Hi everyone,
Nikki here today, it's been a while since I posted on the main blog, but we have lots of new stamps, and these in particular were perfect for me to make jewellery with, so I thought I'd show you how. I'm using the brand spanking new
Kibble Kits &
Kibble Pups, which match
Kevin's Gang (Cats) and
Duke's Gang (Dogs). You can leave them black and white, colour them all in, or colour just one cat or dog that takes your fancy and make it stand out. They are brilliant for card backgrounds and the single stamps are just adorable and so much fun.
I've also been using the new IndigoBlu
Diamond Resin, which is just AMAZING! It's a jeweller's grade 2 part epoxy resin, which is very simple to use. It's self levelling and self doming, and can be used on your artwork, paper, with jewellery, or to protect and preserve objects. It's also VERY good value!
So here's how it goes..
Take an image of your choice from the stamps, and cut it to fit your bezel. Colour in as you wish.
Coat the front, back, and sides with Slap It On. Make sure it's coated well, and dried well, before gluing into your bezel. You can use Slap It On for that as well. This protects the image, and stops the resin from seeping into the paper. This is useful for photo's and any image you don't want to go darker or see through.
I make up a lot at the same time, then leave them overnight to make sure they are dry, but an hour or so is usually fine. This stops the risk of any moisture getting into the mix.
Think about how much you will need for what you have made, it's best to make a few items and have them ready, before you mix your resin. Have a clean, flat, prepared area to work in, and something to cover your work to protect it from dust while it dries. I use the lid of a storage box usually. If you need to rest your bezels on something to lift them (the bail sometimes sticks out), I use an acrylic block or similar.
Take your Diamond Resin, and mix one part A to one part B, equal measures. Getting the right measure's is the most important part here, other than that it's easy peasy. Mix together for two minutes, stirring slowly, making sure you can't see any striations in the mix (it goes cloudy then clear, then you can tell if it's not mixed by lines you can see in it). Don't worry about little bubbles at this stage, they will go.
Once mixed, use your stirring stick to ease resin out of your mixing cup, I pick it up on the stick and use it that way, but you might prefer to pour from the cup. Just pour a little at a time. It's easier to add resin than to take it away. Ease it to the edges of your bezel, but don't force it. It will find it's way. Don't fill the bezel completely, it's easier to come back and do a second coat when it's dry enough, and the second coat will dome the piece.
Leave your piece under cover for at least 8 hours, I prefer to leave it overnight. It should be dry to touch overnight, and will be jeweller's grade rock hard in 72 hours. You can re-coat after about 8 hours when it's tacky dry if you can't wait to do your second layer, but I tend to wait for 24.
I made quite a few pendants, but here are some I liked because they were all differently done, some coloured completely, some with just a lone cat. And I loved the dogs all different colours, and 'bright cats' as I like to call it.
I hope you like them and it gives you some inspiration, I think they are great for so many applications, and I can't wait to do more! And if you've ever wanted to try resin, this is a great place to start.
Best Wishes,
Nikki K.
xx
