This video was made as a guide for our Brilliant Resin Starter Kit, and teaches the most popular resin jewelry techniques: CASTING in Molds, DOMING on photos and stickers, and working in metal BEZELS. Also shows how our PHOTO CROPPING SOFTWARE works, and teaches several JEWELRY MAKING methods.
This kit includes all you'll need, but you can use open stock materials too and embed anything you'd like. Here are the techniques featured in this tutorial and some of the projects we made:
Black paper (better quality than construction paper so it doesn't bleed)
Stickers - holographic drips and white ghosties (I found mine on etsy)
Scissors
Paper towels
Start by cutting strips of paper to fit your molds. Decorate with stickers, rub down firmly.
Cut to correct length and tape ends together. Dry fit in mold to check size.
Pour resin, then insert strip, watch for bubbles, then fill to top of mold. Allow to set, dome edge with resin if needed.
Cut strip to whatever width you want, wrap around wrist to determine fit. Leave 1" minimum gap between ends.
Decorate with stickers and rub down firmly. Punch holes at ends if you plan to put ribbon or elastic through. Place on Doming Tray, dome and allow to set for 12-14 hours.
Timing is important for this technique as you'll need to bend your resin strip while it's still soft enough to bend easily, without fingerprinting. Wrap around something that approximates the size of your wrist, I used a couple of mixing cups taped together with some paper towel between to keep them straight. Use clear packing tape to hold this in place while the resin fully cures - at least 1 more day.
Add ribbon/elastic if you want.
Also, our White Resin Colorant won't yellow with baking, so it's great for making eyes and other designs that require bright white shapes.
You can also use Resin Color Film as a background with your polymer clay creations, like Veronica did in this piece. Cast in our Oval Double-Sided Mold:
The example above and below are from a collaboration with Mags Bonham of Really Unique Creations and show how you can dome thin or thick layers of Brilliant Resin over your baked polymer clay pieces for a great shiny finish.
You can also Sculpt around your cast Brilliant Resin cast pieces you've already made, and bake them with your clay. Just don't exceed polymer clay time and temperature recommendations.
Here's another example of doll eyes made by Kendra at VirgosAlchemy.com, which Phyllis of PGM Sculpting worked with to create the lifelike gaze of this beautiful mermaid doll.
For these projects you'll need:
Alcohol Inks - any colors + white CLICK HERE for recommendations
Sharp scissors
Clear Packing Tape (optional)
Whatever ribbon, chains, or other findings you want to finish your projects.
This shows the fronts and backs of these pretty ornaments:
.
For these projects you'll need:
Alcohol Inks - any colors + white CLICK HERE for recommendations
Sharp scissors, straight pin and/or toothpick
Paper towels
Clear Packing Tape (optional)
Whatever pins, jumprings, keychains, chains, or other findings you want to finish your projects.
Same supplies as above, used in different ways to create amazing and dramatic color effects in resin. Try with our without photos for unique, dimensional resin castings!
Same materials as above :)
There's lots of fun to be had by incorporating alcohol inks into Brilliant Resin, here are a few techniques you can try, CLICK HERE for alcohol ink recommendations:
You can add color between layers of resin for beautiful organic looks, or to add dimension. Inks can be painted on, or dripped and blotted.
Step 1 - Cast clear layer of Brilliant Resin in any mold and allow to set up.
Step 2 - Place a monogram sticker on the resin, rub it down well, then drip, daub, or paint inks over it. Allow to dry, then remove the sticker.
Step 3 - Add a layer of clear Brilliant Resin to seal it in.
Here's one on a white cast resin piece, outlined in silver ink:
This is a fun way to create gorgeous glass-like looks. In the image above I dripped inks on a sheet of Clear Photo Film, which holds the inks very well, and then blew through a straw to splat them out.
Here's what you'll need...
Use the guide that comes with these molds to size your strips.
For these bangles and sun catchers, attach a sheet of Clear Photo Film to a stiff board (cardboard, a clipboard, or other white surface), prop it up at an angle and squeeze your inks at the top of the sheet, allowing them to run down. For distinct colors let each one dry before adding the next color. You can tip the sheet different ways to get all kinds of rivulet patterns, and try dripping pure alcohol in spots to create more intricate looks. CLICK HERE for alcohol ink recommendations. Have fun experimenting!
As anyone who has tried this technique knows, it's trial and error until you figure out how to get the look you want. Our friend Myriam of Myriam's Nature has tons of well done video tutorials that can save you time and money, and give you great new ideas.
Here are some resin eyes I made using our Silicone Cabochons Mold, Brilliant Resin, White Resin Colorant, alcohol inks, and a black nail polish pen:
This is done in a similar way to the glitter eyes in this how-to video.
You can also paint or blot alcohol inks onto our Special Photo Papers for selective color or design. While the inks stay put nicely even with layering resin, some colors of alcohol inks shift in resin, and some fade faster than others.
LOTS OF TUTORIALS HERE!! All of these projects were made with our Double-Sided Molds These are well-priced, made from high-quality, shiny silicone. They have a deeper version of our original Large Geometric Mold shapes in the top, and a matching-shaped bangle mold in the bottom.
Here's the latest tutorial, focused on Photo Bangle Bracelets, have fun!
Each mold comes with a cropping template, clear dust covers, a thorough Maker's Guide, and wet-dry sandpaper to get rid of any sharp edges or bumps.
So much fun, and so versatile! You can cast from 1/8" thick up to 3/4" thick for a variety of looks. Single pour or lots of layers for dimension.
Brilliant Resin (includes mixing cups and mixing wands)
Special Photo Paper / Resin Color Film / Dichro-ISH Films
And whatever else you'd like to add to your creations.
On our Amazon Recommendations Page you'll find the things we love but don't sell, like alcohol inks, curved scissors, great printers, and more fun stuff.
I used spooky stickers but you can use any designs you like for year-round happy!
There are so many ways to make your own buttons using Brilliant Molds or a Silicone Doming Tray. Insert button shanks into setting resin or drill any hole size once your resin has set up.
Tutorials for each of these projects are in the following videos:
Silicone Cabochons Mold Tutorial
and tutorials for the basic techniques of Casting, Doming, Layering, and Embedding just about anything are FREE in our F.A.Q.'s section.
Brilliant Resin (includes Mixing Cups and Mixing Wands)
Black and White Resin Colorant
and findings for the projects you make
Watch this tutorial for loads of ideas featuring Hollywood's cutest couple! Make your own using any photos or graphics.
Here are some of the projects featured in this tutorial, along with some shots of our process:
Here are the materials you'll need:
For these layered projects you'll need duplicate prints of each image. They can be sized using our Photo Cropping Software for smaller pieces, and using Photoshop, Microsoft Word, or GoogleDocs for the larger images. Click here for a how-to guide.
After printing on Special Photo Paper, punch or cut our your shapes with scissors.
This project can be made in 2 or 3 steps. First cast the bottom layer with a touch of glitter. Next either pour another layer and add the cut-out graphics, allow to cure then pop out and dome up, or just pop out after the first layer and add the top graphics in the Doming-Up step.
This project will be a nightlight, turning into a silhouette after dark.
Print your images onto Special Photo Paper and Clear Photo Film. Cut the full image in the back, and whatever silhouette you want for the front layer.
You will need to dome up both sides of the Clear Photo Film, you can dome either one or both sides of the silhouette image, do both if you want durability and more dimension.
Again, you can have a solid or clear background on these pieces, but you'll need to prints for each.
Cast the bottom layer, working face-up in the mold, and allow to set.
Pop out and Dome Up the top layer, as shown in the video.
These ones can be embellished with crystals, charms, wire, or any other doo dads. They can be made into charms, stickers, magnets, pins, or decorations, I added a magnet bar to the back of mine.
Here are some of the actual projects made during this video, although they are much more impressive, colorful and shiny in person :)
This pin was made by combining one of our cast pieces with one of the domed pieces:
CLICK HERE for tips on turning your resin creations into jewelry, buttons, drawer pulls and more.
And more from our previous post...
Here's another idea - use clear resin to Dome Up for buttons, rings, and hair bobbles like these:
Here's what Stephanie in Pensacola, FL has been making with Dichro-ISH, glitter and sequins, so cool!
This is an awesome technique you can try using Brilliant Resin domed on our Dichro-ISH and Texture Films, or on our Resin Color Films:
And now you can make bigger ones with our Dichro-ISH Films JUMBO Pack!
The workbench, mid-video!
You can make beautiful pieces as gifts or decorations
And if you like this technique, be sure to check out Julia Roger's twisted earrings using strips of Resin Color Film!