When embellishing with Serinity Rhinestones there are many handy techniques that will help you achieve the best crystal coverage. The most well known methods are for covering solid, geometric shapes. The concentric lines method follows the outer edge of the shape with a row of crystals and then continues adding inner rows until- like rings in a tree – they meet in the middle. A popular style for asymmetrical shapes is the scatter embellishment style, where multiple sizes of crystal are used with a completely random approach, using whatever size fits in the available space.
The same basic principles apply for enhancing calligraphy with crystals, classic rules such as applying the smallest amount of glue possible, lining the crystals up neatly and having all of the best crystal sizes available to you are also vital.
If you are aiming to fit your crystals within an existing letter design, you need the perfect sized rhinestones, so having a scale reference is extremely helpful and the Serinity Colour Chart contains a handy size chart as well. The key to knowing what crystal size you need is understanding that the “SS” numbers are “Stone Sizes”, and we convert these sizes into millimetre measurements in the Crystal Size Chart that's available on our website, which can be viewed online, downloaded or printed for free. Simply measure the width of the lines on your letters beforehand and you can figure out the best rhinestone sizes for your design.
Having as many crystal size options as possible will make creating smooth, swooping italic lines much easier. For this we recommend the versatility of the Dream Mix which contains Serinity Rhinestones in sizes SS3 to SS20 within its’ luxury velvet lined display case.
On letters where the brush stroke varies greatly in width between the main body of the letter and the delicate swirling flourishes, it is worth having a minimum of five different crystal sizes in your craft kit. Do decide before you begin, whether you want the whole width of the letters’ line to be filled with a single row of crystals, or if you will switch to two rows of smaller crystals when the line becomes wide enough to do so. Two rows (or more) can be useful when the letter is so big that no single crystal is big enough to completely cover the line.
The creative team at Bluestreak Crystals Studio filmed the Calligraphy Tutorial below, which would help if you are thinking of personalising your card or a gift for Valentines. The tutorial also outlines which tools and accessories are useful for this type of embellishment project:
