I'm sure you already know that there are many ways to use epoxy resin or polyester resin in your jewelry. Besides being an amazing adherent, especially when you are trying to "glue" two different materials together, resin also makes great cabochons, creates a hard shiny finish, pours right into jewelry molds, and stiffens paper and makes it translucent.
I was experimenting with this last property recently, and I thought I'd share a few tips with you to help you in your own experiments. I mostly use epoxy resin rather than polyester, so whenever I refer to resin, that's what I was using. Your results may vary from mine if you try polyester resin instead.
1. When you are applying resin to paper, use a non-stick mat under it and work with small areas of paper at a time. I spread resin all over a large sheet of paper towel, and it was difficult to achieve a thin even application.
2. Speaking of thin and even...there's nothing wrong with applying the resin thickly to the paper, but if you do it will be harder to cut and very difficult to sew through when it dries.
3. I love the texture of paper towels, and thought I'd use some that I'd previously used to blot up acrylic paint (recycling, right?). The problem was that when it dried, the towel looked like cheap plastic, as you can see in my picture above. Well, duh...resin is a form of plastic, after all, so why should I be surprised? Disappointed, but not surprised.
4. You can sew pretty close to the edges of a cut resin shape, but remember the warning in #2 above. I didn't have any trouble with the paper splitting, which I'd actually expected to happen. My thought is that next time, I'll probably use paper that has an abstract image or text on it instead of paper towel. I don't think I'll end up using these shapes for anything, even though I had originally planned to. I just don't like the plastic look.
Some previous tutorials using resin:
How to make time
Bottle cap pins
Cabochon for bracelet
Sublime Spring
Polymer clay frame pendant
Copyright 2010 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.
Technorati Tags:handmade beaded jewelry,wearable art,beads,jewelry,necklace,mixed media,beading
by Alice Korach and Toshi Myoda
by Dana Meachen Rau
by Peggy Krzyzewski and Christine Hansen 
by Lisa Niven Kelly
