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Sunday 3 March 2013

How to colour resin jewellery

It has been quite a while since I last did a tutorial type of blog post and I felt the urge so here goes. As you are probably aware, I like to use bright and vibrant colours to my jewellery making so I thought I would share the different methods of colouring resin jewellery.

Coloured resin horse hair jewellery
Coloured resin horse hair jewellery


This is by no means a definitive method of colouring the resin but the way I like to do it... I suppose other people may have their own methods. Similarly the methods that I use for colouring resin may also be used for other crafts such as polymer clay and glue.

Pearl-Ex Powder

The Jacquard Pearl-Ex powders are contained within tiny pots however the size is very deceptive! You actually only use a very tiny amount of the powder to colour the resin and each pot goes a very long way indeed. The powder leaves a lovely pearlescent finish and comes in a variety of colours including metallic finishes.

Jacquard Pearl-Ex powder
Jacquard Pearl-Ex powder


I use a toothpick or cocktail stick to add the Pearl-Ex power to the resin. Just a very small amount on the end of the stick is required and it mixes into the resin very easily.

Mixing Pearl-Ex powder in resin
Mixing Pearl-Ex powder in resin


The resulting pearl-like colours are very pretty and these are also great for achieving a metallic look. Although the pots do last a long time, it can be quite costly if lots of colours are required.

Resin coloured with Pearl-Ex powder
Resin coloured with Pearl-Ex powder


Castin’ Craft Liquid Pigments

The Castin’ Craft liquid pigment dyes are another method for colouring resin. They are provided in small bottles and provide either opaque or transparent finishes. The resulting colours are extremely rich and it is probably the best method for achieving solid colours.

Castin' Craft colour pigment
Castin' Craft colour pigment


Care needs to be taken though when using the Castin’ Craft range of colours; it is a liquid and resin does not like liquids at all! The smallest of droplets is needed to colour the resin (too much and the resin will not cure properly).

Mixing Castin' Craft colour pigment in resin
Mixing Castin' Craft colour pigment in resin


The Castin’ Craft pigment mixes into the resin so easily and is great for achieving rich, solid colours; not so good for blending colours together though.

Resin coloured with Castin' Craft pigment
Resin coloured with Castin' Craft pigment


Artists' Pastels

This is my personal favourite and something I use all the time; why buy specialist powders and dyes when simple (relatively inexpensive) artists' pastels achieve the same thing. I bought my set of pastels for less than £10 4 years ago and they still look hardly used.

Artist Pastels
Artist Pastels


A very small amount of pastel is required to colour the resin. Just shave a small amount off with a knife and mix. It can sometimes take a little while to get all of the pastel absorbed by the resin but it is worth it.

Mixing pastels in resin
Mixing pastels in resin


I think the pastels are a great way for controlling the colour of the resin; you can use as little or as much as you like and a great way for blending different colours together too. I am often asked to match colours exactly for some of my resin jewellery custom orders and using the pastels is the only sure way of achieving that. For the price you get a great range of colours too!

Resin coloured with artists' pastels
Resin coloured with artists' pastels


I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial about colouring resin jewellery.

Mick

7 comments:

  1. Really interesting and informative post- thanks Mick. I've not ever used resin, but am becoming more and more tempted to try!

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  2. I am glad you found it interesting! You should give resin a try, I am just getting into making my own moulds and it is so much fun!

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  3. Great tutorial! I have never worked with resin before and hope to be able to try it someday. It looks like a lot fun!

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    1. Thanks for popping by and I am glad you enjoyed it. If you ever need any help with resin give me a shout.

      Thanks

      Mick

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  4. Wow, this is great. Sorry for late reply, just realised half the blogs I follow were not appearing in my feed:(

    great use for pastels.

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    1. Sorry I haven't been around too, I have fallen way behind with all the blogs that I follow. I love my pastels and they seem to go on forever!

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  5. Wowwwwww this is interesting to know about how to colour resin jewellery, thanks for this blog...

    i loved it ... <3

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Thank you for your comments. I do appreciate the time and trouble taken to comment and will publish as soon as possible.