Thursday, September 24, 2009

Super Helpful Resin Tutorials

Ok, this is not MY resin tutorial. Let's just make that clear right now. I may end up cobbling a tutorial together at some point, but my methods are so erratic that it would probably just be confusing!



But I wanted to share how I got started making resin jewelry, since I know a lot of people are curious. Let me just tell you, it takes a LOT of trial and error. After my first attempt, I was so discouraged at how ugly the pieces came out (and that it was practically impossible to pop them out of the mold) that I gave up for literally weeks!

I've been making resin jewelry for months, and I still have trouble with it sometimes! (Mostly because I get lazy and don't measure/mix properly, or I forget to blow the bubbles out, or I'm not careful about spills...) But it's really really fun and when you get that ONE piece that turns out freaking awesome, it's such a pleasure!



Anyway, I used a lot of online tips and tutorials (I still do!) to get started with resin. I'm going to share those tutorials with you in this post, because they really helped me out!

Also, before you start with resin, you need to make sure you have ALL the supplies you will need:

  • Resin - Get it at Michael's. Buy the small bottles first. No point in spending $30 on tons of resin until you know you really like it and want to continue with it.
  • Stir sticks - I got a pack of like, 500 or something popsicle sticks at Michael's in the kids crafts area.
  • Measuring cups - You can buy disposible measuring cups on Etsy, or you can use regular plastic drinking cups (measure out 1 oz. water into the cup, mark the line, measure out another 1 oz., pour it into the cup, and mark the second line.
  • Sandpaper - Resin is not perfect when it comes out of the molds. You'll have to finish it up a little.
  • Rubbing alcohol - For cleaning up spills. Which I don't have, so my craft table is covered in resin spills. Nice.
  • Glitter! - Get it at Michaels, or online. My fave is Art Glitter!
  • Stickers, beads, stones, other pretty things to embedd in the resin - Get them anywhere! I love using stickers, especially ones I find on Etsy that are imported from Japan :)
  • Molds - I got my first one at Michael's, but I haven't seen resin molds there since! I don't recommend candy molds... the resin refuses to come out. I buy molds from HappyMarriedArtists on Etsy. They have an awesome selection and ship like, next day!

Ok, so now that you have all your supplies, I highly recommend watching these videos on YouTube by John Golden. In the videos, he is not making resin jewelry in molds, but rather in little metal ring cups, but a lot of the process is the same. They're long videos, but watch them both, because there's tons of helpful information.






I also suggest checking out this little tutorial on Craftster by ISewCute. It's ten easy steps to making resin jewelry in molds. Very helpful and easy to understand!




For a teensy peek at all the resin jewelry I have ever, ever made, visit my resin crafts set on Flickr.

You can also check out my resin creations in my Etsy shop. :)

I hope my suggestions help you out on your adventures in making resin jewelry!



NEW INFO as of 10/18/09!
I just stumbled across this AWESOME resin pendant tutorial by Just K Jewellery and it's so good that I had to share it with you. It's in PDF form and is really detailed. She makes some freaking adorable little kitty cat pendants out of a silicone ice cube tray which I never thought of using!

I also recommend this tutorial for sale by Zombuki on Etsy. I haven't used it, but her resin jewelry is really amazing (I love looking at it) so I imagine she probably knows what she's talking about. :) You can read her blog post about it here.

Let me know if you try any of these methods and show me pictures for Pete's sake! :)

1 comment:

  1. I love resin, and I would love to learn how to do it when I'm more financially stable lol

    But I'm definitely bookmarking this post!

    Thank you for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete

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