Guest Blogger ~ Just K Jewellery

Those of you who know my work will be aware that I often embed sweets in resin but I’d also scrounged some fragments of material from my mum – she makes patchwork quilts and the materials she uses are ideal to use with resin as they have small patterns.
I mixed a batch of resin and half filled a selection of different shape moulds. As I’d already cut the material to shape I knew it was the right size so I floated the material on the resin and gently pressed it down until it was submerged.




I was going to use a polo mint in the rectangular shape so I let this resin cure until almost hard. I do this to avoid getting air bubbles under the sweet.

I added some more clear resin to just cover the polo mint, let it partly cure and then sprinkled some crushed glass and silver glitter onto the resin and left it to cure fully under lights. The lights help to speed up the curing process.



The next stage is to add the second layer of resin. I mixed a batch of resin and put a small amount into another mixing cup. I added some metallic claret coloured pigment powder, mixed well and then poured it into the mould. I didn’t have enough for the second mould so I added some more clear resin to the mixing cup and this time some red glass paint. I mixed well and poured into the mould.






For the last pieces I stirred some metallic blue pigment powder into the resin and poured into the moulds. This time there was some blue resin left over so I added more clear resin to the mixture and a couple of drops of black glass paint. Again I mixed well and poured into the polo mint mould.
Once the resin had cured fully I was able to de-mould them. I like to leave them under the light for a few more hours before handing them. There are always some rough edges on the back which I rub down with wet and dry paper.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with these pieces yet. I might make the blue floral squares into rings by gluing them to flat pad ring shanks. The red floral batons will probably become necklaces so I’ll drill a hole into the top with a pin vice and then glue in a top pin.
If the polo mint becomes a key ring I’ll drill a hole all the way through the top of the piece and use a large jump ring or triangular clamp to attach it to a key ring blank. I like the effect of the glitter sparkling against the midnight blue resin, makes me think of stars in the night sky, this one might yet end up as a pendant.....

Karen Rickard

http://justkjewellery.blogspot.com