It’s the first hour of the night on the rhythmically ticking clock, a cozy lamp with a green lampshade is burning on the table, and the needlewoman, enthusiastic about her work, vows to herself for the third time: “When I finish this row, I’ll definitely go to sleep”...
Majestic "Rainbow Lion" lined with square rhinestones.
But it’s simply impossible to tear yourself away from a precious landscape or portrait! This is the magic of a popular new hobby - diamond embroidery, also known as diamond mosaic, diamond painting and rhinestone embroidery. After all, this is real magic - to see how a real picture is gradually formed from individual bright and shiny cabochon stones, so radiant and voluminous, as if it were really woven by the hand of Marya the artist.
Brilliant and simple: diamond embroidery technique
But you shouldn’t think that only Egyptian priestesses from Nefertiti’s retinue, who can cast a spell on objects, can embroider with rhinestones. Each “diamond” box already contains the main hint, which significantly simplifies the entire process of work. This is a numbered diagram - the basis of any “diamond” picture, where each number corresponds to the desired color of the rhinestone. Before you start laying out the area you have chosen, you need to free its adhesive surface from the protective film. And then take the rhinestone of the desired color with tweezers and glue it in place. A little bit of accuracy and training - and now you feel like not just a seamstress or an artist, but a real jeweler. Diamond painting is suitable for pictures of any complexity.
This picture shows the process of laying out a picture with rhinestones using a plastic glue stick that comes with the kit. Its sticky tip makes it easy to pick up the desired rhinestone and stick it to the base. However, you can also use regular tweezers.
How to create your own image?
If you want creativity and you are not satisfied with working according to a template, you want to put a photo or your own drawing with rhinestones, then this is not difficult to do.
The first option is simple. Chinese manufacturers offer this service - creating a mosaic set from your image of any size. You send a photo, choose a size, pay for the order. As a result, you will receive a ready-made set - a canvas with a pattern, rhinestones and accessories, and all you have to do is lay it out.
Requirements for images: the photo must be of good resolution, the size must not exceed 5 MB, if you order a portrait, the face must be well lit, but not overexposed or darkened, it is better to choose a light background, without small details, the photo itself must be contrasting and bright. The larger the canvas size, the better the image will be. For portraits, a size of 40x50 cm and larger .
Here is one store that prints canvases with your image:
Second option. You can create a pattern for embroidery with rhinestones using your photo in Photoshop or any program for creating a pattern for cross-stitch or beadwork; simple patterns for embroidery will also work. Then the image needs to be cleaned up and printed on canvas. Canvas printing can be ordered from any printing company. Kits for creating mosaics - tweezers, pencil and tray - can be purchased very cheaply in China.
Rhinestones can also be purchased separately, and this is also not difficult - the colors of the rhinestones correspond to the DMC colors. For example, here is a good store where you can buy rhinestones by selecting the desired colors according to the table. The minimum order is 100 grams, you can take 20 colors of 5 grams each! You can also order the missing colors there, if you don’t have enough for the job.
As an adhesive base for canvas, buy wide double-sided transparent tape and stick it on the base. It comes in different thicknesses, but too thick and too thin will not work. You can glue the rhinestones onto a thin layer of glue or buy a separate canvas for the counting mosaic - they are sold in rolls of different sizes.
It sounds complicated and time-consuming, but I personally know several craftswomen who make patterns and perform diamond embroidery to order.
From Russia and Korea - with love: manufacturers of diamond painting
After all, today not only a noble aristocrat or a lady-in-waiting close to a royal lady, but also any modern lady, be it a schoolgirl craftswoman or her skilled grandmother, can afford to create truly jewelry canvases without a needle and thread. And such well-known manufacturers of diamond mosaic sets as:
- Granny
- Diamond Painting
- Bright Facets
- Anya
- Snow White
- Color KIT
- Timkee
- Color
- Transformed
- Iteso
- Cobweb
This “Cute Cat” by Richard Donskis is the second most popular painting.
Created in Russia, China and Korea, sets of these famous brands are arranged according to the “buy and create” principle, because contain everything you need to get creative. In the box you will find a natural canvas with a reliable adhesive base, tweezers and a pencil with a soft lead to simplify the work, a container for rhinestones, the rhinestone pebbles themselves, shimmering in the sun, packed in numbered bags, as well as a tube of glue, which will come in handy in the event of... if one particularly “stubborn” rhinestone does not want to stick.
An example of a diamond embroidery kit from Granni
It is also important to pay attention to the fact that the placement of rhinestones can be either complete (the mosaic covers the entire canvas) or partial (the rhinestones cover only the necessary parts of the canvas). And if you have just started learning this art technique, then you should start with the simpler sets ]Snow White[/anchor] and Timkee. True diamond embroidery professionals will enjoy creating with large-scale sets from Granny, as well as Bright Edges and Diamond Painting.
And this smoky and mystical “Cat Look” from Diamond Painting is the most popular set in our catalog. And he is the same one in the photo on the right, the finished work, placed in a frame with glass. In the product card you can see the photo in full size, in the reviews.
Special sets
For beginners and experienced craftswomen in the diamond painting technique, manufacturers offer ready-made sets with schematic drawings applied to a plastic or fabric base. Working with such a kit is simple and convenient; the whole process is streamlined with instructions and a ready-made diagram.
Each creativity kit necessarily includes 3 elements:
- Canvas with a printed color key scheme.
- A set of colored acrylic or plastic elements, selected in a special palette of shades and textures for a given painting.
- Instructions for making a mosaic with a “legend” - a list of shades of crystals by number, as well as corresponding symbols.
To simplify the process, an adhesive layer is applied to the canvas in advance, securely covered with a protective film. According to the instructions, the color number is marked on each package with decorative material, and the corresponding symbol is indicated on the diagram.
The main flagship products for diamond mosaic embroidery are considered to be manufacturers from Korea, China, and Russia. They may differ in the quality of the material, complexity, and cost.
The most popular manufacturing companies are presented below:
| Brand name | A country | Equipment | Price |
| Granny | Russia | The set includes a roll of canvas, key diagrams with full filling, and a set of shades of square rhinestones. | 2000 – 4000 rub. |
| "Diamond painting" | Russia | The set includes a linen base, a key with full or partial lining, and a set of round or square textured decorative elements. | 500 – 2500 rub. |
| Snow White | China | Sets are offered with canvas without a stretcher or on a solid base, with full or partial lining, various shapes and textures of diamonds. | 1500 – 2000 rub. |
| ANYA | Korea | The budget set includes a canvas roll, diagrams with partial or full laying, a set of round or square diamonds. | 800 – 1100 rub. |
| Color Kit | China | A wide range of kits for making paintings using any layout method and all types of diamonds to choose from. | 1400 – 2800 rub. |
| Transformed | Russia | Thematic kits for making icons with thermal rhinestones. The kit includes a solid base or canvas in a roll, a set of hot-melt and sew-on rhinestones. | 500 – 1800 rub. |
Among the wide range of prepared sets, you can buy key diagrams with different motifs, with any types of mosaic crystals, for complete or partial filling of paintings.
Some companies offer services for creating diagrams based on the customer’s sketch - family photos or any other subjects. When choosing, it is important to take into account not only your own taste and wishes, but also the degree of complexity of the future mosaic.
Expressiveness in the details: rhinestone shapes and types of cutting
In addition to the types of layouts, diamond mosaics differ in design (the canvas can be on a stretcher or without it), and most importantly, in the shape of the rhinestones. They come in both round and square, and are also divided into transparent and opaque. The shape of the stone and the type of cutting allows you to achieve different visual effects due to the refraction of light on the rhinestones. As a rule, round and transparent rhinestones are used to create diamond embroidery of such genres as landscapes and nature, flowers and still lifes, because... They convey well the full depth of shades of green foliage, and also very realistically imitate dew on flower petals. But opaque square stones are especially suitable for paintings with themes of architecture and cities, abstraction and technology, as well as reproductions of paintings by famous artists. The companies Anya, Color KIT, Bright Edges, Diamond Painting and Granny have succeeded in producing square mosaics, but round rhinestones are widely represented by the companies Timkee and Snow White.
round rhinestones using a glue stick, picking it up with the sticky tip on either side.
Square rhinestones have a front side. Before you take them with tweezers or a pencil, you need to shake them a little in the box and they will turn over as they should.
Storing the finished painting
Diamond paintings, storage in rolls
The finished painting needs to be framed correctly: this way it will be better preserved.
- The easiest way is to use the services of a framing workshop.
- If the canvas is stretched on a stretcher, you can frame it or add a passe-partout.
- If the design is not planned yet, the canvas is rolled up so that the rhinestones are outward and put away in a case.
Embroider with rhinestones comfortably: useful tools
As mentioned above, kits for embroidery with rhinestones already include everything you need. But there is no limit to perfection, right? And in order for creativity to be easy and enjoyable, it is worth purchasing additional tools that allow you to create diamond paintings simply and with pleasure. All you need is a spacious plastic organizer for beads to make it easier to remove and store rhinestones, as well as a metal (steel or aluminum) ruler, which will be useful for aligning already laid out rows. Also, take care of the correct lighting of the workplace so that your eyes do not strain, and the process itself turns into a full-fledged relaxation session.
An extremely convenient thing for both amateurs and beginners. The lead of this pencil allows you to easily select and place any rhinestones.
This organizer will help you keep your desk organized and will serve as an excellent alternative to zip bags in sets.
This set, originally intended for church papers, eventually found fans among embroidery lovers. The finished work is filled with liquid glass, hardens and the picture acquires shine, stability and protection from dust.
Types of schemes
According to the classical method, patterns for embroidery with crystal diamond rhinestones are black and white and color. Their main difference from each other is that the patterns are located directly on the base, and there is no need to cross out embroidered crosses or beads. For such work, it is better, of course, to prefer to use a color scheme, but if the picture includes a small number of colors or it is small, then it will be convenient to use a black and white scheme.
You might be interested in this: How to properly embroider pictures and clothes with rhinestones
Gluing the finished work with double-sided tape
Is it possible to make money on diamond mosaics?
Rhinestone embroidery is a new hobby that many people don’t know about yet. The paintings look impressive and bright, they do not fade and can be decorated in different ways. There are several options for making money on diamond mosaics.
- You can sell ready-made, laid out paintings, beautifully framed. They are perfect for interior decoration or as a gift. Offer your clients icons, wedding-themed paintings, and modular canvases.
- You can sell sets by ordering them in China, where they cost several times less than ours.
- Author's portraits from photographs - for a holiday or anniversary will be an incredible success.
Diamond mosaic is a wonderful hobby that relieves stress and distracts you from worries.
Happy creativity!
