Famous Jewelry Collections: THE BEADING GEM'S JOURNAL

Making resin jewelry is a lot of fun. It can get addictive, too because there is always more designs you can do. I came up with this lightweight snowflake resin jewelry tutorial to showcase some ways of getting wonderful color backgrounds and effects. These happen to use snowflake shapes but other designs using these steps here are definitely possible!

WHAT YOU NEED :

Snowflake stickers
Paper punch - I used a 1" circle punch
Resin film*
Shrinky Dink (shrink plastic ) - unshrunk
2 part epoxy resin with cups, stir sticks
Doming trays*
Resin molds* - if you are casting
Aluminum foil
Hand drill * or electric one
Jewelry findings for necklaces
Marker pen
Needle
Plastic cover

*Purchased or review items from Little Windows

Snowflake elements used included stickers, punches and metal filigrees. If you plan to use plain white paper, please be aware the resin will make it look translucent. So you need to seal it first to make it impervious to the resin. Stickers sometimes come with little adhesive pads. These are great to have as it makes the snowflakes look like they are floating in the resin.

Also cut up all the shapes you will need in the size which best suits the snowflake elements you will use. Resin film is easily cut by sandwiching it between a folded piece of paper and a paper punch.

Same with the Shrinky Dink plastic. Important :There are two different surfaces to the Shrinky Dink plastic. If resin gets on the rough side, the disc basically becomes transparent. Resin on the smooth side leaves the disc with a slightly translucent texture. So choose which you prefer.

For interesting crinkly backings, crush some aluminum foil. Smooth it out flat and then punch out the discs carefully.

If you don't have a punch, use a template and cut out the shapes by hand. Shown below is the medium size template for Little Windows molds.

Make sure everything you need is all cut up and ready to go before mixing up a batch of resin. It helps to have more projects to do than you think you need in order to use up the resin for each session.

Follow the instructions with the resin kit. In my case, equal portions of part A and B are poured into the mixing cup. Premark the levels with marker pen. Why? You cannot see the cup's marks once you pour the solutions in! Thorougly mix for 2- 2.5 minutes.

Let the mix rest for a few minutes before use. This is to allow many of the bubbles to rise. Use the stir stick and coax them to the side to pop them.

Once cast, the pieces have to cure for 12 hours before you can handle them for further work. Allow 48 hours for full curing.

SHRINKY DINK AND RESIN FILM PENDANT

Press the snowflake stickers onto the resin film discs.

Add a drop of resin on each disc and carefully place the snowflake and resin film on it.

Carefully position the top film over the Shrinky Dink disc and adjust the position with the stir stick.

Now slowly add resin to dome up the shape. The weight of the resin will help spread that drop of resin below the resin film. Check for doming completion by looking at the pieces from the side.

Pop any bubbles with a needle.

Cover to prevent dust from settling on the pieces while you set it aside to cure. Plastic lids from card boxes are excellent for this,

Adding a foil backing and/or doming after the resin has cured is optional. Place a drop of resin on the back of the pendant and position the foil backing over it. Use the stir stick to gently press down especially at the edge. Add more resin on top of the foil - either just a layer or dome it again. Your choice. Cover and leave to cure fully.

The foil makes for a beautiful background! Use the foil technique for any discs which may have had some drips underneath. Just slice off the extraneous set resin blobs as much as possible and add the foil!

ATTACHING BAILS

Mark the hole position with a marker pen. Use the hand drill to make holes in the thinner pendants.

Use either pinch bails or a jump ring to attach to regular bails. Glue on bails will also work for foil backed pendants.

Earrings naturally need jump rings and ear wires :

VARIATIONS

BEZEL PENDANTS

For the pink pendant : first cut a round disc from resin film to fit. Add a drop of resin in the bezel and place the film on top. Make sure to squeeze all the air out from below the film. Add snowflake sticker and top up with resin to dome. (This particular bezel had a lovely etched pattern underneath which shows through the resin film.)

For the blue design : Mix coarse blue and fine gold sprinkles into some resin mix and added a small amount to the bezel. Let the resin set. Then add the snowflake sticker and seal, dome with more resin.

CAST RESIN PENDANTS

Use molds with release agents to cast shaped pendants. The pendants below were cast in 1 inch molds. The left one looks bigger because the mold was eventually filled to the top. The left pendant started with a mix of resin and blue sprinkles at the bottom of the mold. The right pendant had just a thin layer of clear resin with a resin film disc slipped in to the bottom.

After curing, the cast pendants were removed from the mold. (Bend mold a few times and tap out the casted resin). A snowflake sticker and a metal filigree with a silver ball were added to the depression that normally forms on the top when casting. Resin is then poured into the depression. The resin was added till it domed on the left one. The resin just filled the depression on the right one but with sufficient depth to hold onto the silver ball which still protrudes. The pendants were cured a second time.

MORE TIPS

Work slowly. Rushing just introduces errors such as overpouring which leads to spills.

It is important to keep the dust off your work especially while curing the resin. But if you have static issues with the resin film just use a swiffer duster to remove the stubborn dust.

No one is perfect. If you had trouble putting on the resin film and need to remove it to start over, clean off the resin with paper towels soaked in isopropanol (rubbing alcohol from the drugstore).

Reduce the chances of spills going to the underside of the piece by applying a light layer of wax to the back. I used Renaissance Wax which is typically used on metal jewelry to prevent tarnishing. You should remove the wax with isopropanol before you dome the other side with resin.

If you wish, after the resin has set, you can sandpaper the edges smoother. Use wet/dry sandpaper and do it underwater to remove the dust problem. Otherwise wear a dust mask.