New resin jewelry

Exciting news!

I have a new line of silver tone resin jewelry!  This has been in the making since January (with a couple of hiccups along the way), but they are looking sooooooooooo good!  So here are the details:

These pieces are like what I've been making, with a few exceptions:

• They are made of pewter
• No open backs
• Sterling silver filled ear wires (Read about sterling silver filled wire)

They still have yummy colors and a soft, satin finish.

Here's a few random pictures:

These are a tray of mostly earrings.  There are earring singles (round or square) or earrings doubles (double circles or square/circle).











A closeup of a couple of the pewter pendants before they are filled with colored resin.

Why make resin jewelry out of pewter?  There are actually a few reasons for this:

Sterling silver prices are obnoxious.  (Get precious metals quotes at kitco.com.)  I have created these new resin jewelry pendants and earrings to have the same artistic look as my sterling silver resin jewelry, but I can do it for about a third of the price.  The other neat thing about pewter is that it is an alloy of tin and copper.  (Sometimes it includes lead, but my jewelry does not.)  It's not going to tarnish like sterling silver does.  I love the silver pieces but with the price of silver now and the economy still on uncertain ground, my retail and wholesale customers have been asking about alternatives.  I still have some sterling silver and resin jewelry pieces and will be happy to do the new designs in sterling silver by special order.



 
A group of the new pewter pieces lined up and ready.













Normally, I only do one color pour a day, but since I need to get samples ready to go to ACRE Las Vegas next week, I've been doing two pours a day:  one in the morning and one in the evening.  Here, I've done an orange and a purple color pour.










These are the same orange and purple colors in earrings.











After I get done pouring a batch, I have to let it cure for 24 hours before I can do another pour (at least in the same piece).  To keep the dust off of the resin jewelry pendants and earrings, I cover them with plastic containers.








Ah, they're starting to come to life!  This is after a couple of days.  At this point, I've also done a green, pink, and yellow pour.  Notice the resin cups and dirty paper towel at the top of the picture?  I'm getting the resin all over my kitchen countertops.  It almost looks like a birthday cake has exploded.









Another closeup of the future earrings with resin.  There are a few mistakes to sand off once they're cured.











More colorful resin pendants.














This picture is the reason why I only do one color then let it cure for 24 hours before pouring the next one.  The orange was poured on Tuesday.  The turquoise was poured on Thursday.  The dark blue was poured today (Friday).  Some of the dark blue spilled onto the orange.  The orange was completely cured (hardened) so I just had to wipe off the dark blue.  If I poured all the colors on the same day, the dark blue would have mixed into the orange if it had still been wet and the piece would have been ICK.






This picture was after today's pour.  You can see that in addition to the previous colors, there are some reds, pinks, turquoise and yellow/green.

Don't they look good enough to eat???  I will try to have some finished pictures up next week. 

  

Tips for using resin to make jewelry

I've had a few followers email me with questions about my experiences with using resin in jewelry making. I thought I would share a few tips and what I've learned from my mistakes with readers.

Picture credit: "Pink and green epoxy resin, sterling silver french wire earrings"

1. Everything you are using must be completely dry. If you're using a setting that you have made yourself, make sure it is "bone dry" before putting the resin in it. Resin does not like additional moisture and even the slightest amount of water in the corners of your piece may keep the resin from setting properly. If my sterling silver setting has just come out of the pickle pot, I will put a heat gun on it for a few seconds to evaporate any water before pouring.
2. Follow the mixing directions exactly. This may seem like "duh", but I'm also the type that just kind of shakes off the excess flour in the measuring cup when I'm making a recipe. In order for it to cure properly, things must be exact. (And by the way, every resin is different in it's mixing instructions. I always reread the directions every time I mix a resin.)
3. Measure the resin and catalyst in two separate cups before mixing. I know cups get expensive, but that way if you overpour one, you can put some back without messing up your ratios.
   
4. Have everything ready to go before you mix and pour. Resins have what's called a "pot" time. This is the amount of time that the resin is fluid and you can work with it. The polyester resin I use has about an 8 minute pot time. I don't have any time to waste! I have my molds and inclusions (usually glass pieces) ready to go so that my resin doesn't set up in the mixing cup before it gets poured.
5. If something goes wrong, call technical support of the company that made it. They know a lot about their product! I have done this for a couple of the resins I work with. Sometimes it was my fault, sometimes it was the Florida humidity. I would also suggest being "boy scout honest" with these people. If you're using a pigments and inclusions, let them know. They certainly can't give you the best pointers without knowing all the information.
6. Plan on experimenting, then abusing the pieces before selling. I will experiment with different pigments, colors, inks, inclusions, found objects, etc., then let the "elements" take over. I leave them in the sun, close to heat, etc. I want to know that even though the piece looks good when it pops out of the mold, I want to make sure it doesn't get icky later. (Remember that resin doesn't like water? Some of the pigments I put it can attract water. I want to make sure the piece doesn't go haywire in a couple of weeks or so.)

Those are my basic tips. I know there are some discussion boards out there too with people's comments. Happy jewelry making!

Picture credit: "Gotcha candy heart, epoxy resin pendant"