Botanical Resin Jewelry

Hello Everybody,

During lockdown, i was exploring new ideas, hobby and activities, it when i fall in love with resin. I have posted an instructable in which i would have explained the basics of Resin art. Now after lot of trail and error somehow i jumped from beginner to Intermediate level. For while now i had my eyes on making resin jewelry especially Botanical collection. In this instructable, you'll be seeing jewelry making from beginner level to intermediate level.

Step 1: Supplies

1) Resin

2) Hardener

3) Earring & Pendant Silicone mold

4) Open bezels

5) Cachabon bases

6) Paper cups

7) Dried flowers collection

8) OHP Sheet

9) Silicone pouring cup

10) Mini Butane torch

11) Twezzer

12) Seashells

13) Jumprings - 6mm, 7 mm, 10 mm in gold and silver colour

14) Earrings hooks in gold and silver colour, stud with rubber base

15) Round nose plier, square nose plier and wire cutter

16) Weighing scale

Safety gear

16) Respirator mask or KN95 mask

17) Gloves

Step 2: Make Your Own Dried Flowers

This part is more like DIY, you can skip this if you have bought dried flowers they are available in online websites too. You can dry your hand picked flowers and leaves in your home with this technique not to mention that this ingredient which be your kitchen, Interested to know what it is....? It's ..........Semolina (granulated wheat)

Take cup, fill the bottom with semolina for 1 inch and add the flowers that are to be dried, add put more semolina and cover it.

After few days (7 - 10 days) they get dried without losing much of their original color, but still the flower will not be in perfect shape, you have to press them with something heavy , Of course my engineering books have been a big help here :P they are big and heavy.

Put the flowers in the wax paper lie them with proper distance without over lapping , close the wax paper and the book and keep it under weight (other engineering books) for couple of days

Semolina is an economical idea and it can be used repeatedly. Professionally people use silica gel to dry their hand picked flowers

Step 3: Resin Mixing

Resin mixing should be done with precision as per manufactures instruction. Mix slowly to avoid more bubbles, but there is no short to avoid bubbles completely. You have wait for few mins to gets the bubbles to pop by rising above after mixing or you can torch it, for beginners i don't recommend torch they are slightly tedious technique to pop the bubble like using tooth pick.. Initially go with that only.

Here I'm gonna start with beginner level Resin jewelry making, no experience needed for this. Just little of creativity and heart to try out is enough

Always before starting your resin work, cover your work area with material that resin doesn't stick to, glove up and mask on

Step 4: Playing With Colors

Shortly ordered for these red foils, they are absolutely gorgeous and as usual gold foil are heart throbber, I Used 30 grams of mixture. Used resin ratio is 2:1 i.e., for two parts of resin mixed with one part of hardner. So here 20 grams of resin with 10 grams of hardener . Divide in four parts One for mixing Solid matte black pigment, another for white dye and remaining two for gold and red foils.

Foils are very fragile and super light, you need to handle. That too foil sheet comes trapped between wax paper, don't touch with gloves coz they get struck. I used tweezer to tear off required amount of foils

Step 5: Classic Eye Catching Earrings

Presenting you the best combination, black with gold foil. Pour carefully filling the first half of the earring mold and add the gold foil mixture

Step 6: Matching Pendant

Of course how can we move on to next combination making without making matching pendant. Pretty much bring it similar to earring's outlook.

Step 7: Red and White

For this chose rectangle shaped pendant , first half white and second half red foils. Seriously using foils are gives 3D floating effect in objects which is mesmerizing. similar shaped earrings would be.. will see in step down

Step 8: Frame Earrings

These are rectangle too, first half white and remaining half red foils.. Pour resin leftover with different combination to discover another beautiful combinations

Step 9: Open Bezels

Now we are graduating from beginner to intermediate level in resin jewelry, you may wonder why it so? they look easy but making requires quite a lot patience and steady hands like neuro surgeon. You can make open bezel pendants with ennumber themes or glitter anything you like. What I have shown is just part of the idea, here i have used dried flowers, Open bezels are generally transparent i.e., color of resin when botanical come into picture. so that its beauty will stand out.

Take the OHP sheet, place it firming by taping the edges on the surface and place the open bezels. Few people use tape(sticking side) I prefer OHP sheet as results are more transparent without sanding

Great head scratching here is where to put what, in both colour wise , combination wise and shape wise . Literally it took me an hour (Don't judge I'm still learning) to figure out what combination of flowers in shapes of bezels, that too these flowers are not standard sized, so they should be checked for the fitting before playing with resin. That's why its important to select before mixing resin you can do it relaxed, or else your resin pot time with change to cure time.

Step 10: Diamond Bezel

Among others this was the big one, so decided to begin with this. Pour epoxy resin till it touches all end but doesn't filled, add the things which will be in behind first i.e., add fern and then add pink daisy using twezzer. Twezzer are helpful here to handle friable materials.

Also keeping these OHP tied to straight doesn't help if your base is not 100% flat, as you can see, there is a layer of newspaper above which plastic sheet is been put, newspaper were not cent percent flat where its being folded, so end result my resin start to flow outside the bezel at bottom. See very minor detail resulting in major changes. I realized this after finishing my second pendant, to my luck the resin was still in pot time. Immediately i placed another OHP sheet in the desk directly.

Step 11: Lavender Daisy

Excuse me for the poor photograph. As its transparent sheet, it reflects everything even me holding the camera in one hand, Lavender daisy for circle bezel, Pink daisy with fern in diamond bezel. Yellow baby breath, Fern and petals of hydrangea for long rectangle bezel

Step 12: Stole My Heart

After lot thinking through combination, finally came down for red baby breath and little fern at the bottom, If take close look at that, Baby breaths on each side are facing towards each other in one way. In another way it likes heart with veins

Step 13: Leave for 24 Hours

Final one was finished with green hydrangea and pink Queen lace. After 24 hours just pick up, it should come out with no trouble but only center piece was perfectly concave, hence others required second coating.

Step 14: Second Coating

Gently apply secong using plastic pipettes, patience is must, as if it overflows you struck with mess. Pour exact required to get concave shaped bezel. That what second coat is about, when we dried flowers but not pressed flowers they have 3D shape just like this Green hydragea, red baby breath and yellow baby breath

Step 15: Cachabon Base

I'm still not sure how this is pronounced correctly :P , all i know the base is closed so can be worked directly on the base without any OHP sheet but the bails are not flat, so some elevation is needed for base. So double taped it with surface giving elevation and firm base

Step 16: Base Color

When you add dry flower, the cachoban base will be visible which is good too, but to make it more better, will try something different like holographic glitter base and plain black base. So Square and circle each in two color base

Step 17: Selection

Let that dry over night, again break head with the flower selection. Decided for yellow and blue colored daisy for black base. Pink dyed skeleton leaf for circle holographic base and home dried red jungle geranium flower and buds with little fern touch

Step 18: Resin Topping

Cautiously fill with resin for concave finish, Have a little fun popping bubble. finish with other ones and let it cure

Step 19: Resin Piece to Jewelry

Once fully cured, add 6mm gold jumprings for gold foil earring with gold earring hooks.

Step 20: Pendant

Add 10mm gold jump ring for pendant, connect the chain through jumpring.

Step 21: Silver Collection

Since the chain i bought was for running 2 meter, i had to cut 0.5 m for this set, measure correctly and cut using chain cutter, add 6mm jumprings and silver hooks for earring set. Add jumpring and lobster clasp at the end of the silver chain

Step 22: Connection

For open bezel, connect 7mm jumprings in the respective color as bezel and put chain through it add 6mm jumprings and lobster clasp at the end. Once done flaunt these beauties for photos. These two are my personal favorite. Comment your personal favorite ;)

Step 23: Show Case

Now we are done there types of resin jewelry making, see a bonus in next step which is purely my idea, let see how that turns out to be

Step 24: Ocean Is Blue

Add light blue alcohol ink to resin and carefully add in seashell decorate with faux green. Just when i thought something was missing , Idea blub glowed. But add the pearl after half hour pouring the resin hour so that it will not sink as resin viscosity will be higher and it will get struck at bottom without sinking. Pretty sick right.. Or you have add the pearl next day again waiting for one more day to get that cured.

But this case only 24 hours as usual and its ready

Step 25: Drill

Only pendant would be good, but similar themed earring would be more good. After searching my shell found few shells that are almost similar and can be used for earring making.

Please don't ask the names of these, i don't have a clue. I bought these as mixed shells. They very soft and shiny, so roughen up the surface using sand grit and drilled hole with 0.5 mm drill bit (manual hand driller)

Step 26: Earrings

Add the stud base on the flat surface of the shell and glue it. Use skin safe jewelry glue only. Paste the eyepin, add 6mm jumpring to the brown shell and connect with eye pin. Ta-da Shell earring is ready

Step 27: Seashell Pendant

Now change the drill bit to 1mm and drill a hole in the top center. Believe its difficult task, but can be done with hard work and perseverance. Hold the shell bottom below the pearl with sqaure nose plier and start drilling the hole. Since shell is calcium, its quite hard to get through, hence 1mm drill bit, reach till you poke little bit of resin area. Finally add eye pin and fix , If required glue it with very minimal quantity.

Step 28: Sea Theme

Add 7mm jumpring and run the chain through it. Your sea theme set up is ready to wear

Step 29: Thank You

I would appreciate your patience for coming this far, Hope you liked the instructables

Post your thoughts and suggestions in comment section. Would love to see your work if you are done following mine.

So which is your fav among these ? Post it below

See you in next instructable ;)

Adios !!