I've been playing around with dried flowers and resin in the studio lately and one of the pieces I made is the pretty floral focal in the bracelet below. You can learn how to make pieces like this in the Resin Jewellery Workshop (held monthly in my studio). The flower-on-flower look is rather sweet and it only needs a simple stringing design to highlight how pretty it is. I chose watermelon pink glass pearls and just a hint of green to play up the floral nature of the bead. Whilst you most likely don't have a similar resin component on hand, don't let that stop you from recreating this simple design - just choose a focal bead with WOW! factor and beads that complement it. Here's what you'll need: a knockout focal bead of your choice 6 coordinating 8mm beads (I used 4 rounds and 2 bicones from Cousin Corp)  14 #8 seed beads 68 4mm glass pearls  2 3mm metal spacer beads.  You'll also need: 7 eye pins 2 #2 crimp tubes 2 crimp covers 2 wire guardians 0.012" be......

After last weekend's torrential rains in Brisbane and predictions of further rain and storms all week long I was concerned that today's resin workshop would have to be postponed until less humid weather. But when I woke up this morning and found the sun shining and no rain in sight, I knew the resin gods were smiling down on my little group of students today! With low humidity we were able to resin away to our heart's content. I love that this workshop allows me to make the class projects too - here's what I added to my collection today. Those of you who read my blog regularly would know that my favourite colour is purple and it has been the dominant colour in my wardrobe for a number of years. It certainly makes accessorising an outfit easy because everything goes together.  But this year I've found touches of red creeping into my wardrobe. It started with a pair of really cute Dorothy-esque shoes which I just adore! And then came a red blouse and it's coordina......

Today the sunshine is streaming into the studio and the bangles perched on the window ledge are bathed in a lovely warm glow. Sigh..... makes your thoughts turn to summer! And that's a timely reminder that it's time to turn our attention to spring and summer fashions. Bangles and rings are great accessories to bring last year's summer wardrobe up to date so today I'm working with some new bangle and ring moulds that have a retro feel about them. Mod, retro, neon and colour blocking are all buzz words in fashion at the moment and they can easily be translated into resin jewellery. And if ever there was a match made in heaven, it would have to be retro and resin. I mean, what could be more retro than a resin bangle! A little while ago I showed you some very hip square and eclipse bangles and the retro wedge ring and today I'm working with the Classic Wide bangle, the Retro Pyramid ring and the very groovy Retro Side Circles bangle. It's amazing how different ......

Neon is all the rage at the moment. It visited us in the 70s, the 80s and the 90s and yet it's still so fresh... what a contradiction! The thing about neon is that it doesn't blend with other colours. It is what it is - eye popping colour that stands out a mile. The trick to wearing it successfully is to wear just a touch of it so that you don't glow like a neon glow stick. Add just a couple of neon accessories like a bangle and belt to a plain outfit and you'll hit a good balance and still be in fashion. I've had a bit of fun making neon resin bangles and rings over the last few days using some retro bangle and ring shapes - they suit the neon colours perfectly! But if you feel a little intimidated by the full on glow of these electric colours and still want to be in fashion, you can compromise and choose pastel neon like the ones I cast in my first session. They are still neon coloured, but just not as intense. Don't you love the square? It's thin so it......

Shy and retiring types, this post is not for you. I have new ring moulds and I got a chance to play with one of them on the weekend. Take a look at these fabulous retro rings. Great Turquoise Retro Wedge These knuckle dusters are perfect for extroverts and those wanting to make a statement. Wear one of these big, bold beauties and it will get noticed. The great Turquoise Retro Wedge is a swirling ocean of blues, greens and turquoise. The Superman angle! Another colour, another angle..... Charcoal Slate The marbling is very fine in this one and it looks like slate..... Lots of lovely swirly white marbling through this last one. It looks like it could have been carved from a chunk of marble rather than cast from liquid resin. White Marble This ring mould will be added to the selection of moulds available for use in the Resin Bangle and Ring workshop so lucky students can make one of their own. Or, if you prefer to have you own, the mould can be purchased at the workshop. 'Til next......

As part of National Youth Week, Brisbane City Council has programmed a variety of activities for young people and this Saturday, you'll find me at the Chermside Library teaching a resin workshop designed especially for teenagers and young adults. We'll be working with a non toxic resin so it's safe for younger people to use - no nasty chemicals is this workshop! We'll be creating a pendant and a magnet in the class so it's got something for both the guys and the girls. And the good news is that this workshop is free. Yes, FREE!! So if you live in the Brisbane City Council area and you know someone aged between 12 and 25 who might be interested in learning how to work with resin, why not book them into this fun class. Bookings can be made by phoning (07) 3403 8888. But be quick.... there are limited seats available. Here are the workshop details: Date: Saturday, 14th April 2012 Time: 10am-12pm Cost: Free 'Til next time..... If you can't get enough of My Tuto......

My bags were packed full to the brim on Friday as I made my way to the check in counter for the flight down to Port Macquarie for the resin jewellery workshops on the weekend. I had a serious case of excess baggage. How much? Well, enough to cost a pretty penny! But it's a good thing that packing has always been one of my strong points. I was blessed with a keen sense of how things fit together in tight spaces - it comes in very handy for packing suitcases! But even I can't believe how much I crammed into that bag!!! What you see here is about one third of it! When I began setting up at The Glass House, the organisers looked on in amazement as it all came out - it was like the bottomless bag!  Well, there were 24 participants after all. And that's a lot of supplies over the course of a weekend! My next resin workshop will be at the Chermside Library for Youth Week. So if you are aged between 12 and 25, this is a workshop designed just for you. Check out the calendar for ......

With two large workshops at the Glass House in Port Macquarie this weekend I'll be spending a lot of time packing workshop materials and preparing kits this week. One of the scariest things when you're preparing for workshops is when materials don't arrive in time and at the moment I'm sweating on 3 different orders. Two are scheduled to arrive the day before I get on the plane, but the third one is definitely not going to arrive in time - it's still scheduled for picking. I think I'll get on the plane before it even leaves the warehouse! Hmmm..... on to Plan B (you've always got to have a Plan B!). In the meantime, I'm cutting...... moulding..... trimming off loops (with my trusty shank removers...... love this tool!) pre-spraying moulds..... making chains...... counting (and re-counting), kitting and packing. After cutting out over 100 ovals I'm really over this part of the kit preparation....... why isn't there an oval punch that fits this mou......