Crafting In Unchartered Territories

This week Sheila and I attempted a new crafting technique -- making pendants using Ice Resin.  You've seen those pretty necklace pendants made from a metal bezel and some kind of decorative element to fit into the bezel, covered with a clear glass-like top.  Well, guess what -- they're surprisingly easy and fun to make! 

Bezels with paper glued in, one without.

Sheila ordered the supplies online, but I know that you can at least get the bezels at craft stores.  The creative part comes in when you have to decide what to put inside your pendant.  I will admit that I didn't do much to contribute to this portion of the creativity.  Sheila printed some tiny designs which fit the bezels and then sealed them with Mod Podge.  From there we trimmed them to size, glued them in and then added whatever else we thought would be marvelous.  On hand were glitter, glass chips and beads. 

Sheila adds tiny glass chips.

Sheila's finishes

Finished pendants ready for drying.

Next came the mixing of the two-part resin.  Very easy, just requires accurate measuring and thorough mixing.  And even though we opened windows for good ventilation, there wasn't a strong chemical smell.  Putting the resin into the bezels was very easy.  We just drizzled it in with the wooden sticks provided in the kit.  And if you ever consider doing this, just remember that a little goes a LONG way!  It's also important to dry these as level as you can.  It takes three days to cure, so sometime this weekend our pendants will be ready to wear!

All in all, a very fun project.  We'll do more for sure because we have a lot of the resin left.  Even though the resin seems pricey at first, you'll soon see how many little pendants you can make with just these two little bottles.  Not bad at all.  And now that we know the process, we're thinking about what to use in them next time.