SPONSORED BY ARTWORKS RESIN, this tutorial will help you create a resin agate slice for jewelry from a mold of real agate slices. I have seen a couple of requests about creating resin agate for jewelry. I decide to make this a page post instead of a video because there are numerous steps involved and found it easier to type it out than voice-over. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via the contact form and I will be happy to help. Please note, this is a resin tutorial….once the resin agate slice is created, you will need to know or you will need to lookup how to string jewelry. I talk about “jumprings” often in this article.
STEP 1: Select your agate slices. Choose slices that are on the smaller side to fit your wrist or as a pendant, but still large enough to show off a pretty design filled with glitter and colors.
STEP 2: Roll a ball of molding putty large enough to encompass an agate slice you’ve chosen. Be sure to get the ratios on the directions correct so that it hardens properly. Do this one at a time, because the putty hardens quickly. (If you try to mix enough putty for all of the slices at once, by the time you have one completed any remaining putty mixture will have hardened in the form of a ball.)
STEP 3: Place the ball on a flat surface and press your first agate slice firmly down into the ball until the putty starts to overflow around the agate slice. Push the putty up and around the edges of the agate so the agate is snug inside the putty mold.
STEP 4: LET HARDEN!
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STEP 5: Once the putty mold has hardened, you can remove the agate slices. Simply peel them out of the mold carefully to avoid ripping the mold.
If you notice in my picture, I had previous goop stuck to my agate slices, which was not properly cleaned off, causing the putty mold to tear from away and stick with the agate slice. These are not the best molds to use. You want a smooth, flat surface!
STEP 6a: Prepare your silicone. Cut the nozzle of your silicone tube. (FORESHADOWING! – Make sure it is a small hole, if the hole is too large, the amount of silicone will be too much and eventually, the jump ring will not fit when stringing.)
STEP 6 (Click the image to make larger & readable) : To create a hole where the jumpring or string will be inserted, put a drop of silicone close to the inner edge of the mold. Leave enough room so the resin can get in between the silicone and the mold or your resin slice will not be complete and there won’t be a hole to put the jumpring or string into.
THE SILICONE DROP MUST BE HIGHER THAN THE BARRIER. Why? – If the silicone drop is too low below the barrier, the resin can cure over it, then there will not be a hole.
PENDANTS: Add 1 drop of silicone to where you want the top of your pendant to be.
BRACELETS: Add 1 drop on each end of the silicone mold.
STEP 7: Select your colors and embellishments.
Colors: You can use resin tint, acrylic paint, resin pigment, or makeup pigment to add to your resin. Put a little bit of resin tint or acrylic in each cup per color. Add about 10% of color to your resin. Adding too much of another substance may cause the resin to not cure properly.
Embellishments: Embellishments are entirely up to you. I usually add glitter into my resin designs, but you can add small objects, vase fillers, stickers and so much more.
STEP 8: I decided to use makeup pigment in my molds. I do this by brushing on the pigment color onto the surface of the mold. If you were working with acrylic paint or resin tint, you would add 10% of your color into resin mixture before it is poured. I wanted to work with strictly clear resin to save cups, so I decided to brush the pigment on instead.
STEP 9: You can add your glitter however you’d like. I added some to the middle of my agate slice and others to the entire mold. I did not add any glitter to one of the molds.
In this image, you can see the pigment brushed onto the surface of the mold along with the containers the pigment arrived in.
The pigment I used was chameleon makeup pigment from “born pretty“.
STEP 10: Mix a 1 to 1 ratio of Artworks resin and add it to your molds. Optional: Use a heat gun on high heat very briefly to remove bubbles. (Be careful not to set anything on fire. JK but not really.)
STEP 11: Let cure until hardened. I usually let the resin cure for a few hours or until the surface is hardened.
STEP 12: Once cured, use acrylic paint pens to draw in geode lines. My preferred pen is currently posca.
STEP 13: To draw the lines, pull the paint pen in the direction you want the lines to form. I alter in size and color.
STEP 14 (Optional): After you’ve painted your lines, you’re about to pour another coat to seal the lines in so they do not wear off. But before you do that, you have the option of adding additional embellishments. I added a few resin gems that I previously created using a pre-made mold. The mold has some cute hearts, moons and stars so I decided to incorporate them above the lines before my resin is poured.
STEP 15: Once everything is in place, mix another 1 to 1 ratio of Artworks resin and pour it into the mold to just under the top of the barrier. You probably will not need too much, just enough to seal everything in. Let this cure until completely hardened.
STEP 16: Once your top layer of resin has hardened, you can remove the agate slice from the mold. Simply peel the mold back away from the resin slowly and it should peel out like a sticker. You might have some trouble if the surface of your mold was not smooth.
If any small pieces of the mold are stuck around the edges of the resin, remove them with tweezers or a nail clipper.
CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR AGATE SLICES ARE NOW READY TO BE MADE INTO JEWELRY!
Gather your materials to string your pendants and bracelets. Select beads that compliment the colors in your agate slice.
Again, this is not a tutorial on stringing, however, you can look up how to do these steps. There are tons of diy blogs and classes out there.
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