INTRODUCING PENNEE, a new resin-pressed flower artist; and TRY SOMETHING NEW!

I'm honored to introduce Pennee, who is comparatively new to working with resin and pressed flowers.  I discovered her jewelry while browsing Etsy:  I asked her how she started working with resin, and some of the challenges she faces with resin and pressed flower:

My name is Pennee and my shop is Pennee Designs at Etsy. I started making jewelry many years ago and have gone in and out of it over the years.  Resin is my new love.

It was hard to learn since I had no class to go to and was basically kept at reading on the internet, watching YouTube videos and I finally got 2 books, "The Art of Resin Jewelry" and "The art of jewelry Plastic and resin"  I recommend the first book as it explains things from the beginning of the resin process. Mine came with a DVD which was nice and informative.  I usually buy books at Amazon as they have good prices.  I suggest making sure if you buy the first book, (by Sherri Haab) that you make sure it comes with the DVD.

One of the hardest parts of making a resin flower piece for me is keeping the small bubbles out and making sure there are no big ones that I have missed.  I try and slowly but with some force move the bigger flowers around to get bubbles out.

I use a stir stick or something without a point so I can press the flower down onto the first layer of resin which has already dried.  If the mold is see through I hold it up to a light making sure it stays flat so the liquid resin does not run out of the mold and onto the floor, (I've done this, not fun).

Once I move the flower around until I think any big bubbles are left underneath and looked at the flower from underneath I leave it but I will come back a few times until it is sticky and see if I need to pop a bubble.  It is OK to move the flowers around when they are almost sticky because resin will slowly slide back into any crevasses.  The problem with this is you have to be careful not to mess up the other flowers or things you have put in the mold.

One thing I just found out from a man who used to work with resins and plastics is if you put less hardener in the mix it will not harden less it will harden slower and that will cause less bubbles.  I have not tried this yet but it sounds like an interesting idea and I am going to do it for my next pour and I'll let everyone know what happens.

   Isn't her jewelry lovely?


TRY SOMETHING NEW:
I have been finding fun in trying new techniques; as long as I don't use expensive settings or too much resin, I have little to lose, and occasionally  some astounding successes.  Here  are a few examples that show you really don't have to follow the rules!

I didn't like the flower in resin by itself, so I glued it to a pendant setting I'd had for years; It didn't fit perfectly, but it sold right away so guess it was ok!

I wanted to try the "tray" shapes.  This didn't turn out too well, but it gave me the fortitude to try some other ideas with the mold.

I bought the pendant setting thinking it would be easy to add crystals or something to the bottom ring. But once I had put the red leaf and flowers in, I couldn't find anything to match. The piece I added still doesn't work so now I'm looking for a little brass setting for it to complete the piece. It may never happen, but I've learned a few things.

I wanted to try a flower on plain metal, without a resin background. Although I had trouble photographing this, I like the result.

Thank you for visiting, Chris