Thursday, January 27, 2011

Shiny Things -- in progress

I long ago determined that patience was not one of my strong points.  The hardest part of using the resin is WAITING for it to cure.  The minimum time, according to the tutorial I was using, is 48 hours but 72 is better.  I figured in humid Mississippi that I better go for the longer curing time.  So I patiently put my resin covered pieces in a plastic storage container with a lid -- to keep out the dust -- and played with other things.  I didn't even open the container until last night!  How's that for resisting temptation?

But I've got to say, the wait was worth it!  The pictures I have here don't begin to show the beautiful shine these pieces have. 

The square piece was made using a prefabricated bezel.  The mokume gane polymer clay stack -- made with a custom-mixed teal and blue plus silver and white -- makes a beautiful pattern that perfectly matches one of my blouses. 

Once I was happy with the design of the clay sheet, I measured and cut a piece to fit into the square of the bezel.  After brushing the inside of the bezel lightly with Genesis, I carefully placed the clay and smoothed it all the way to the edges. 

After the clay was cured and cooled, I added a fairly thick layer of resin and smoothed it out to the edges as well as I could.  I do see where I'm going to need to add another thin layer and smooth the edges better.  I see a few places where I did not get quite to the metal bezel. 

These pieces are ready to be added to earwires for earrings. You can see some of the shine here but you can't really see how well it domes and how nice and clear it is. No yellowing that I can see. I love these little jewelry findings. They are perfect for adding a small pop of color.



Overall I was pleased with my first try at applying resin to my polymer clay projects.  It is amazing the difference it gives a piece

1 comment:

Tina M. said...

Arlene,

Very nice designs. You might want to check out Lisa Pavelka's Magic Glos or Ultradome UV cure resin if you hate to wait. You can cure the items in about 1/2 hour of good sunlight, or about 3 minutes under a 36watt nail lamp. (the 36watt design allows you to slide the item right under rather than picking it up and then placing the item on top of a ridge in the 9watt lamp). Tina Holden did a comparison of the UV resins on her blog.