Fun With Colors...

Here are some of the pieces I ended up with from my first experiments with clay and resin:

A little rough, but it gave me a good basis to decide in which direction I'd like to take it.

I love the contrast of the vibrantly colored resin against the crisp white clay.

So - on to phase two:

Some mother-of-pearl beads I picked up on sale at Michaels...

And some more crazy clay creations...hmmm... (I wonder how this will turn out?)

One of my favorite colors to dye resin...

Ta-da! I hope these turn out as well as I am imagining...

And...disaster has stuck.

Well, I hope 2 out of 3 will turn out as well as I'm imagining...

Have to wait until tomorrow to see how these turn out...

(I'll clean this up later!)

Resin Tutorial - Drilling and Finishing

This installment will show you how to finish a resin piece by describing how to:

(1) Drill a hole for inserting a jump ring.

(2) Or, add a glue-on bail.

(3) Restore sanded edges to their shiny resin luster.

For drilling, you will need the following materials:

(1) Small hand-drill, such as a Dremmel, (I'm using a Craftsman Rotary tool.)

(2) Drill bits of your desired size.

I almost always use a 1/16" bit, which is perfect for inserting jump rings. If you are going to string your finished piece on thick cord or chain, you will need a larger bit. Be sure to purchase the regular bits used for wood (not the type for glass - tried it accidentally - does not work!)

(3) A particle mask or dust mask.

Resin behaves much like wood when drilling and even makes the same sort of huge mess. However, unlike sawdust which is natural, cured resin is a synthetic and can be harmful if inhaled. Please be sure to wear a mask to avoid breathing in any particles.

A particle mask is best (such as a painters mask) but a regular dust mask will work just fine. But please use something - even a bandanna if you don't have a mask (think wild-west-bandit style).

(4) A table vice or clamp to hold your resin piece securely.

(5) Leather pieces to protect your piece from being scratched while in the vice.

Most craft stores carry small pieces of leather; I used an old belt, cut it into pieces, then secured the pieces onto the inside sides of the vice:

Place your resin piece in the vice and close to hold tightly. You'll have to experiment a bit to find how tightly you need to grip the piece; too loose and the drill will shift it and make a crooked hole, too tight and you may crush and even slightly dis form your resin piece - I mostly find this happens on round pieces; shapes with flat edges are harder to squish.

Now you are ready to drill the hole where you like it.

I always drill back-to-front, and on a slight angle. This is to accommodate a jump ring. You could also drill straight through - side to side, or back to front - and string it instead of using a jump ring.

Again, you're going to have to experiment to get the right feel for how to hold the drill, at what angle, and much pressure to apply. If possible, use some pieces that aren't your favorites, to practice on.

Here are some more photos with a white resin piece that may be easier to see:

You can see what a mess this makes!

Here are some finished drilled pieces. A little rough looking - (like this out-of-focus picture, sorry!)

The holes will be filled with particles of the drilled out resin, and will need to be cleaned.

Wash the pieces in plain water. To clean out the holes, you can try holding them under a running faucet, but that is not usually enough pressure (at least at my house).

I ended up using our Water Pick. Yes, normally it's for cleaning teeth, but it turns out to be multi-purpose. It does a remarkable job in cleaning those holes out.

You could also use a bead reamer, or even a toothpick to poke the little bits out.

Here are some drilled pieces that have been cleaned:

You can see that the drilling has left the holes looking dull. These may be just fine for what you are trying to do, or depending on the color of the resin.

If your resin pieces are clear, you will notice obvious white spots where you drilled:

If you don't like this, you will need to re-coat the drilled hole in resin to repair the surface and restore the shine.

You will need to mix up a small batch of resin:

For this, I used 7.5 ml each of resin and hardener:

Mix thoroughly.

Even with this small amount, you will have plenty left over. So you might as well set out a mold so you can pour the left-resin and start making some new designs.

Once your resin is thoroughly mixed, grab a toothpick - I found this is the perfect diameter instrument for my 1/16" holes.

Dip the pick into your mixture and scrape the excess on the side of the cup:

You want just a light coating of resin on your toothpick, not globs. Just a very thin coat of resin is all that is needed to restore the shine to your drilled holes - if you use to much it may plug the hole and you will have to re-drill.

See? It looks like I nearly scraped it clean:

Run the toothpick through the hole and swirl it around. You will be able to see the hole turning from white to clear again.

Set the piece down on a non-stick surface (such as waxed paper) and allow to dry thoroughly before handling.

Here are some pieces with re-dipped holes:

You can still see the holes, but it is a vast improvement.

Now, you can repeat the process for those dull, sanded edges.

For this dome shaped piece, I used some of my son's playdoh to form a nice little nest to hold it securely. (I've tried just holding them in my hand, but inevitably make a mess - especially with the domed ones.)

This time, run the toothpick gently along the sanded edge.

You could also use a small paint-brush if you prefer. I like the toothpick because it has a small contact surface and does not hold a lot of resin, as a brush might.

Allow to dry before handling.

You will now be ready to add your jump ring, chain, cord, or whatever you wish to string your finished piece:

And you will have a beautiful, ready to wear pendant!

If you do not have the equipment for drilling, you can easily attach a glue-on bail.

The most commonly used types are called "Aanraku", which are marketed for fused glass pendants and cabochons. But they work a treat for resin as well.

Affix the bail using a waterproof glue, such as E6000, or a quick-cure epoxy adhesive like Devcon 5-Minute Epoxy. Both kinds can usually be found at your local craft or hardware store.

Glue-on bails are an quick and easy alternative, and they result in a lovely finished necklace!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it easy to understand and informative. I have complied all my tutorials, refined them, added new information and pictures, and added 2 complete step-by-step project instructions in this 32-page digital booklet, "Getting Started With Resin Jewelry". For more information, click here.

Resin Jewelry Tutorial - Sanding

When casting resin jewelry using molds, you will inevitably discover the need for some amount of finishing work, usually in the form of sanding. Depending upon how high you filled the mold, you will be left with a varying degree of extra resin - either a thin raised edge, or a large excess lip surrounding the piece.




Sanding, either to remove excess bits of resin, or just to soften cured edges, will create a nice, finished piece.

Cured resin can be sanded much like wood, and you can use the same type of sandpapers in a range of grits, depending on what you need to accomplish.

Also similar to sanding wood, sanding resin creates a fair amount of dust, so it would be prudent to wear a dust mask while working to avoid breathing in any of those particles.

If you have large pieces of excess resin to remove, or want to actually re-shape the piece, start with a larger grit sandpaper - around 80 - 120. Individual sandpapers can usually be found at hardware stores sold by the piece, and are less then $1 a piece, so you can pick up one each in a wide range of grits.

For finer finish work, you can use automotive or wet/dry sandpaper with grits of 600, 800, 1000, and sometimes higher. These can be found at an auto parts store. Using wet/dry paper and sanding your piece under water will keep dust down and will also prevent resin particles from re-distributing on the finished piece.



I have tried various papers of various grits, and for my purposes, my favorite sanding tool to use is the simple emery board (you can usually get a 5 or 10 pack for $1 at the drugstore). The sturdy form and thin shape provides great control and ease of use.



Being only two-handed, I couldn't take a picture of the actual process - but give it a quick try and you'll figure it out in no time. Hold your resin piece in one hand, and sand with the other!

To sand using papers instead, I find it easiest to lay the paper flat on a table and then rub the resin piece on top of that - moving and changing position of your resin piece (not the paper) to shape and define the various angles.

Until you get a feel for the motions, I would recommend practicing with a few of your less-than-favorite pieces, just so there are no tragedies. If you happen to scrape or nick the edge of the resin (where you didn't intend to sand) it will scratch the surface!

It does take a bit of practice to fall into the right rhythm, and also determine what sort of angle to use and how much pressure to apply. But with a little experimenting, you'll find your groove in no time at all and soon be a sanding pro.

Here is the same piece as the very first photo, now after having been sanded. I removed the excess border of resin and also rounded the edges a bit.

You will also have noticed the down-side of sanding; that it removes that sparkling shiny finish, and leaves a dull edge. This effect is more or less noticeable depending on the color of your resin piece, and may or may not be an issue for you.

Continuing to sand in increasingly finer grits of sandpaper will create a smoother, finer finish. And polishing with a wax will help even further. However, the only way to restore that beautiful, glossy shine is to re-coat in resin. Don't worry, it's not too hard...and will be discussed in an upcoming post...

A final shot of a sanded vs. an un-sanded piece.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it easy to understand and informative. I have complied all my tutorials, refined them, added new information and pictures, and added 2 complete step-by-step project instructions in this 32-page digital booklet, "Getting Started With Resin Jewelry". For more information, click here.

How To Make Resin Jewelry - Supplies

Part One – Getting Started with Supplies

Resin is an amazing medium, affording near endless possibilities for created new designs. There does, however, seem to be a blatantly large void in the realms of Internet information on the subject. So I wanted to share some of what I have learned in a series of tutorials on the materials and techniques used in resin casting. I’ll start with the absolute basics…

This first installment is just about materials and supplies. What to use and where to get them.

1. Resin

I recommend starting with EasyCast clear casting epoxy resin. It is great for beginners because it has an easy 1:1 mix ratio. It cures slowly, which is good and bad. Bad because you have to wait a day or more for your piece to fully cure before you can pop it out of the mold. But good – very good, if you need time to fiddle around with colors or inclusions. You have at least a good half hour (depending on local temperature) before the resin starts to gel and thicken.

You can find EasyCast at most local craft stores, some hardware store, and of course online.

2. Plastic Mixing/Measuring Cups & Stir Sticks

You will need plastic cups with graduated lines for measuring. Don’t use wax coated paper cups, as the wax could flake off into your resin. The best part about plastic cups is that they are reusable without a big cleanup hassle. Just leave your mess of resin in the cup, let it cure, then peel the whole thing out.

You can also find wooden stir sticks, or craft sticks at your local craft store or supermarket (Popsicle sticks).

3. Ready made Molds

A variety of ready made jewelry molds are available online.

4. Wax Paper, Gloves, and Paper Towels

Resin is very gooey, sticky, and hard to clean up. You need to protect your work surface and yourself.

Disposable gloves will keep your hand sticky-free.

Waxed paper makes a great work surface – drips won’t soak through, and resin won’t stick to it, so you can just leave all your mess right there and clean it up later after it has dried and is no longer ooey-gooey.

Keep some paper towels on hand to quickly wipe up drips that land where you don’t want them.

5. Heat Tool

This is not necessary, but very useful in removing air bubbles in the resin. Not so critical if you are using glitter or something, but with clear resin the bubbles will show a lot more and you will want to get rid of them.

You can get an Embossing Heat Tool in the rubber stamp aisle of your craft store, or online.

What about a hair dryer? - You can use one, but you need to be very careful. A hair dryer blows more air than heat - if you get too close, it can blow the resin right out of your molds and completely ruin your project. If you really want to try this method, be slow and careful. Make sure your settings are on "LOW" and "HOT/WARM". Begin by holding the hair dryer high above your mold (like 2 feet or a little more above). Turn the dryer on and, pointing it straight down, very slowly bring it down closer to your mold, watching the resin carefully to make sure it is not being blown around. At some point the heat should be able to reach the resin and pop the bubbles.

Dyes & Pigments

Above are the bare minimum, basic items you will need. But what’s the fun in that? You need some color!

There are liquid dyes and pigments made especially for resin. In addition to these, there are a variety of other liquids you can use including oil and acrylic paints - since these are not specifically formulated for use with resin, finding the right types and proportions may be a matter of experimentation.

Dry pigments afford another opportunity for a wide range of color. Anything dry, and free of oils, can be added to resin. Consider some of the following:

Mica

Artists Pastels

Glitter

Clothing Dye (powder form)

Tempura powders

And type of powder pigment

Artist pastels offer an endless array of colors. Use a craft knife or razor to gently shave the edges of the pastel.

I especially like Pearl Ex powdered pigments for their subtle shimmer and deep jewel tones.

These items can all be found at your art/craft store. While you are there, peruse the aisles for other fun things to mix in your resin: buttons, candy sprinkles, etc.

Well, now that you have all your materials, you’re ready to start casting! The next article in this series will discuss how to mix the resin and how to use your dyes and pigments…

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it easy to understand and informative. I have complied all my tutorials, refined them, added new information and pictures, and added 2 complete step-by-step project instructions in this 32-page digital booklet, "Getting Started With Resin Jewelry". For more information, click here.

How To Embed Paper in Resin - Part One

When I first started working with resin, I scoured the internet for how-to information. There are some nice books on the subject, though it was through trial and error that I really figured out what I was doing. This will be the first in a series of resin how-to’s, and I hope it provides some useful information. The instructions provided are just based on my own experiences, personal preference and style. The most important thing is to do your own experimenting. First learn the basics, and then get creative!

This tutorial is all about embedding paper into resin. If you have never used resin before, I recommend the book “The Art of Resin Jewelry” by Sherri Haab. It is very easy to follow and understand for a beginner and provides useful information on types of resin, how to mix it, using molds, and includes a thorough resource guide.

Embedding Paper into Resin – Part One- Preparing Your Paper

Materials Needed:
Paper, of course! Any image or paper you like.
Scissors
Craft punch (optional)
Glue (Mod Podge recommended)
Small container to pour your glue into
Plastic work surface
Cheap paintbrush
Black marker (optional)

Selecting and Cutting Your Image

Any type of paper will work. You can use pieces of old books, magazines, newspaper, scrapbook paper, or photographs. One of my favorite items is the digital collage sheets sold by graphic designers on Etsy. Once you purchase the image(s), the seller simply emails the file and you can print it at home as many times as you like. When I do this, I print on photo paper because I like the high quality, glossy image. Different types of paper will provide a different look, so experiment to find the style you like best.

Next you will need to cut out your image into whatever shape you need. Sometimes I cut-out my images free-hand using scissors, but I love to use craft punches whenever possible because they make clean edges and uniform shapes. My local craft store has a great selection and I’ve found many sizes that work perfectly for the resin molds I’m using. You can also search the internet for all kinds of shapes and sizes – circles, stars, trees, baby feet – you name it.

I like to cut out a many different bits and pictures and seal them all at one time. It’s much more efficient if you already have your supplies out, and you’ll have plenty of images ready to go when you need them.

Here’s an optional step if you are using photo paper or other thick paper…I almost always use black resin as my final layer and found that when I embedded images on photo paper, the white edges really stood out against the black and just looked so “paper-y”. First I tried painting the edges with acrylic paint, but it was too messy and usually smeared onto the front of my image. Now I use black marker (Sharpie to be exact, since it dries fast.) Just glide the marker around the edge for easy cover up. There are markers in almost every color so you can match it to whatever color resin you are using.

Sealing the Image

Here’s the important part – thoroughly sealing the paper so resin does not seep through. Since the paper is porous, the resin will seep through just like water causing dark spots if it is not sealed properly. I cannot overestimate the importance of this. When I started, I often had a “that’s good enough” attitude, and it resulted in a lot of messed-up pieces. Here's an exmaple of dark spots:

Even now, when I’m sure I’ve done a fabulous job, there will still be an occasional oops where the resin seeps through a bit. It can be very disappointing, especially when it’s a piece you are otherwise very proud of. So please, take the extra time to do it right so you are not sad later.

Now, lay out all your images on a plastic work surface. I used waxed paper for the purposes of taking these photos, but I really don’t recommend it. The glue makes the waxed paper soggy and your images may stick and tear. My favorite surface to use is a clear paper protector sleeve. They are thick, sturdy, washable, and re-useable. I start with all my images face-up, but it really doesn’t matter.

Next, you’ll need your glue. I’ve tried a few different kinds, but I like Mod-Podge the best. It creates a thick, almost vinyl like surface on the paper and seals the edges very well. Pour some glue into a small container for easy access. (Yes, I’m using a coffee-cup lid and yes, that IS a cow in the background. She’s my little helper today…)

Brush a coat of glue over each piece. Take care not to let the image slide around and lay on top of wet glue, it could cause some yucky blobs on the other side. I use a toothpick or Popsicle stick to hold the image in one spot while I paint it with glue. (With the first coat, it’s always hard to keep the small papers from sliding all over. Don’t worry, it gets easier.)

Apply a layer over the top, and then make sure you get all the edges. I brush each edge from the outside in; to make sure it’s well covered. Don’t be afraid to slap it on thick. No matter how scary it looks it will dry clear and you will feel better that it has been sealed properly. If you are timid about applying so much glue, that’s ok. Just take extra care to be sure you’ve sealed all the edges.

One coat is probably sufficient, but I always apply two. There’s too much work involved to have your resin piece ruined by a lazy sealing job. It’s okay if the first coat is still a little wet. Mod Podge dries fairly quickly, so by the time I’ve finished the first coat on the last piece, I can just go right back to the beginning of the line and start on the second coat. After applying the second coat, I like to lift each piece up and move it over so it doesn’t dry in place. It just makes it easier later, but if you forget, no worries – if the pieces seem stuck, just lift up your plastic sheet and peel them off like stickers from a sticker sheet.

Thinner papers may warp or curl from the moisture, don’t worry, its normal. There may also be “skins” of glue attached to the edges. Also normal, and a good sign that the paper and edges were well sealed. Just leave it there for now. Allow your papers to dry thoroughly before flipping them over.

Then, flip and repeat all the steps on the reverse side. You won’t need to worry so much about the edges since they have already been sealed, (but a little extra never hurts). Allow the second side to dry. If you have edges of dried glue, just trim it with scissors. Some or all of your papers may be warped or curled. I recommend pressing them in a heavy book overnight to ensure they will lie nicely in your resin when you embed. I press all my images; even if they look already look flat.

I hope this has been useful – Part Two will get to the actual embedding part! Stay tuned…

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it easy to understand and informative. I have complied all my tutorials, refined them, added new information and pictures, and added 2 complete step-by-step project instructions in this 32-page digital booklet, "Getting Started With Resin Jewelry". For more information, click here.