Recently I stumbled across this hot pink wire. I call it "bezel wire" because it is much flatter and wider compared to other wires you normally use. True jewelers use bezel wire to create actual bezels. They work with flat wire that is fashioned from many sorts of metals including very expensive golds and silvers.
I shaped my wire into several pleasing shapes and then pressed it into double-sided tape. This tape is usually called "red-line." It is very strong, very sticky and as mentioned, it has adhesive on both sides.
When I want to contain resin in flat wire I always do a first pour of Jewelry Resin that just covers the bottom of my shape.
This resin layer will cure solid and then I will be working on the surface of the resin instead of the sticky tape.
My shape will also be more secure now too.
TIP: When you pour thin layers of resin you have to make sure you pop any bubbles that cling to the sides of the wire.
When the first resin pour is cured the fun begins. I pulled out some old books to look for some interesting imagery.
I found this gorgeous painting of Queen Elizabeth and tested to see if it might fit in the heart shape.
After cutting out the paper image I sealed it with several layers of a decoupage medium in the bezel wire shape.
(I have lots of blog posts explain sealing paper.)
My second shape I added vintage text paper too.
I have some very old dried edelweiss that I have been wanted to place in resin.
My second bezel is now filled with dried flowers and a bunch of other inclusions. I have gone out of my way to seal the dried flowers so they will not darken too much when I pour in resin.
Here are my pieces with a second pour of Jewelry Resin. Will so many inclusions I need to babysit this pour for bubbles. Bubbles can be trapped by so many inclusions so I will make sure to pop anything I see.
Tomorrow I will show you what I do next!
The first time I saw bezel wire being used in a resin craft project was in this book by Kathie Murphy. Her book was originally printed in 2002 and I have a well thumbed copy. Luckily it has been reprinted several times. Her book focused on polyester resin which I do not use very often. It was her photos and designer submissions that encouraged me to learn more about resin.
Here is the featured pendant I loved by Robert Johnstone.
Created in 1995 it still inspires me!
Labels: Bezels and Other Components, Envirotex Jewelry Resin, Open Back Bezel, Tips
