Ice Resin Jewelry Workshop

Yesterday my mom Linda, my friend Andreea and I attended a fabulous Ice Resin jewelry workshop taught by Deryn Mentock (Something Sublime).  It was a blast!  Here are a few of my creations:

And these were made by my mom, Linda Long:

Andreea was very creative and used some antique spoons for her bezels - I wish I had remembered to take photos when we were in the class, they were absolutely beautiful!

Below is one of my favorite pieces - I found a pair of big earrings for $0.50 at a garage sale and disassembled them.  My mom and I each used one half to create these necklace charms.  The background is some prepared ice resin paper that Deryn shared with the class.  The vintage pages become transparent when treated with ice resin - a very cool effect!  A tiny bit of glue around the edge of the paper seals it and prevents leaks, then the top is filled with more ice resin and allowed to cure for three days.  (It will set in 24 hrs, however you can still leave finger prints on it at that point - best to wait!)

We also learned a technique for filling open-backed bezels using a bit of clear packing tape to seal it from leaks.  Here is one I made with ice resin paper and watch parts:

Tip: a bottle cap makes an inexpensive bezel.  Besides small images pretreated with gel medium, Mom and I also added a few inclusions like watch springs, gold leaf flakes, and flower petals:

I finally got a chance to use my MRI images in a piece of art!  Here is my brain with the gears a-turning:

We also learned how to make ice resin paper for use in jewelry or journaling projects.  Today, Mom and I cleared off space on my big craft table, spread out garbage bags to protect the surface and got to work!  We had a variety of papers that we treated including maps, vintage paper from falling-apart old books, dictionary pages, foreign language text, sheet music and napkins.  Below is an in-progress napkin.  It should hopefully turn translucent as it cures.  (Vintage paper will also become transparent, but most modern paper is coated and will stay opaque.)

The class was a blast and I'd definitely recommend Deryn as an instructor!  If you have a moment, go check out Deryn's blog to see her great jewelry art pieces.  Best of all, she'll be back in October at the Bead Fountain in College Station to teach a class on "Bees and Butterflies" jewelry.  I can't wait!

For more information on Ice Resin, see: IceResin.com