Create Resin Jewelry

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1: Prepare your Workspace. Make sure your workspace is level, put down a big piece of parchment paper & tape it down with masking tape to prevent it from sliding. Get out your feathers, bezels, resin tape & Art ‘N Glow supplies.

Step 2: Sort out your feathers for each bezel to make sure they will fit & arrange to get a preview before you commit. Trim any bushy parts of the feather off, leaving all smooth & prepped feathers.

Step 3: Resin tape your bezels. Cut one piece at a time avoiding as best you can to not get fingerprints all over your resin tape, especially where the open bezel is placed. Make sure the tape is secure on all sides & corners of your bezels.

Step 4: Pour your first layer of resin. Mix together a smaller amount of resin (1:1 ratio by volume), just enough to get a single thin layer inside each open bezel. Slowly put resin into the taped/prepped open bezels with your stir stick to control the amount & placement of the resin. Lightly torch on low to remove any bubbles.  Make sure you mix your resin and hardener for several minutes.  

Step 5: Lay prepared feathers on top of the resin layer you just poured inside the bezel. Try your best to make sure there are no bubbles underneath the feather you laid down. When finished, cover your project. Let it cure for 24 hours.

*Artist tip: Use picnic tents to cover resin projects. It keeps dust out & you can keep an eye on your project without disturbing it!*

Step 6: Check out your work! Pick up each bezel and carefully & slowly peel the resin tape off the back of your bezels, making sure no sticker residue is stuck to the resin.

Step 7: Time to trim your bezels. Using your exacto knife, CAREFULLY trim the sides of the feathers & resin sticking “outside the lines” of your feather bezels. I find it easiest to run your exacto knife along the back of the bezel metal so you can then peel the resin/feather parts you’d like to scrap, exactly where you want it!

Step 8: Prepare your next layer of resin. With the previously taped side down and the trimmed feather side up, cover the feather up side in a “dome coat” of resin. You can use your stir stick for precision to push the resin to the edges, to cover all of the feather parts & for using tiny amounts of resin at a time. Lightly torch on low to remove any bubbles. Cover & let cure 24 hours.

Step 9: Time to start looking for trouble spots. There will most likely be a bubble that got trapped in between the feather & resin tape from your first layer of resin. The way to fix that is open up the bubble & clean up the edges with your exacto knife. This will open up the bubble area to fill in with your top coat of resin. Some won’t need a thing, others will need attention.

*Artist tip: In between each layer of resin, always check your edges for spots that need trimmed and cleaned up with your exacto knife. There will always be spots!*

Step 10: Top coat time! Pour the top coat on the front of your jewelry (the original taped side), filling in the trouble bubbles & making that front flawless. Lightly torch on low for any bubbles. Cover & let cure for 24 hours.

Step 11: Check your work. If you have any feather parts sticking out, you can sand these down with sandpaper and then add another dome coat. Same goes for unevenness, tiny bubbles, any flaws can be carefully sanded and then some coated again to perfection.

*Artist tip: Use 220 grit sandpaper with drips of water on it to prevent resin dust and I feel like it makes the sanding cleaner with less rough edges.*

Step 12: Assemble your jewelry! Voilà! There you have it….. beautiful, one-of-a-kind feather jewelry made by you.