My first resin rings

I found a pair of "old" resin rings I've made some time ago. Some of my first tests using epoxy resin and "resin powder", actually. Which would explain the sloppy work -- don't check for resin drops on the outside of the bezels...

Anyway, this first one is a simple ring where I cut out a rose from one of my favourite scrapbook papers. I had -- and have -- no special epoxy resin so I just used the common epoxy glue you can find in the hardware store. Non-yellowing according to the manufacturer. Looking carefully you can see some tiny air bubbles as I didn't know how to get rid of them.


I do prefer epoxy resins especially made for jewellery making, not least since those doesn't begin to cure as fast as epoxies intended as adhesives. But when you want to try something new you make due with what you have. Which was the thought behind the ring below as well.

This ring is made from japanese paper and UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamels). I wanted to try this as I'd just read about JudiKins' Amazing Glaze and thought it'd be fun to try. But I couldn't buy it at the time so what to do? Well, some time ago I'd bought some UTEE as I wanted to make some cool paper beads I'd found instructions for. That didn't happen as I don't own a heat gun, but I had read that you could melt UTEE in a melting pot -- so surely you could melt it in the oven too, as you would with Amazing Glaze?

Melting Amazing Glaze in the oven was fun, but I fear I'm not as steady on hand as I should in order to work with powders like this -- more than once I dropped my rings and bezels on the floor before I even got them into the oven. This ring I dropped directly when taking it from the oven and before the plastic powder had had time to harden...

As you can see in the close-up above the resin also "leaked" through the paper, but that is not as obvious when looking at the ring IRL.



Nowadays I've found another favourite that doesn't require mixing as epoxy does or handling powders and work with multiple "firings" as UTEE does: Gel du Soleil 1-part UV-curing epoxy resin. For some things I can't use it, but for resin bezels like the ones above I love it!

(There's also another brand of UV-curing resin: Lisa Pavelka's Magic Glos, which I haven't tried.)