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. 

  

Making resin jewelry bracelets, Part 5

(Read part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 of the resin jewelry making process)

 The next part in the resin jewelry making process is for me to finish up the edges of each individual bracelet link.  After each piece has cured, I pop each one out of its mold.  (It takes at least 72 hours for it to completely cure.)  For the pieces that have a lot of extra resin, I can trim them with some heavy duty scissors.

To take the sharp edges off each piece, I have to sand it with several different grits of sandpaper.  I do this on a flat surface under water.  Why underwater?  As the friction generates heat, the "crumbs" will melt back onto the piece unless I do it underwater.  I sand the back and the edges with 3 different grits of sandpaper.






Check back for Monday's post where I finally drill the pieces and show everyone my new drill press.

New resin bracelets

I have found some great papers and vintage postcards and stationery that I'm working on getting into resin bracelets.  I am still in the prototype stage, but you can look at the samples and get an idea what I'm thinking.

Part of using these papers in resin bracelets is that they need to be covered with a sealant first.  On this batch, you can see the two closest to the front didn't get sealed very well.  (Although I thought I did.)  The dark purple "watermarks" in the papers are because the resin actually got the papers wet.  I've also had problems with some of the other vintage papers creating a look of Alka Seltzer in the resin if I don't get them sealed completely as well.

I'm excited these will be soo cute when I get them done.  Stay tuned while I work out the kinks.

Valentine's Day jewelry

I was in the grocery store on what was pretty much an ordinary day. I walked by the candy display and it came to me: those candy hearts would make great jewelry!

I went through the bag and picked out the best ones (unbroken, readable) and such. My kids only licked half of them (not kidding) so I had to get another bag.






After picking the best ones, I got my game plan together. I had to use a different resin this time for two reasons. One, the resin I was using last fall has to be done in a well ventilated, warm area. My studio isn't climate controlled and I couldn't bring it in my house. Secondly, I wanted something that was a bit more "stable" that would work with a food product. (Resin sometimes reacts with the pieces put in it and causes bubbles. You end up with something that looks like a glass of Alka Seltzer.)




So, after a couple of pours, voila! A cute little pendant with a candy conversation heart. The bail is sterling silver and is large enough for most small and medium sized chains to get through. I've got about 20 or so posted on the KMS Designs Facebook page for all to see. Anyone in the Gainesville, Florida area can purchase these at the Artisans Guild Gallery or Gifts of Avalon. Both of these businesses will be participating in the Uptown Art Hop this coming Friday night. If you see one you like, drop me an email or call me to place an order as it may be a few days before I can get them on the KMS Designs site.

Who knows what's next???