Then use a toothpick to pick up the hair and place it round the edge of the mould. Sometimes we cut the paper to make each end of the hair even. Pour a little resin on top and make sure it’s soaked in. To prepare the hair, take an even lock and place it on some shiny paper, like the type labels come on. I’ll write more blogs soon on settings and explain the differences between the three main style of setting resin rings, how to drill charm beads and pearls. Rings are a little less complicated because you can pour the resin into a ring cup, or make a cabochon (a “stone” with clients’ elements) and fit it into a ring with crown settings. Pearls are popular, they are spheres made with 10mm moulds but can be bigger or smaller, and need to be drilled and attached to pearl cups. They take a bit of practice and a special mould and knowledge of filing, doming and attaching hardware called inserts, also known as grommets and washers. Our best selling items are our charm beads. I tried Metanium but it made my work marked and I managed to get some on my silverwork which gave it a nasty coating of dull titanium! Then I double up on nitrile gloves and pop on a face mask. Then I know if I’m struggling and have to take off my gloves, my skin’s got some protection. I like to wear a thick coating of a barrier spray like the 3M Cavilon or No More Gloves. Wear proper PPE (personal protective equipment). Even for yourself, you need to take care.Ģ. I’ve heard of people not only having reactions from contact with resin (like me) but having trouble breathing. Even if a resin has low fume it can still cause a reaction. Make sure you’re not working around kids and pets. an ideal amount of hair to work with an ideal amount of fur to work with Safety Making Lock of Hair Jewelleryġ. To prepare a lock of hair piece I get together what I need so it’s all within reach and make sure I’ve got my protective things on. If your resin is too thick it gets sticky and the hair won’t move around. So long as you keep it away from the gel lamp and the sunshine it will stay liquid and thin enough to work. With UV resin it’s easier to keep the resin from getting too thick (which happens with epoxy during its pot life). My hack for the gel lamp is to remove the plastic insert and place the lamp on a sheet of aluminum foil! We want the maximum amount of light to hit the jewellery to cure the resin and you work in layers. You’ll also need a cheap gel lamp like this. The little bottles are great to pour directly in your moulds. My trick is to buy a 60g bottle and a 200g bottle to refill it with. We mostly use UV resin like the our UV resin here, you can also use the Lisa Pavelka brand but it’s more expensive and you can’t get the big bottles. It would be perfect for doing big batches of flower jewellery, such as rose bud pearls. Usually you get epoxy resin in two bottles, part A and part B, which you have to mix perfectly in exact ratios and can take several days to cure. Sadly EcoResin is a no-go and I nearly lost my business due to dozens of pieces going yellow. Lots of people ask me what brand to buy but I always found the unbranded rigid casting epoxy like this one to be best. If you’re making a lot of resin jewellery in big batches then it’s cost-effective to use epoxy resin. You can see my blog and video for making a lock of hair charm bead here! There are supplies lists for the UK here, USA, Australia, Canada, other EU countries (coming soon) and non-EU countries (coming soon). The first pieces I made were charms with my children’s hair and I used trial and error to teach myself. I could see what other people had done but in my head there were things I wanted to do. It was a bit of a challenge and there was nothing I could find online. Jewellery made with hair is one of the first types of keepsake pieces I started to make.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |