Krissyfied Makes: Resin Jewelry

I've already said this before but it's worth mentioning now: I am happiest when I make. Weaving words is still my favorite medium of self-expression, but no matter what I'm making – prose or poetry or crafts – I'm always in the zone when I'm making something out of nothing. I have an incessant need to start new hobbies and I've already lost count of how much money I've spent on workshops and materials. There was accessory-making, there was calligraphy, there was watercolor, there was gardening, there was yoga, and there was even a time I bought more than three dozen rubber stamps for stamp-making. Those three dozen rubber stamps now lie in a box somewhere in my room, unused and un-carved. 

I have a problem but I just can't stop. My current obsession: resin jewelry.

I've been reading up on it for a while now (check out this tutorial) but I haven't been able to get the chance to do it. When my boyfriend was at Deovir in SM Megamall the other day, I asked if he could kindly pretty please get the materials we need for casting resin and he gladly obliged. 

I was supposed to get the Castin' Craft EasyCast Clear Casting Epoxy and Castin' Craft mold from Amazon but it's a good thing we chanced upon them in one of our Deovir runs before. Note: Always check your local craft stores first because you never know what treasures you'll discover! We got the plastic measuring cup from Mercury Drug, while the glitters and colored sand are from National Bookstore.

Resin is very difficult to remove so make sure you have latex gloves on! We got ours from Mercury Drug for only P3.00 apiece.

Since it's our first time to try this, we got the smallest size of Castin' Craft EasyCast Clear Casting Epoxy. This costs P770 and already contains one bottle each of resin and hardener.

I never thought I would find someone who would tolerate and enable my need to start new hobbies and projects. I guess I really lucked out. ♥

I wasn't able to take photos of the complete procedure because I was too busy fawning over my boyfriend but I'm sharing some tips in case you also want to try doing this!

• The tutorial suggests laying wax paper over your work area but we didn't have any so we used old magazines instead.
• Make sure you use equal parts resin and hardener. We used 20mL each for this first batch.
• Don't mix too vigorously to prevent bubbles and air pockets, In case they do happen after pouring, you can use a blow dryer to smoothen them out.
• Pour a layer of resin first before you set up your fillers and findings. I overlooked this step in the tutorial, hehe. Thank god they still turned out okay.
• Work quickly or make sure you mix your resin thoroughly while waiting to pour it because it tends to dry fast. 
• Don't be stumped over fillers and findings! Because I was too excited, I left my metal wires and pressed flowers at home so we resorted to just the colored sand, glitters, and beads. Next time we do this I am bringing more stuff to put in the resin!
• Small mementos can be nice additions to your resin jewelry. The crystal we made before (another one of our experiments) didn't turn out that well so he cut some parts to put into the resin.
• Keep the mold in a safe place with a cover while curing to prevent dust or pet hair from being a permanent addition to your resin jewelry. Heh.

Here are the results of our first experimentation with casting resin:

Aren't they beautiful? For 20mL each of resin and hardener we were able to make nine pieces. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Since I forgot to bring my metal wires, we weren't able to make these into pendants (they're now too hard to poke holes for wires into) so we're making rings and magnets out of these. I am so excited to make more! I'll make sure to bring over my pressed flowers and pigments this time so we can make miniature garden and nebula miniverses! I would also love to make some with stamps and pretty paper. The possibilities are endless!

Have you tried making resin jewelry before? Any other hobbies you would like me to try? Sound off on the comments! (◡‿◡✿)