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Tammy Jones is the
editor of Jewelry Making Daily. |
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Resin is such a fun material to work with, especially for jewelry making. It allows you to turn just about anything into jewelry—especially anything that normally wouldn't seem sturdy enough for jewelry—by setting it in a clear casing. It's kind of like a snapshot of a snowglobe in mid-shake, with lots of precious things suspended inside.
Imagine using tiny shells and sand from your beach vacation, a tiny delicate flower or leaf gathered on a special occasion (I have little flowers plucked from the gardens around William Wordsworth's house in the Lake District, from a college summer in England), or a lock of your baby's hair along with a bit of baby clothing and maybe their first tooth (if you can get it back from the tooth fairy). Resins allow you to make tiny scrapbook collage-style mixed-media jewelry of beautiful, meaningful things. How wonderful to be able to wear a special memory around your neck every day!
Speaking of wonderful, my Sparkle Sistah Kristal Wick (editor of Beading Daily and talented jewelry-maker extraordinaire) designed this colorful resin bezel project for one of her segments in the latest Beads, Baubles, and Jewels television series. It looks like stained glass to me, which I love, so I wanted to share it with you. Plus it shows just how easy working with resin can be. Enjoy!
Smoochee Resin and Transfer Bezels by Kristal Wick
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bezel
water-slide transfer
resin*
Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink |
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white acrylic paint and paint brush
cotton swabs
scissors
small bowl of water |
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1. Paint the inside back of the bezel with white acrylic paint so the colors from the inks you apply next will really pop. Let the paint dry.
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2. Add little dots of Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink and then roll a cotton swab over the dots to soften and blend them.
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3. Repeat with as many different colors as you like, covering all the white paint base. Let the inks dry between each color application to avoid mottling the colors. |
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4. Add a thin layer of resin. Pour in about a dime-sized amount and turn the bezel back and forth to help it spread and level out. Then allow the resin to sit flat and cure according to label directions (until it's no longer sticky).
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5. Cut out an art transfer (Kristal used a black and clear one, because the colors from the Smooch inks will show through the clear areas and contrast nicely with the black) and lay it in a bowl of water for about one minute. Don't worry that it curls up. Slide the transfer off of the paper backing and dab off excess water so the transfer is nearly dry.
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6. Lay the transfer on top of the cured resin and allow it all to dry. Make sure no water is trapped under the transfer.
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7. Add another layer of resin on top of the transfer and allow that layer to cure, too. To create a domed appearance, add a third layer of resin and allow it to cure.
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To see Kristal make this project, along with dozens of other great projects by her and other top jewelry designers such as Mark Nelson, Leslie Rogalski, Candie Cooper, and more,
order your copy of the latest season of Beads, Baubles, and Jewels DVD collection. You'll get four DVDs—that's thirteen episodes or six hours of jewelry-making projects—all in one convenient package!
Do you enjoy working with resin? What little treasures do you embed in it? I'd love to hear in the comments below!
* Kristal used UV resin, which cures quickly under a UV light or outside. Use whatever resin you like.
Kristal's Resources:
bezels, transfers, UV resin: Becky Nunn Designs, www.nunndesign.com
two-part resin, bezels: www.objectsandelements.com
Smooch inks: Clear Snap, www.clearsnap.com
paint: Plaid, www.Plaid.com