resin | The Blue Brick | Photography and Handcrafts by Shireen Nadir

Posts Tagged 'resin'

Presents…

Published December 14, 2011 Jewelry Leave a Comment
Tags: lariat, leaves, resin, sterling silver

I know, it’s been all jewellery lately, but I do have knitting to share – I’ve just been having so much trouble getting it photographed in these short, dark days!

Today I just wanted to show off 2 necklaces that were worked in sterling silver. I don’t normally work in this medium, but these two ladies were special so I went all out :)

Both of these are lariat style necklaces with clasps in the back. This one features a 6mm square cut swarovski wrapped in a sterling silver band.

And this one was a replacement for a friend who’s home was broken into recently. Among the things that were taken was a necklace she had purchased from me. As she pointed out, while the break in was annoying – the theft choices were oddly flattering.

For this one I used sterling silver elements with brushed silver finishes. The small ring at the bottom contains a circle of maple leaf preserved in resin.

I’ve already given this one to it’s recipient and she loves it :) Lariat necklaces fall so beautifully when you wear them – such a cute, classy look.

I love gift giving, and gift making – best part of the holidays!

Autumn and silver equal love…

Published December 13, 2011 Jewelry 1 Comment
Tags: jewellery, leaves, resin

Ah! The last of my leaves. From here on it’s all flowers for me… but in the meantime here are 2 gorgeous new autumn jewellery pieces in silver bezel settings:

Resin and flower petals – a new direction.

Published December 12, 2011 Jewelry Leave a Comment
Tags: flowers, jewellery, resin

Both of these lovelies have already sold, but I wanted to share a peek at my new direction now that my autumn leaf period is over – preserved flower petals.

This large pendant contains the petals from a preserved chrysanthemum.

And this beauty contains the petals from a geranium:

Stay tuned for more additions to my Etsy store while I explore this new art form!

Romantic Copper jewellery

Published December 11, 2011 Jewelry 2 Comments
Tags: autumn, jewellery, leaves, resin

I can’t get away from the autumn leaves, though my stores of preserved ones are getting woefully low :( However – I had enough for a few last pieces in my autumn leaf series and I think these are my most beautiful and romantic items yet.

This lariat style necklace is made with a copper butterfly charm and a heart shaped pendant. The heart contains real autumn leaves, preserved in jeweller’s grade resin.

This beauty is an antique copper pendant with filigree elements that were hand-shaped around the pendant after the resin was cured. The leaves are from a sumach.

This gorgeous medallion is the same idea as above – though in this case the filigree was adhered directly to the resin.

I’ve saved the best piece for the last one :) This ring is my absolute favourite, so delicate and detailed with 2 pieces of shaped filigree and textured autumn leaves below the resin. Even the side view is lovely:

I have discovered that working with natural materials and resin is my favourite medium. No matter what other ideas I have, I always come back around to this one, the possibilities are endless and nature herself has provided me with so much inspiration, and such a beautiful colour palette. I will be making these until the very last leaf of my 2011 storage is gone, but I am already moving into work involving flower petals – more on that tomorrow!

Taking it to another level

Published November 30, 2011 Jewelry Leave a Comment
Tags: jewellery, necklace, resin

So I’ve been really addicted to resin lately – but definitely ready to move away from the leaves (good thing too, we had our first snowfall today!). The last 2 days I’ve been experimenting with putting drawings into resin and I came up with some very fun things.

This one is for me, but I’ll be making more for sale soon because I love it :) The reason I can’t sell them yet is because they don’t *quite* work for me, the design needs to be refined and I have a few ideas on how to do it.

Here’s another take on the same idea but using washi instead of drawings. I love the result! As soon as I solve a few logistical issues these will hit my shop.

The last of the leaf jewellery went up today as well, including this overlong copper necklace, sized to hang low on the chest, perfect for sweater season!

I also included a few festive items, also on overlong chains, like this copper ‘hope’ pendant.

Tito has weighed in as well by drawing cute elements for me to use in the work – I think this would be cute as an embellishment on a notebook or leather cuff, but it’s adorable on a chain as well.

Check out the Etsy shop for these and more updates!

Japanese paper necklaces

Published November 20, 2011 Jewelry 9 Comments
Tags: Christmas, jewellery, necklace, paper, resin

Autumn is over and I’ve had to move on from my beloved leaf jewellery. Looking around for inspiration I gravitated towards the washi that I collect for origami and for the backdrops of my photos. The actual paper textures were so beautiful that I wanted to showcase them in a piece of simple, fun, festive jewellery.

I really love the 3D layered effect that I get with my compositions, so I pour my resin in stages. First I use contact paper to seal the back of my ring – making it into a bezel. I put my head pin in first – to create a hanging loop and also to seal the hole so resin doesn’t leak out of it. Then I do my first stage pour.

First I pour a thin layer into the bottom of the bezel. I use a popsicle stick to push it to the edges of the bezel and form an even seal.

After I’ve put my first layer down I start creating my composition. The first piece of paper that I put down faces out to the back – this is the backing that will be visible when I peel off the contact paper later. If the contact paper leaves any residue behind I use ‘goo gone’ to clean it off – it doesn’t affect the resin, but you’ve got to make sure it’s completely cured before trying this.

Alternating pours of resin and layers of paper allows me to get that 3d look. When I’m done I pour a final layer and put a cover over it to cure. If I don’t cover it then even a tiny dust mote landing on the surface can ruin a piece!

And Voila!

I hope folks enjoy these cute little stocking stuffers :)

I ♥ Autumn

Published November 10, 2011 Jewelry Leave a Comment
Tags: autumn, jewellery, resin

My last round of I ♥ Autumn jewellery did so well I decided to do one more round before autumn in Toronto is over. I’ve added some new bezels, silver finishes and a new ‘tree of life design’ check it out!