Putting the Gloss into Resin

I've been bitten by the resin bug this week. In particular, the marbling bug. When I'm marbling, I look for a mould with a large surface to show off the marbling at its best and I didn't have to look any further than my big chunky wedge ring with the lovely flat top - it was an obvious choice! But you can't just wear your ring straight after you've cast it. There's work to be done.... like trimming it to shape with a sharp knife. And then sanding it to a smooth finish.... always with water to catch the fine resin dust. A well trimmed ring won't need much sanding but there will still be resin powder in suspension so you have to keep rinsing off the white paste to prevent it from scratching the surface as you continue to sand. And you need to rinse off the sandpaper frequently too so the paper doesn't clog up. When it starts to look like this with the grit flaking off, it's time for a new piece of sandpaper. And the final step is the ......

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Woven Leather Ring

In my last post, I shared with you that I'm officially writing a book and consequently I have been super busy making the projects and playing with all sorts of different ideas and techniques to bring you the very best leather jewellery designs that I can. Not every project will make it into the book, not because it isn't good but maybe because it doesn't fit with the style of the other projects or maybe because it's a bit simple.  This one fits into that category but I wanted to share with you how easy it is to make.   This ring is a very small fit because of the bulk of the lace. For a larger ring, create your coil by wrapping 20 gauge wire around a tube which is approximately 6mm (1/4") larger than the size you want the finished ring to be. You will also need to increase the length of lace you are working with. Here's what you'll need for this project: Ring size memory wire (for a larger ring, see note above) Memory wire shears Realeather ......

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What is that Finding?

On my recent visit to Michaels, I found some rather unusual looking ring settings in the jewellery section. These adjustable rings from Cousin Corp have what looks like a stirrup on the top but it's actually a bail with prongs; just the perfect size to hold a Trinkette bead. But it was actually some Crystazzi bling that caught my eye and a quick and easy project was born. This project is so quick that you will go from this...... ........ to this, in not much more than 10 minutes! This ring finding is really easy to use. Just place your selected bead inside the bail so the bead hole and prongs are aligned and then pinch the bail together. To bling up the ring base, glue on some coordinating Crystazzi flatback crystals. Make sure you use a suitable crystal adhesive to attach the individual crystals up the arms of the ring Use tweezers to help you place the crystals. I stopped at two columns of 4 crystals so that it would still be comfortable to wear on yo......

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When a Ring Needs Some Bling

Sometimes things don't turn out quite the way I envisioned them when I'm working in the studio. Take this flat resin ring. I cast it during a workshop on the weekend and was really pleased that the outer surfaces were bubble free. The mould has a matt finish but I really wanted a shiny ring so after trimming and sanding it, I moved on to buffing it to a high gloss. And that's where it went wrong. It turns out that the fine sanding I had done removed a very thin outer layer of resin and exposed  numerous minute bubbles on the surface that I didn't see until the polish got into them. Grrr!   Polishing the resin to a high gloss is the last step in the process of making the ring and it takes a fair bit of time and elbow grease to get it to that point. So having come this far, I decided to disguise the worst of the bubbles by strategically placing some Swarovski chatons over the worst of them. So follow my progress below to see how it turned out. Drilling holes ......

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Bangles and Rings Galore - A fun session in the studio!

What a fun day in the studio yesterday! I was joined by one of my very enthusiastic past resin students who brought along a friend for a day in the studio casting bangles and rings. She just can't get enough of working with resin!  Their mission for the day was to create as many OOAK resin bangles and rings as they could. And they came prepared..... moulds, resin, objects to embed.... these girls were on a mission, and they knew exactly what they wanted to achieve. Here's just a small sampling of what we created during their session. Bangles and Rings Galore We embedded feathers, coffee beans and chilies. We also marbled, swirled and coloured. And we glittered and sprinkled too. By the end of our marathon we had cast more than 35 bangles, rings and jewellery pieces between us! So if you've done one of my Bangle and Ring workshops before and you'd like to get really productive like these two ladies, why not join me in one of my personalised studio for......

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My Work Desk Today

Hmmmm...... It seems I have one or two resin bangles and rings to finish! Now that I have a Dremel in my studio, you might be thinking that sanding resin would be an absolute breeze. And it would be if resin didn't produce such fine dust - dust that is not at all good for your lungs. So that means lots and lots of hand sanding..... with wet and dry sandpaper...... and a good dose of elbow grease! It's a good thing that I find this process very therapeutic or with so many pieces to finish, it would be a real chore. So despite the temptation to try out the Dremel on resin, I will be hand finishing all of these pieces. Now let's see how many I get through today. 'Til next time..... If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration,  click here to find my books and printable pdfs ...

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CHA Make and takes

Summer CHA is over and I'm back on deck again... well almost. So until I settle back into routine I thought I'll share a couple of cool make and takes I did at CHA. This first one is just so stunning and yet unbelievably simple: it's a way cool ring made using coordinated buttons from Blumenthal Lansing . These are from their new line called Coordinates and they come carded so all you need do is select your look and stack the buttons together. Add a few beads and your done. It's all tied together with plastic beading thread and then hot-glued onto a ring base. I think the hardest part of making this ring was selecting one of the fantastic button cards. Coordinates are not up on their website yet but if you're interested in this one, it's called Starburst. Look out for another make and take later in the week. Bye for now, If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration,  click here to find my books and printabl......

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Buttons Galore!

Have you ever run your hands through a big box of buttons? It's a really lovely feeling having all those smooth buttons running over your fingers. For me it brings back memories of my childhood. You see, my Mum was a great sewer and she had an extensive collection of buttons that she kept in old biscuit tins. Most of them were rescued from garments which had seen better days and many of them still had the thread attached to the back of them. Sometimes there was even a little tuft of fabric attached as well which identified the garment it was from. It was a pleasant way to spend a half hour rummaging through the tins, sorting the buttons into their colours, shapes and sizes. Ah.... the simple things in life! Recently I had the chance to play with a large stash of buttons courtesy of the fine folks at Blumenthal Lansing . No stray bits of thread or fabric attached to these buttons but as I emptied them out onto my bead mat, I couldn't resist scooping them up and letting those s......

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Rings on her Fingers

If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll know that I recently moved into a brand new house. It's all shiny and new and still has that new house smell. But it didn't come with a driveway or paths around the house so all I want for Christmas..... is concrete! Yes, concrete. You see, we have red soil on our property and by red, I mean sticky, heavy, muddy red clay. The kind you sink into when it gets wet.... And it's summer in Queensland (aka the wet season) and this past week has brought a LOT of rain. So concrete would be a great gift. We've been waiting for the concretor since early November. He's a busy man and that is a good thing but oh my, I'm so sick of the mud and the shoe store that has developed at the front door. But thankfully, in between the passing storms, the concretors have been able to set up their form work and pour firstly the paths around the house and then the driveway. Yaaay! I got exactly what was on my wish list. But whilst......

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