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Wednesday, July 2, 2014

How to Make a Gold Leaf Resin BangleTutorial

Resin bracelets have that certain retro look about them which makes them fun to wear. They are relatively easy to make. Being able to all kinds of things in them is also a huge bonus. Some artisans embed pretty flowers and leaves. But I really like Allison of Dream a Little Bigger's resin bangle tutorial which uses gold leaf flecks for a luxurious look!

She used a plastic resin mold. Silicon molds (either bought ready made or make your own) are another option - they are more flexible and don't need a release agent. If you hate struggling like Allison did with getting the hardened piece out of the mold, try using a mold release agent (available from resin jewelry suppliers). Using the agent also extends the life of the mold because you won't be repeatedly manhandling the mold.

Inevitably, there are rough edges so the resin bangle has to be finished. Allison demonstrated a great tip for sanding the piece. She used wet-dry sandpaper under water. She was thus able to contain the dust safely. She used fine sandpaper which would be in the range of 600, 800, 1000 grits or higher if you can get them.

Allison just smoothed out the rough edges. If you prefer more rounded edges, then try starting with coarser grade sandpaper around 80-100, 120-150, 400 and work your way through to the finer grits.

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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Miniature Beaded Dresses by PinkythePink
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Miniature Beaded Dresses by PinkythePink

Ashley Mae of Phoenix, Arizona, is the artisan behind PinkythePink on Etsy. She is one creative individual specializing beading and cross stitch. Her amazing miniature beaded dresses though really caught my eye!

Ashley, whose nickname is Pinky, has a wonderful way of stitching tiny beads together to form very small gowns. An artist's eye for color and detail as shown by her OOAK (one of a kind) Christmas dress below.

I also adore her bead soup halter dress :

Check out the tiny matching shoes for this gold and white dress!

And the bag for this houndstooth outfit!

Most of her designs are adapted from Japanese miniature dresses although she does also design her own. She often"freestyles" her work ie she designs on the fly!

Ashley is also a friend of Sian Nolan whose miniature dresses I featured before. Ashley said of Sian, "She never did the five-inch-tall dresses like I do and has long since stopped making beaded dresses, but she's helped me make further friends in other countries who do them too! Many of them speak little English so it's been tough to have full conversations, but good all the same." That's amazing to hear of the connection with miniature beaded dress fans from different parts of the world.

Another of my favorites is the beaded Chanel inspired 2 piece suit. Ashley digitally colors the beadwork in some of her brightly hued design photos in her Deviantart catalog section. That's because she showcases alternative color schemes for custom orders. The original cream color for the suit can be seen here.

One fun design is her Halloween gown, complete with the fashionable witch's hat! Photographing it with tiny skulls was inspired!

A lot of work goes into each and every creation. In this progress photo series from Ashley's Facebook , the 4th of July inspired dress below took 16 hours to complete!

Some of her original designs are inspired from other artwork like this one called Shield Maiden Kerria which is DeviantArt's Noire-Ighaan's character. It was created specifically for the graphic novel contest and is not for sale.