Christmas in July Necklace

I have never taken a big interest in the whole "Christmas in July" concept before this year but with school being as hectic as it is and Christmas break being so brief I began to understand why making Christmas presents during the summer is really a great idea!

Before I get into the tutorial, I want to introduce you to a couple of my sponsors:

First up is Cats-Purrfect
She makes molds for resin. She sculpts the original pieces and casts the molds herself and sells them for a great price at her site! She has a lot of different molds available and she even has a YouTube channel display her molds!
You can get your own molds here: http://www.cats-purrfect.com/
And check out videos of them here: http://www.youtube.com/user/catspurrfect

She has graciously provided me with some molds to use including this wonderful Gingerbread Man!

Next on my list of sponsors is Aanraku Glass Studios
They have some wonderful pieces that work great with resin.
You can check their products out here: http://store.abasg.com/mm5/merchant.mvc

For this project I'm using their Large Silver Plated Pattern Bails. They come in a package of 10 with 2 each of 5 different patterns!

Another great thing about the large size is that they can slid over the necklace without using a jump ring!

I'm using EasyCast Resin, Cats-Purrfect Gingerbread Man Mold, Castin' Crafts Opaque Pigment in Red, Green, Black, Brown, Yellow, and Pearl, a Castin'Crafts Jewelry Mold, and some glitter!

I'm going to fill in the deepest areas of the mold first which are the face, bow tie, and buttons.
I'm using black, red, green, and some glitter- you could really use any colors here but I'm going traditional!

Spray both the Gingerbread Man Mold and Jewelry Mold with some Castin' Crafts Mold Release!Mix up a batch of EasyCast Resin!
*Here's a neat tip* Since I only need small amounts of each color and don't want to waste a bunch of cups, pour some resin into the small cavities of the jewelry mold and use them as mixing cups!

Mix the colors and glitter as desired directly in the jewelry mold cavities using toothpicks. Be carefully not to add too much dye because it can affect the resin hardening. When your left overs have set they should pop out just like normal leaving you with a clean mold and no wasted cups!

Use some toothpicks to carefully fill in the little gingerbread man's features and let these set for at least an hour or two before continuing.

Mix up another batch of EasyCast and color this one brown for his body. I used a mixture of Pearl, Brown, and a touch of Yellow to try and get a real "gingerbread" look.

Fill in the body with the brown. Try not to pour directly on the previous resin to avoid disrupting it!

Let the resin set for 24-72 hours to harden completely.

Look how cute he is!!

To turn this guy into a necklace I used a red necklace (from Hobby Lobby), some E-6000, and a Aanraku Bail (I'm using a design that reminds me of snowflakes!)

Apply some E-6000 to the bail...

Firmly press it to the back of the gingerbread man. Let this sit for 24 hours to get maximum adhesion.

Now we have an adorable necklace to spread some holiday cheer! Or to put away for stocking stuffers!

Glowing Jawbreaker Set

I was pondering the semi-opacity of the glow in the dark puff paint and got to thinking about jawbreakers. I did some jawbreaker fingernails a while back and thought this would be a neat way to transfer the concept to resin. As an added bonus they glow!

For supplies I used EasyCast Resin, Castin' Crafts Mold Release, the jewel mold, glow in the dark puff paint in natural color, and red, yellow, and blue glitter in hexagon and ultra fine.
*ETI suggests wearing gloves when working with resin for safety* Gloves also help keep your nails nice :)

I mixed up a batch of EasyCast resin and added a little of each type of glitter- remember jaw breakers are mainly off white with splotches of color. Then I added the glow paint to get the opaque color.

 

 

I sprayed the mold with Castin'Crafts Mold Release the I poured the resin mixture into the round jewel cavities to get the jaw breaker shape. Let this set for 24-72 hours to harden.

 

This is some resin "jawbreakers"glowing away.
I poured the left over resin mix into some tiny bottle caps which will be added to my scrap resin piece supply :)

To make these into a set of earrings I used some earrings with loops attached to the front, some small split rings, E-6000 adhesive, and jewelry pliers. You need 4 resin pieces for 2 earrings.

Apply E-6000 to the back of one resin pieces...

Press a split ring into the adhesive with half of the ring sticking over the edge of the resin to create a loop.

Take a second resin piece and sandwhich the split ring in between. Repeat this for the next earring and let dry for 24 hours to get maximun adhesion.

I attached a couple of split rings to the loop on the earring...

Then attach the resin "jaw breaker"!

For a ring, you'll need a ring blank and E-6000 adhesive.

Apply some E-6000 to the ring blank.

Press the resin piece onto the ring blank and let dry face down for 24 hours to get maximum adhesion.

I think these are too cute!!

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4th of July Glowing Pins

I found all these cute 4th of July embellishments on sale at Hobby Lobby and thought they would be so cute in resin! I made some pins to celebrate the 4th of July and tried out a new product to get some glowing effects!

The Glow in the Dark ability is provided by glowing powder pigment that is  a typical white-ish color in light but glows sky blue in the dark or under a black light (the specific one I used was purchased here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/GLOW-IN-THE-DARK-PAINT-PIGMENT-POWDER-COATING-mix-in-latex-varnish-plastic-etc-/120787352157)
These are some of the little embellishments I purchased!

Spray your mold with some mold release and Mix up a batch of EasyCast Resin. I poured some of the glow powder into the resin just like it was glitter and then gently but thoroughly mixed it in.
*ETI suggests wearing gloves when working with resin for safety* Gloves also help keep your nails nice :)

Pour into the mold but only about half way.



This is a mold from Yaley Enterprises.
They make resin and Deep Flex Resin Molds along with a variety of colorants.
Check out all the offer here: http://yaley.com/SitePages.asp?ID=46

Press the focal pieces face down into the mold cavity.

I added in some confetti stars...

Then some tinsel glitter in red, blue, and silver. I then finished filling up the mold cavities.

Then on the back I added some ultra fine glitter in red, white, and blue. Let these set for 24-72 hours to harden.

This is how they look under a black light...

This is them glowing- it's a great blue color!

It is so easy to turn them into pins with some blank pin backs and E-6000 adhesive.

Just add a dab of E-6000 to the pin back...

and firmly press to the back of the resin piece. Let the glue dry for 24 hours to get maximum adhesion.

Now I have some nice glow in the dark 4th of July party favors that will be able to rival the fireworks!

Glowing Flower Rings

I had previously used Scribbles brand to make some glowing resin and I wanted to be sure that Tulip brand 3 deminsional fabric paint worked too! It works just the same and offers additional colors!

I was super excited to find that Tulip has glow in the dark paints in purple and blue! These are all of the colors of glow in the dark deminsional fabric paint that I've been able to find so far- many of the colors are shared by both Scribbles and Tulip.

I also wanted to try out a new mold I got- it was with the polymer clay stuff at Hobby Lobby. It has several types of flowers and leaves.

Makins Clay molds work well with resin and jewelry clay!

Check out their products here: http://www.makinsclay.com/products/push_mold.php

 

Here's what I'm using... EasyCast Resin, Castin' Crafts Mold Release, Tulip glow in the dark puff paint, the mold, and some glitter.
*ETI suggests wearing gloves when working with resin for safety* Gloves also help keep your nails nice :)

Spray the mold with mold release and mix up a batch of EasyCast Resin. Seperate the resin into different cups for each color you're making.

I squeezed some puff paint into the resin and added some glitter. Stir well but gently to avoid bubbles.

Slowly pour the resin into the mold trying not to overflow the mold cavities.

Let these set for 24-72 hours until they harden.

The Tulip paint worked the same as the Scribbles! This mold worked well and the EasyCast Resin was able to capture all the details!

To make the flowers into rings we'll need some E-6000 adhesive and a ring blank. These would also make great pins!

Apply a dab of E-6000 to the ring's surface.

Press the ring onto the back of the flower and let dry for 24 hours for maximum adhesion.

Now it's a fun ring- would be great for a garden party!

And it glows!!