Cold enamels??

[Rustic Charm]

Are Cold Enamels any good and if so who do reasonably priced starter kits, i have been looking at Xa Ya San cold enamels from http://www.jewellerycraftsupplies.co.uk

[MuranoSilver]

Resin is great because:
1) What you see is what you get (enamels can change colour in the kilns)
2) You can get reds and purples on silver that would be very difficult in enamel
3) You can embed things like vintage papers etc
4) You dont have to do so much prep (e.g. enamel needing upright edges & no undercuts)

Not so good at:
1) Longevity ~ enamel, being glass, is generally more chemical and scratch resistant
2) Mixes need to be precise or the stuff might not set (varies between brands)
3) Each brand has it's own hardness, doming properties at the end.
4) The hardner can cease to work so worth doing a test if you've had it a while.

Apart from that they're pretty fun to use.
I've tried both the colores resins (from Rio in the USA) which were superb but the shipping of the hardner is £££
and the Resin that Cooksons sell in kits (which is comparable to colores)

Never heard of the Xz Ya San ones but if you go for those I'd be interested to know you get on
Nic x

[FVT]

I've tried cold enamels but wasn't massively impressed with the results. Yes the colours stay the same, as opposed to glass enamels, but the finish isn't as glossy as glass. Cold enamels could be quite 'fun' if you just want to add a bit of colour, but personally I don't think the results are quite as 'quality' as glass. Will be interested to see how you get on though :-)