Making Resin Jewellery with Wendy Southin

Michelle Casey, Mixed Media Copper Jewellery: Necklace made of: resin, magazine papers, beads, charm, December 2012

This Saturday I had a wonderful time at a resin jewellery making workshop hosted by my friend Wendy Southin of Dragonfly Dreamers. And, to think I was so busy this week, I almost cancelled the trip out to her studio. I’m so glad I went; I’m so thrilled with the necklace and pair of earrings I made there!

I’ve wanted to work with resin for a while but as someone with an extremely sensitive nose, I tend to stay away from materials which I think are toxic or bring out my allergies. Last fall, I attended a resin demonstration put on by a local art shop and discovered it was odourless and not as harmful as I thought. Using resin is a wonderful way to give your collage and mixed media pieces a brilliant, detailed glossy surface. While the demo whetted my appetite for wanting to work with the medium, I was still afraid to use it on my own. So you can imagine how elated I was to discover Wendy was offering a resin-related workshop of her own.

My necklace pendant (above) is made of copper, a few beads, a charm and a mini collage made from magazine bits. Although the collage looked a bit piece-mealy when I glued it together and coated it with gel medium, after I applied resin on top of it, it smoothened out the image’s surface and beautifully magnified small details in it. In the workshop we worked with Ice resin. Wendy recommends this brand as it doesn’t yellow with time as other resins do. It has a 45-minute open time for working with and takes three days to cure (to harden). It was equally eye-opening to work with soft copper wire to make the circular frame for my necklace. I discovered copper is a naturally soft metal that must be hammered to be hardened so it doesn’t break. Hammering not only hardens copper, it can also be used to give the metal amazing textural effects. Wrapping and shaping copper wire with various jewellery pliers to form the shape of my necklace was very challenging! I felt like I had two left hands. Believe me, I’ll never take for granted the fine dexterity required to work with wire! Any troubles I had working with it, however, where alleviated by Wendy’s help and gentle guidance. I had a fun time with my fellow classmates: Robbie, Heather, Olive, Charlotte and Sharon who each created stunning pieces of their own. Best of all, I arrived home fired up to try working with resin on my own! I’m always preaching that art is a good healing tool for the body and mind and it truly is – taking this workshop was a fabulous way to end my busy week. It’s always so fulfilling to conjure up something real from your imagination!

I highly recommend workshops with Wendy. They’re a great way to ease yourself into learning new mixed media techniques. Wendy’s other popular classes include book making and metal embossing. As far as I’m concerned, she’s the Queen of rubber stamping and creating great textural effects with ink-related supplies. If you have any further questions about using resins, don’t be shy to drop her a line at Dragonfly Dreamers.

Other Related Links:
Embossing the Day Away with Wendy Southin