Stuff (Without Which I Would Surely Perish) #2 - Sealant for Resin

Wow.  It's been a LOOOONG time since the first installment of Stuff (Without Which I Would Surely Perish) - over two years, as a matter of fact!

The Project:   In the last year and some months, I've started creating jewelry with the images from my paintings.  Like prints, jewelry is a way for my clients and fans to have the images they like which they can also afford. As an added plus, you get to carry them with you.  I arrived at my current art-jewelry techniques following a two-year long process of experimentation with various adhesives, sealing agents, papers, printing inks and substrates.

Some resin leaked into the paper on the right earring
leaving it looking permanently water-stained

The Problem:  When I started using 2-part resin, I was dissatisfied with the outcome because it tended to bleed into paper, leaving a permanent 'wet' mark.  For example, these Skelekitty Angel/Devil earrings:
(here's another example from a resin artist's blog)

Everyone I spoke to or read either said to seal my images with packing tape or Mod Podge ... and both of those products failed at irregular intervals (usually when I was doing a custom and didn't have more tiles on hand).  I refused to list items at full price that were 'imperfect' in my eyes and figured there HAD to be some kind of sealant that wouldn't make the paper look wet or spotty when applied, and that would not be dissolved or penetrated by resin.

The Solution(s):  Then one day I realized what I was looking for - SILICONE!

Nunn Design makes both a silicone sealant and adhesive that work PERFECTLY with resin applications.  So perfectly that I'll never ever go back to using anything else.  I completely coat my image with the Nunn Design Sealant (painting in a cross-hatch motion) on both sides AND the edges of the paper before I apply the image to my wooden or glass tile using Nunn Design Glue.  Both products clean easily with a little water, but once they are dried, they will prevent moisture from seeping into your image.  TA DA AND HOORAH!

A quick Google search for either of these product names will bring up a list of online suppliers.  Even some local bead shops are beginning to carry these products, though I recommend you don't even bother looking in the big box craft stores.  I usually order my glue, sealant and resin* from ArtBeads.com - their prices are good and their customer service is excellent.

To see other products I love, click on the 'product faves' tag over there on the sidebar (or at the end of this post.  Keep your eyes peeled for my SWWIWSP post on ICE Resin.

Read more ...

Stuff (Without Which I Would Surely Perish) #1

Business has been happily busy here at the estudio de Krissi y Skelekitty (although she's wanting top billing these days, the pushy minx). I didn't want you all to think I didn't love you any more, so I'm starting a series of "bloglets" I am calling Stuff (without which I would surely perish). In short, they are Krissi-style mini-reviews of things I love and MUST ALWAYS HAVE. Mostly I'll feature arts & crafts stuff, to be sure, but the occasional non-art product will be featured now and then.

For my first entry, here's a pretty traditional craft supply that I use in almost every mixed-media art piece I create (but if I didn't tell you, you might not even know it was there):

Tulip Fashion Glitter by Duncan in Silver Hologram comes in three sizes - ultra fine, fine and medium - but I have a particular love for the fine.

Until meeting Kathy Murillo on her Crafty Chica art cruise in 2008, I wasn't into loose glitter AT ALL, much to the continued chagrin of my long-suffering pal, Yoli. I still thought of glitter in big dullish, hexagonal chunks that gathered in the bottom of your winter decorations box after having flaked off your ancient Xmas stocking. However, I got one look at the line of glitters Kathy mixed and Duncan produced, with their amazing colors and shiny holographic goodness, and I was HOOKED.


I use all of the Crafty Chica glitters in my artwork (most notably Goddess Gold, Frida's Fuschia and Bollywood Blue), but the most popular glitter is the holographic silver - it makes ABSOLUTELY PERFECT STARRY SKIES! Can you see it in the sky of "A Brand New Sky To Hang The Stars Upon...?"






What about here in one of my (many) Venture Bros. fan art pieces, "The Grand Galactic Inquisitor?"



Can't leave my favorite supply off of a new Skelekitty painting:



I even used a bit in my most recent piece:


And since I'm teaching a class of my favorite techniques this month, it showed up in one of the class samples, too.


I wish you could see just how fabulous this glitter looks under and between the layers of gel medium - the photos truly cannot do it justice.

If there's a takeaway point from this first SWWIWSP "bloglet," it is to look at ALL of your supplies when creating, and don't fear mixing your "craft" supplies in with your "art" supplies!

Read more ...