CREATIVE TUTORIALS

CREATIVE TUTORIALS

My Heart’s Affection: an ICE Resin Tutorial by Guest Artist Cat Kerr

Today we have Cat Kerr joining us at Somerset Place, where she shares how to use ICE Resin to create beautiful works of wearable art.

I often discover new ideas for using ICE Resin by accident; my creative process never seems to go exactly as planned. As artists, we must decide what stays and what goes. It is in the mistakes that new inspiration can be found and used to our advantage.

This piece was inspired by one messy handler (me) who spilled and dripped thick lumps of resin as she attempted to fill a bezel. The beautiful, organic shapes found on my work table the next morning inspired this shapeless, free-flowing pendant.

Materials

ICE Resin

Popsicle stick and cups

Wax paper

Crochet trim

Shell frame or any frame

Assorted findings for the center

Text

Gold paint pen

Instructions

1. Cut your trim to desired size and place on wax paper.
2. Add your frame and assemble pendant components.
3. Mix two equal parts resin and hardener. Stir with a Popsicle stick for two minutes.
4. Carefully add resin to the center of your frame using the Popsicle stick.
5. Pour the remaining resin over the rest of the pendant, allowing it to flow on and around your project.
6. Add text.
7. Let resin cure for 24 hours. Once cured, drill a small hole for the jump ring.
8. Using the gold paint pen, color the edge of the resin.
9. Attach necklace findings.
10. Proudly wear your one-of-a-kind art piece!

Thank you for sharing this innovative tutorial, Cat! Cat Kerr is a mixed-media artist living in Central Florida with her husband and two children. She is part of the 2012 ICE Resin creative team and designs for ARTCHIX Studio. Her work has been seen in multiple publications and is currently featured in the Summer ’12 issues of Sew Somerset, Belle Armoire Jewelry, and Somerset Studio Gallery. To see more of her work, teaching schedule, and shops, visit her blog at http://inthelightofthemoon.blogspot.com.


snowflakes ballerinas

DIY garden project: concrete stepping stones

Working with concrete in the garden is both simple and affordable! In their new book, Concrete Garden Projects: Easy & Inexpensive Containers, Furniture, Water Features & More, authors Nilsson and Arvidsson teach readers how to create beautiful objects for pennies on the dollar. The following is an excerpt from the book with directions for creating concrete stepping stones:

Casting stepping stones using cardboard tubes is easy, as there is no need to build a mould, and you can also make multiple casts at the same time if you wish. Cardboard tubes are available in different sizes from builders’ merchants and other suppliers. We used tubes that were 25 cm (10 in.) in diameter here. Pieces of a rubber doormat can also produce beautiful scroll patterns on your stones.

You will need: fine concrete, cardboard tubing, pieces of rubber doormat, a piece of board, a saw, a ruler, oil, a paintbrush, a trowel and a stone or a file.

1. Begin by sawing the tube into rings that are 5 cm (2 in.) high, then trim your piece of rubber doormat to fit inside the cardboard ring.	2. Place the rings on your piece of board. Oil the rings and the board.
3. Mix the concrete and fill the moulds, skimming off the excess when done. Shake the mould gently to distribute the concrete evenly and to get rid of any air bubbles. Oil your trimmed piece of rubber doormat.	4. Press the rubber mat evenly into the concrete. If you are casting more than one stone, keep some of your others plain to vary your pattern. Leave to set.
5. After 48 hours and if the concrete has set, carefully remove the piece of rubber doormat.	6.