 

Bracelet and earrings are made with roll-printed sterling silver sheet, and earwires are handmade from 21g sterling silver wire.

Would you like to win all three pieces? Simply leave a comment and share whatever you like. What are your plans this summer? What have you been working on creatively? For an extra chance to win let's be friends on Instagram! Here is my Instagram page. Just mention that you followed me in the comment and it will count as two entries. Also, feel free to leave your comment on our Facebook page, if that's easier for you. I will announce the winner May 18th.

We are all given just one life to live and enjoy, to the best of our ability. So when our time is up, we can be grateful we had the gift of life.

We are All Made to Create

Carol Dekle-Foss

To my fellow creative souls,

Do you ever beat yourself up and think that you are not talented enough? 

Or that you don't have what it takes to make beautiful art?

Do you compare your work to that of others and feel yours doesn't measure up?

I'm guilty of this from time to time. If I'm feeling down and depressed, I think why am I creating? Who do I think I am? There is so much talent out there, let others be the creators. 

But then, I step into my studio and just create. I quit judging myself and just have fun.

So what I want to say is this, lets forget about what others are doing and be patient with ourselves. Everyone has to start at the beginning. Sometimes it takes years to hone a craft, and when we are learning, we should only compare our work to OUR OWN. When we practice and experiment we develop a stronger sense of our creative self, and our craft becomes a part of who we are.

Last month, my creative journey took me down a new path. Ceramics! I blame MaryAnn for my love of ceramic beads, I just can't resist her little wood-fired gems!

It took me awhile to figure out the basics, and I am especially grateful for all the talented ladies over at the Beads of Clay Blog. Our very own Marsha did a post here where she shows how she loads her kiln with bead trees. I was quite impressed with how she made all those beads fit so nice and organized. Thank you Marsha for sharing!

Here is my very first kiln opening!

There was squealing involved. I was shocked that none of the beads fell off or that there wasn't drips of glaze everywhere.

My loot. All these pieces were just experiments, and I have a lot to learn about clay and glazes. But that's ok, this is the fun part, the learning and honing of a craft. I have to be patient with this process, and take my time.

 My favorite piece.This little guy has been SANDBLASTED. Who would have thought you could sandblast bisque? Not me. But I experimented and this little odd thing evolved. It's sure ugly, but nonetheless, my favorite piece. I plan to expand on this and maybe even sandblast after glazing. My head is spinning with creative ideas!

We are each on our own creative journey. We should focus on crushing our own limitations, so we can develop into the creative person we were meant to be. 

Thank you for reading!