Hand Stamped Bar Necklace

Hey friends!  I have a fun to personalize hand stamped bar necklace to share with you today.  By using a script font, you can fit a surprising amount of text onto a stamping blank.  It can take a little practice to get the hang of lining up your letters and joining them together, but once you’re familiar with the spacing, you’re going to LOVE how much message the Charlotte font I’m using today can fit onto a simple bar.

I made up both a sweet and a sassy necklace today for this post sponsored by ImpressArt.  One reads “life might surprise you” and the other says “I kiss better than I cook” – both 20 (TWENTY!) letters, plus spaces, on a 1.5 inch bar.

Here’s what you will need to make this DIY Hand Stamped Bar Necklace:

• Steel Block
• Ergo Angle Brass Stamping Hammer
• Charlotte Lowercase Letter Stamp Set
• 1/4″ x 1 1/2″ Premium Rectangle Stamping Blanks
• Stamp Straight Tape
• 16-18″ coordinating chain
• 2 – 5mm jump rings
• ImpressArt Stamp Enamel
• Paper Towel
• Chain Nose Pliers
• Flush Cutters

Because we are trying to connect the letters together to look authentically script style, you’ll be placing them much closer together.  You will want to practice first!  Or, if you have previously stamped with another script font, you’ll find it to be very much the same.  I found that I covered a little more than half the letter to the left as I stamped each new letter in its proper place.

One thing that you may find (and you’ll see it here if you look closely) is that when you stamp on a slim rectangle, the bar will curve slightly upward – particularly if you don’t have the short letters centered vertically on the blank.  This is ok though!  If you find this is hammening to you, you can hammer it with a nylon hammer to straighten it before continuing.  (Don’t use your brass hammer, that will leave marks.)

Decide what length you want your necklace to be.  Bar necklaces are usually a good length at 16-18 inches – and that will include the bar.  So for an 18-inch necklace, you’ll have 1.5 inches as the stamped bar, another approximate half inch for the clasp (give or take), and you’ll need 16 inches of chain, cut into 2 equal lengths of 8 inches.

Connect each piece of chain to the bar using small jump rings.

Honestly, my favorite is the sassy one.  And to be fair, I actually CAN cook, but I don’t enjoy it like some people do!  It’s gotten a few laughs when I’ve worn it out, so consider some of your favorite funny expressions.

And yes… life might surprise you indeed.  Thanks for joining me today, and if you’d like a more basic look at metal stamping, you can buy my book, DIY Metal Stamped Jewelry, or you can check out my beginners tutorial from when I first started stamping.

I’d love to hear what you’re making!  Leave a comment and let me know!