Orchids and Resin - Part One

This dried orchid is starting to look really great!  There are already four different Jewelry Resin glaze applications curing in order to photograph it at this point.

 You might not understand what a labour of love it is to make a permanent orchid like this unless you try this technique yourself.

 I have very gently "painted" my Jewelry Resin to both the front and the back of the dried orchid.

Since I need to allow for at least 24 hours of cure time before I move the flower, you can see how this orchid is becoming a one week experiment.

One of the mysteries of resin work is when resin does not stay put.

As you can see from the areas I marked, resin "pulled away" from some areas of my petals.  This is why each side of my flower has required two different applications of resin.  

I'll show you what I am doing with this orchid tomorrow!

Resin Jewels From Europe

 My love for resin jewelry began in Europe.  I go to Paris every April and I always come home with several pieces of resin.  This year I found two fabulous bracelets in England!  They are from my favorite resin jeweler:  Sobral.  They are made in Brazil. 

 This bracelet is so pretty!

 It makes me want to work in a cube shape ASAP.

 The second bracelet is a show stopper!

 The chunks are unique and you need to look close to see the details.

 Colouring resin like this is a long term goal. 

 This bracelet is a "no-name" Paris find.  It was in a scarf shop.

I love how the enamel wraps around the unique resin cone shape.

Hope these pieces inspire you as much as they do me.

The Little Blue Resin Bird

 Waiting for spring sure has been interesting in my part of the world.  It arrived mid march with a one week heat wave and then quickly left.  So if I want to see blue birds, I'll just have to make them myself.

 Once again I am working in a mold designed for cake makers.  (These are at Michael's craft store.) I thought this little bird was adorable.  I always keep a mold or two out on my table.  This is where I pour any left over resin.  Earlier this week when I made my owl bottle caps I had a little extra Jewelry Resin.  I just poured the final scraping from the cup into the bird mold.

 When it was cured I decided to add some paper napkin to the reverse.  It is a very simple way to add colour and interest to a molded piece.

 You can look through your clear piece to decide where on the napkin you might like to glue it.

 After I glued the napkin to the reverse of my resin bird, I cut away all the excess paper and applied a glaze layer of Jewelry Resin.  This really embeds the paper napkin and it also allowed me to just drop a tiny bail onto the bird back.

 I made a feather embellishment after seeing how pretty the bird was.

I easily attached both to a simple necklace.  Project done!

Jewelry Resin and The Owl Series

 Okay.

Tell me these bottle caps aren't the cutest thing ever?

 They began as bottle caps and Japanese paper.  I adhered this beautiful paper to the bottle caps and covered it with a very thin layer of Jewelry Resin at the beginning of the month.

 Then I went to Europe.  I always look for interesting papers and stickers when I travel.  I found a lot of cute mini stickers in Paris.

I could not wait to use them.  So I attached them to the cured layer of resin in the bottle caps and just poured a second layer of Jewelry Resin on top.

I love them!!!

I can't decide if I want to make this into a necklace or turn these into magnets.  For now, I'll just admire them.

Hobby Lobby Has An Amazing Resin Inspiration Guide

 Every now and then I see information about resin ideas that knocks my sock off!

This on-line and free guide from Hobby Lobby is just such a publication!

"It's time to play with your creative side! You choose the shape, style, color and everything in between! Craft vintage-style trinkets, artsy baubles, and antique-worthy gems, all using the magic of resin casting."

 Page after page of inspired eye candy!

Thank you Hobby Lobby for contributing these ideas to the resin using community!

By the way, Hobby Lobby does sell ETI's range of casting and resin products!

Nunn Design Give-a-way Winner!

Cher, looks like we made your year!

Congratulations!

All you need to do is email me your mailing address and I will get this right over to Nunn Design. Email:  Carmi at resincraftsblog@aol.com

Thank you again to Becky Nunn for this outstanding give-a-way!

Spring Resin Bouquet!

Hope you had a great week!  This little sample is my salute to spring flowers!

Japanese paper for the background and paper flowers, gel pen and glitter glue for the bouquet.

Don't forget to enter our amazing Nunn Design give-a-way!

Fixing A Resin Mistake

Has only tried using the new flat beads in a mini mosaic?

I have made several really pretty pieces this way.

I did make a mistake...or maybe it wasn't a mistake but a resin glitch.

I poured my Resin Jewelry over my beads.  In the morning I noticed one tiny section was missing resin.  Now, I could leave this...but why not fix it?

The next time I had a resin project I used a brush to apply a little more resin to the missing zone and now my piece is perfect!

Resin Shoes

Today I thought I would show you what I do with some of my molded pieces.  I have always made art cards.  What makes them stand out is the unique one of a kind embellishments I make to showcase on them.

I made these clear resin shoe embellishments with EasyCast.  My mold was originally designed to make chocolate shoes...I choose to make permanent resin ones!  I make them clear so I can apply interesting papers to the back side.  In this case I am using Japanese paper.

Think of all the shoes you could make....way less expensive than buying them for yourself!

I also used another tool from Resin Obsession for this project.  They have a non stick resin stir stick.

After I stir my resin I just set my stick down on my non-stick surface. 

24 hour later I peeled away the resin on the stick and I can use it again!

A Resin Tool from Resin Obsession

 Here are two new bezels I made with images from my Fairyopolis digital art CD and Jewelry Resin.

The bezels are hand crafted and I get them from John Bead, a major wholesaler to bead and craft stores across North America.  John Bead also sells Jewelry Resin.

 The John Bead bezels have a large attachment already soldered to the bezel.  They need to be propped in order to pour resin into them because the attachment does not allow the bezel to lay flat on a work table.  This created a few mis-pours for me in the past until I saw this non stick resin drying mat tool from Resin Obsession!  It has small openings that allow my bezel attachments to be suspended while keeping my piece completely flat.

This is a great tool.  So glad to have it in my studio...only wish I got it sooner.

Resin Obsession also sells Jewelry Resin and EasyCast in the USA.

Liquid Pearls and Jewelry Resin

 This pendant features dimensional paint dots that look like tiny jewels.

I made this piece in three stages.  

First Layer:  A layer of blue coloured Jewelry Resin.  Waited 24 hours.

Second Layer:  My Klimt woman image and a clear layer of Jewelry Resin.  Waited 24 hours.

Third Layer:  I applied some gold peel offs and dots of Liquid Pearls.  I let the liquid pearls dry completely and then covered everything with a final clear layer of Jewelry Resin.  

Then, I set my piece aside for a full 48 cure.

 When my bauble came out of the mold it needed a little bit of sanding to smooth the edges.

All I had left to do was add the bail and it is ready to wear.

My post about making this mold is linked here.

To learn how to colour resin I have a link here.

The BIG Nunn Design Give-a-Way!

Friends!

This is an awesome give-a-way.

Nunn Design has donated a huge collection of their special components, many of which I featured on the blog this week.

This give-a-way has over 50 items!

Winter Collection 2012 Nunn Design Give-a-way

One piece each of the following items:

1. Cp-gb  Channel Pendant-Gold
2. Cp-sb  Channel Pendant-Silver
3. Cp-cb  Channel Pendant-Copper
4. Cp-ssb  Channel Pendant-Sterling Silver
5. Cbl-gb  Channel Bead Large-Gold
6. Cbl-sb  Channel Bead Large -Silver
7. Cbl-cb  Channel Bead Large -Copper
8. Cbl-ssb  Channel Bead Large -Sterling Silver
9. Cbm-gb  Channel Bead Medium -Gold
10. Cbm-sb  Channel Bead Medium -Silver
11. Cbm-cb  Channel Bead Medium -Copper
12. Cbm-ssb  Channel Bead Medium -Sterling Silver
13. Cbs-gb  Channel Bead Small -Gold
14. Cbs-sb  Channel Bead Small -Silver
15. Cbs-cb  Channel Bead Small -Copper
16. Cbs-ssb  Channel Bead Small -Sterling Silver
17. Csbfcb-Collage Sheet Butterflies-Channel Beads
18. Csbcb-  Collage Sheet Birds-Channel Beads
19. Csacb-  Collage Sheet Angels-Channel Beads
20. Csmcb-  Collage Sheet Madonna-Channel Beads
21. ompc-gb  Ornate Mini Pendant Circle-Gold
22. ompc-sb  Ornate Mini Pendant Circle-Silver
23. ompc-cb  Ornate Mini Pendant Circle-Copper
24. ompc-ssb  Ornate Mini Pendant Circle-Sterling
25. ompcs-gb  Ornate Mini Pendant Circle Single-Gold
26. ompcs-sb  Ornate Mini Pendant Circle Single -Silver
27. ompcs-cb  Ornate Mini Pendant Circle Single -Copper
28. ompcs-ssb  Ornate Mini Pendant Circle Single -Sterling
29. ompo-gb  Ornate Mini Pendant Oval-Gold
30. ompo-sb  Ornate Mini Pendant Oval-Silver
31. ompo-cb  Ornate Mini Pendant Oval-Copper
32. ompo-ssb  Ornate Mini Pendant Oval-Sterling
33. ompos-gb  Ornate Mini Pendant Oval Single-Gold
34. ompos-sb  Ornate Mini Pendant Oval Single -Silver
35. ompos-cb  Ornate Mini Pendant Oval Single -Copper
36. ompos-ssb  Ornate Mini Pendant Oval Single -Sterling
37. ompr-gb  Ornate Mini Pendant Rectangle-Gold
38. ompr-sb  Ornate Mini Pendant Rectangle -Silver
39. ompr-cb  Ornate Mini Pendant Rectangle -Copper
40. ompr-ssb  Ornate Mini Pendant Rectangle -Sterling
41. omprs-gb  Ornate Mini Pendant Rectangle Single-Gold
42. omprs-sb  Ornate Mini Pendant Rectangle Single -Silver
43. omprs-cb  Ornate Mini Pendant Rectangle Single -Copper
44. omprs-ssb  Ornate Mini Pendant Rectangle Single -Sterling
45. omps-gb  Ornate Mini Pendant Square-Gold
46. omps-sb  Ornate Mini Pendant Square -Silver
47. omps-cb  Ornate Mini Pendant Square -Copper
48. omps-ssb  Ornate Mini Pendant Square -Sterling
49. ompss-gb  Ornate Mini Pendant Square Single-Gold
50. ompss-sb  Ornate Mini Pendant Square Single -Silver
51. ompss-cb  Ornate Mini Pendant Square Single -Copper
52. ompss-ssb  Ornate Mini Pendant Square Single -Sterling

How do you win this great Nunn Design collection?

ONE  Leave a comment right here on this blog post.  

TWO  The winner also must have "LIKED" our Facebook page to be eligible. 

The winner will be randomly selected on 

Monday April 23 at 4pm EST.

To see all the posts I created featuring Nunn Design 

components see these links:

Nunn Design Ornate Brooch - Post One

Nunn Design Charms - Post Two

Nunn Design Double sided Tag - Post Three

Nunn Design Channel Beads - Post Four

The Nunn Design Blog is a wonderful source of inspiration too!