From Garage Sale Find to Fall Inspired Jewelry... AMAZING Inspiration from Maria Soto

Hi everyone, this is Maria sharing with you another project inspiration. I love to go garage sale shopping with my sister on Saturday mornings, not just to find some cools stuff but to get some much needed walking, you know having a 9 to 5 job where you get to sit for most of the day is not healthy... so hey, going to garage sales is not just fun but healthy – LOL!

Well I love to look for old, vintage jewelry that I can take apart later on and either use it to make new items or add to some mixed media projects. Well I found this nice necklace - it had pretty fall colors and I bought it. I have this thing about making jewelry, it not only needs to be pretty, but comfortable, this necklace was pretty heavy for me, I tried to wear it as is, but just couldn't enjoy wearing it- so I had to take it apart.

I took it all apart and make a set of jewelry, it had to include a ring, but sadly I did not have enough of the amber like stones so I decided to take out the Amazing Crafting Products and get started on making one more stone to make my RING, a must have for me.

Materials I used to make my stone:

• Amazing Mold Putty
• Amazing Clear Cast Resin
• Alumilite Dyes - Red and Orange
• Measuring cups
• Paper clip
• Metal ring base (Plaid)
• Re-purposed jewelry pieces

Take equal amounts of parts "A" and "B" of Amazing Mold Putty and mix until thoroughly com (follow directions on box or CLICK HERE to view) pressed the bead onto the putty and waited about 10 minutes for the putty to set, removed and my mold was ready for the Amazing Clear Cast Resin.

Second step – I took the Amazing Clear Cast Resin and poured equal amounts of parts "A" and "B" into separate measuring cups (included with resin). I added a drop of the Alumilite Orange Dye into part "A", mixed until I had a color similar to the stone next to the cup.

Third – I took a paper clip, opened it up as you see on the photo above, I took a little of the Alumilite Red Dye and placed it randomly onto the colored resin already poured into the mold. I did mix it a little too much, and I didn't like the way it looked with the tiny red spots of dye. Next time I will leave the spots alone. 

Now it's time to let the resin set! When I make rings this way I don't like adding glue to the resin piece and the ring base, I add the ring base to the resin piece when it's still a bit sticky and not fully set, I forgot to take a photo, but that's what I did. I don't mind using a strong glue, but I find this way is better, I know the ring will not come off and is water proof so it will be set for good.

 

Here is the "ring" all ready for the final additions;

wire and beads to be glued on top of the resin piece. 

Side view of the cured resin ring. 

Here is the finished ring, it now matches the earrings and bracelet I made from the old necklace I bought. Perfect colors for fall. 

Thank you for stopping by. If you would like to see the full set I created from my necklaces, stop over at my blog "What is Creativity" at http://chuy-creativity.blogspot.com.

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Amazing Clear Cast Resin Pendant

This month I used the Clear Cast Resin. It takes 24-48 hours to dry (depending on the weather) But the things you can do are so endless because it dries clear. That means you can use different items in it and they show through. I had to stop myself because my mind was going crazy. So what I did this month was a jewelry piece. I am a jewelry maker and I thought I would make a pendant from this awesome stuff. I made a mold from my Amazing Mold Putty with a plastic container for as big as I wanted my piece to be. I then chose scrapbook paper and tore it to size and set it aside as I mixed my resin. Once I had stirred my resin for 2 minutes or so (it has about a ten minute working time) I poured a bottom layer in my putty piece, then I placed my paper, added a bit of glitter and then finished off with the resin to the amount I wanted and thickness for the pendant.
I let it dry for a day and a half just to make sure it was dry and popped it right out. I was upset as it wasn't clear, so i asked my group "what did I do wrong?" They told me to paint a thin coat of the resin over it and it would clear up and sure enough it did! What a great tip! I let that dry overnight and then my pendant was finished! I wrapped it with some foil tape from the jewelry section and a bit of alcohol ink on the tape. I added a jump ring to the back with Sakura 3d laquer and let it dry. I put it on a chain with a few small keys and it is ready to wear.

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Making a Snowman Ornament - Part Two

Hello! Susan here again with the finishing of my Beach Snowman Ornament molded with Amazing Mold Putty then casted in Amazing Casting Resin. This is a custom ornament I am making for my Grandmother.

To see the first part of this project, please click here.

This is where I left off last week. Now it's time to decorate and embellish this cutey pie. Since I need to make twenty, I was trying out other media that will set up quickly and easy to embellish. I thought paper mache would be easy. Needless to say, I mixed up a batch of a paper maché product called Claycrete and pressed it into the mold. It is still wet in the mold after 7 days, so it looks like I'll be using the Amazing Casting Resin for mass production. I think it might just be simpler to make another snowman smaller and repeat the process, just in a smaller size. This guy is about 5" tall and required quite a lot of resin.

To share my painting experimentation: I went up to the vanity cabinet and rummaged through my collection of nail polish. This is a FREE source of wonderful pearly colors to paint shells with. So I emerged with four colors to color the shells with. It was a learning curve, as nail polish is enamel and can get goopy real quick. I had to remove some of the nail polish with nail polish remover and a paintbrush so that the detail wasn't lost. I was having fun & painting everywhere with the nail polish and found out later on, that craft sand is not opaque. So I had to go back and gesso over all of the nail polish on my snowman body. So NOTE TO SELF - only put nail polish or colored paint on areas to be accented.

Please see accompanying image number to go along with photo description.

Photo #1: Painting resin snowman shell details with nail polish. Photo #2: Details painted and black gems added for eyes in preparation for sand dusting. Photo #3: Mix of white craft sand and shimmery golden craft glitter in paper plate. Photo #4: Backtracking to fix problem. Paint over nail polish on body of snowman with white gesso since it shows through the sand/glitter mixture. Photo #5: I used a paintbrush to apply Sakura Crystal Lacquer to all white areas in an even coat, then dusted with sand/glitter mixture over paper plate. I repeated this process until entire snowman was covered. Photo #6: Close up of completed Beach Snowman...so adorable!

I finished off Mr. Beach with a piece of May Arts burlap ribbon.

I present you with a Perfect FLORIDA SNOWMAN!

Thanks for visiting. I encourage you to stroll around through the gallery of AMAZING projects from the other Amazing Mold Putty Design Team members!

If you have any questions, please leave a comment, select receive e-mail follow ups on comments and I will respond. If you would like to see more of my creations, please visit my blog sbartist : painting in the dark by clicking here. See you next time...Happy Crafting : )

Mold Making 101 with Amazing Mold Putty... by Niki Meiners

The past decade, I have become fascinated with making my own items. I crave the unique and not mass produced. I have taken carving classes, metalsmithing training, I became certified in using PMC, (precious metal clay), a surface design class and the list could go on and on. Creating my own items makes me so happy.

In one of my courses I made a turquoise focal bead. It took me absolutely forever to make the bead, shape it into a perfect lentil, and get it polished. In the end I am very proud of my bead. I also really liked the shape and wanted to make more of the shape.

That is when I decided to make my own mold of my piece. I am using a product called Amazing Mold Putty by the Alumilite Corporation. Below are step-by-step photos on how to make your own mold. It is really easy and really fun. I went through a container of it two years ago when I decided I wanted to make my own texture sheets for stamping and clay. Those pieces will come later.

Use two equally measured parts of "A" and "B"

Mix together.

Keep mixing until Amazing Mold Putty is one solid color.

Roll into a ball.

Press ball into a container and add object to be molded.

Remove mold from container.

Remove object from mold.

You now have a mold of the object and can recreate as many of them as you would like using all kinds of mediums. Part two of this project will show how to make a pendant using resin and Pinata Alcohol inks. You can also use these molds for clay or paperclay. They are oven safe and can also be used in making molds with food. Only use food items in the molds you intend to use in foods (so there is no cross contamination).

Thanks for checking this out. If you are interested in more of my crafts and to see what I made with this mold please visit me at http://www.365daysofcrafts.com 

TOODLES! ~ Niki