For many of us telling a story is a natural process; while we many not even be aware we are doing so we share our tales each and every day with the world.  I know I am not alone in my love for words or my love for collecting delightful bits and baubles that find their way into my jewelry and artwork. It goes without saying that the large hobnail bezels (both silver and brushed gold), are the perfect place to place deligthful treasures, baubles and words.

Imagine creating a tale that is forever encased within ICE  Resin. The perfect concoction is poured into a DIVINE  large hobnail bezel that is more like a shadow box then a mere piece of jewelry. Create a tale of sorts with words images, trinkets and baubles and forever you will have your whisper. I am happy to be taking my favorite elements from the amazing ICE line and intertwine them into this class. During the time we spend together  I will be walking you through the steps to create three unique pieces of jewelry that not only incorporate amazing bezels, but ICE Resin, pearls, chain , wire and more. Based on my latest article in Belle Armoire Jewlery – this class takes everything one step further as I walk you through the techniques I use as well as tips and strategies to make your resin experience the best it can possibly be.

Techniques That Are Covered

Creating the perfect Composition to be Placed into a Bezel

Wrapping the Bezel With Wire and Other Found Objects

The Correct Way to Mix and Pour Resin

Creating Chain Links

Stringing Pearls

Creating your Own Chain from Purchased Chain

Creating Rosary Chain

Wire Wrapping Techniques

And much more!

What to Expect

As a thank you for being a faithful ICE Queen Zine Reader you receive $5 off of the current class price when using the Buy It Now Button Below. During the course of class videos will be posted onto a password protected class blog specifically set up just for attendees; this is done to allow you ample time to work on each step of the project as well as incorporate what you are learning into other arenas.  I am of course available to you as well to answer any questions. Each project will include a PDF handout as well as a specific post regarding what we will be learning as well as additional resources in regards to the topic of the day.

Registration is open today and will remain open indefinitely as this is an ongoing class. Upon enrolling and receiving confirmation from me there will be no refunds issued. A tools and materials list with purchasing resources/links as well as a welcome letter will be supplied to each class member within 48 hours of enrolling. The class blog will go live on August 15th and access to the class blog will last for 30 days (please email me if you feel you might need a bit more time). Please remember you are able to register into this class at any time and if you do so your access is extended by 10 days allowing time for product to be shipped to you – for example if you register on August 15th your access would remain open until September 25th.

To purchase please click here

PLEASE NOTE KITS ARE NO LONGER  AS THEY HAVE SOLD OUT! HOWEVER ALL PRODUCT IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

The ICE Queen is taking a little hiatus from blogging Creative Team Wednesdays. After being at the CREATE Cloth, Paper, Scissors Art Retreat and getting ready for the upcoming Bead and Button Show, she is in need of a blogging break to focus on some behind-the-scenes goodness that will be unveiled at our booth in Milwaukee. Please check back again soon (we’ll be sure to announce a new CTW blog post on our Facebook and Twitter pages) to see what new things the ladies of the Creative Team have worked up for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks and have a truly Artful day!

Kristen, Barbe, Jane, Deryn and Kecia — all members of our Creative Team – do a lot of inspirational work! using ICE Resin and Susan’s handmade bezels that we then have cast for our customer’s creative use. Each week, we’ll feature designs from our Creative Team. Sometimes, we might even slip in some images from Susan Lenart Kazmer or Jen Cushman’s work using ICE Resin too.

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A lot of of customers have been writing the ICE Queen lately with questions about sealing images. There seems to be some confusion where people think you absolutely must seal images before putting them into a bezel and pouring ICE Resin to create a mixed-media collage look to your jewelry.

The choice of first sealing your images or not is a personal one. It’s also a personal artistic aesthetic. One of the things I find most magical about ICE Resin is how it effects paper. Some papers turn almost completely transparent when the resin wicks into the paper fibers. Others, turn a lovely translucency where parts of the image are still brightly colored with the edges fading out. Some images, particularly photographs can turn slightly grey around their edges if not properly sealed before resin is poured on top of them. When it comes to using photographs, my personal preference is to always seal the images in either packing tape or a medium such as Collage Pauge or white craft glue. 

For today’s Creative Team Wednesday, I wanted to show an image from my book. A collage focal pendant is attached to an etched brass cuff with our micro nuts and screws. When I was creating this bezel, I was going for layered collage look with bits and pieces of torn paper. I chose to seal the background book text with Collage Pauge, to keep it colorfast, as well as the cut out scrap of the sunflower. I left the tiny pieces of torn map paper and vintage sheet music unsealed, because I wanted the resin to seep into these scraps and go translucent.  

I feel I successfully achieved the look I was aiming for: Bright summer sunflower, set against a neautral background and pops of color from the map paper. The airy feeling I wanted comes from the scraps of sheet music floating near the top of the bezel.

The best advice I can give you when you first begin to create with ICE Resin is to purchase some inexpensive bezels and use them for practice. Experiment with sealing images and leaving others unsealed. Make a collage layer, pour some resin and let it dry. Do another collage layer, mix up some new resin and do another pour.

Susan recently gave ICE an acronym for what she believes her product is as an art medium. ICE: Imagine. Create. Explore. Giving yourself the freedom to do these things will most certainly take your work to new horizons.

Here’s wishing you an Artful day! — Jen

Kristen, Barbe, Jane, Deryn and Kecia — all members of our Creative Team – do a lot of inspirational work! using ICE Resin and Susan’s handmade bezels that we then have cast for our customer’s creative use. Each week, we’ll feature designs from our Creative Team. Sometimes, we might even slip in some images from Susan Lenart Kazmer or Jen Cushman’s work using ICE Resin too.

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Today’s inspiration comes from Susan in the form of her new triangle wire-and-resin paper journals. SLK first began making wearable journals when she created one as a class sample years and years ago when she began teaching the technique of making resin paper. As she continues to create pieces for her Industrial Chic craft line of charms and components that’s exclusive to Michaels, Susan is taking a look at her older work with new eyes.

“I’ve been looking around my studio at pieces I made 10, 15 years ago and, instead of them looking as my older work, I’ve been inspired by them. I find myself wanting to revisit some of this work, but still looking at it with a fresh perspective,” she recently told me.

A perfect example is the triangle wire frame shape of this piece. She created the open-backed triangle bezel in sterling silver in 2005 and had it cast for use with ICE Resin. She revisited the shape again last year when she decided to make some new mixed metal bezels. The shape naturally flowed from her last month when she spent some quality time in her studio making some new resin paper journals.

The frame couldn’t be a more perfect setting for her layers and layers of resin paper that look as if they’ve been perfectly preserved, but still excavated from a ancient and forgotten chamber buried deep within the earth.

This is just a sneak peek at some of Susan’s new work. We’re thrilled to let you know there are many brand new never-seen pieces that will be debuting in the upcoming July 2011 issue of Belle Armoire magazine by Stampington.

Kristen, Barbe, Jane, Deryn and Kecia — all members of our Creative Team – do a lot of inspirational work! using ICE Resin and Susan’s handmade bezels that we then have cast for our customer’s creative use. Each week, we’ll feature designs from our Creative Team. Sometimes, we might even slip in some images from Susan Lenart Kazmer or Jen Cushman’s work using ICE Resin too.

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Today’s inspiration comes from Creative Team Member Kecia Deveney. What is it about hearts? Is the motif so well loved because it is well…the universal symbol of love? Or could it be the ying/yang of the shape with its rounded top and sharp pointy bottom?  Whatever it is, there’s no denying that a lot of artists enjoy using the heart as symbolism in their work. 

But this heart is not just a heart. There is something very clever about Kecia’s mixed metal pendant featured here. Her material for the little heart embedded in ICE Resin is dog food kibble. Yes, you heard that right, dog food.

Kecia’s quirky way of looking at the world is one of the reasons we were drawn to her for the Creative Team in the first place. We just love how she follows the beat of her own drummer and puts her creative touch on everything she does.

I bet next time you are feeding Fido, you think twice about letting him eat those lovely little hearts.

By the way, the raised round pendant is part of our mixed metals line here at Susan Lenart Kazmer’s ICE Resin. If you’re a store or designer with a tax id#, fill out the wholesale application online and we’ll get you set up for ordering. We’re also publishing a page on our website very soon to let customers know all the hip retail stores across the country that carry Susan’s bronze, sterling and mixed metal bezels, along with ICE Resin and our educational how-to books.

Here’s wishing everyone a truly Artful day! — Jen

Kristen, Barbe, Jane, Deryn and Kecia — all members of our Creative Team – do a lot of inspirational work! using ICE Resin and Susan’s handmade bezels that we then have cast for our customer’s creative use. Each week, we’ll feature designs from our Creative Team. Sometimes, we’ll even slip in some images from Susan Lenart Kazmer or Jen Cushman’s work using ICE Resin too.

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Did you know that you can embed all kinds of organic objects into ICE Resin? As long as the organic material you’re using is dry, it’s so simple to work with. See how Creative Team member Jane Salley used a pressed leaf and tiny pink rosebud bud as the focal art in her pendant. A teeny rhinestone crystal, placed in just the right spot add a delicate sensibility and sweet sparkle to the composition.

To make this pendent, Jane cut a background layer of paper and adhered it to our oval hobnob mixed metal bezel with a small dot of glue. Then she mixed up a small amount of ICE Resin and poured a thin layer. She added her dried leaf and flower, working them gently into place with the tip of a toothpick. She also added the rhinestone. She then pour more ICE Resin into the bezel, nudging her elements back into perfect position as they slid a little off center during the pour. She let her piece dry and voila! A gorgeous focal for her necklace!

People often wonder why the organic material must be dry. Well, its because if there is moisture in the leaves, bones, flowers, sticks, etc. this can cause the material to mold from the inside out if its been embedded in resin too soon.

Kristen, Barbe, Jane, Deryn and Kecia — all members of our Creative Team – do a lot of inspirational work! using ICE Resin and Susan’s handmade bezels that we then have cast for our customer’s creative use. Each week, we’ll feature designs from our Creative Team. Sometimes, we might even slip in some images from Susan Lenart Kazmer or Jen Cushman’s work using ICE Resin too.

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Today’s Creative Team design is from Kristen Robinson. Using our oval hobnob bezels and ICE Resin,  she kept things simple with the addition of text only. What’s so creative about Kristen’s design is that one usually thinks of a bezel as being something to fill with images or text, not as a stand-alone piece of art. The simplicity of her design sets off the beautiful silver finish of the mixed metal bezel so perfectly. Paired with the soft blue and grey fibers, she created a necklace perfect for every day wear.

Kristen, Barbe, Jane, Deryn and Kecia — all members of our Creative Team – do a lot of inspirational work! using ICE Resin and Susan’s handmade bezels that we then have cast for our customer’s creative use. Each week, we’ll feature designs from our Creative Team. Sometimes, we might even slip in some images from Susan Lenart Kazmer or Jen Cushman’s work using ICE Resin too.

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Today’s creative inspiration comes from Barbe Saint John with a necklace she calls “Girl Scientist”. We love how everything Barbe makes has a story behind it and takes on a journey each time we look at her work. Don’t you just love the little lightbulb attached to the pendant? Take a look at this gorgeous piece!

“Girl Scientist” by Barbe Saint John, all rights reserved copyright of the artist

Kristen, Barbe, Jane, Deryn and Kecia — all members of our Creative Team – did such an amazing job (as usual!) on the samples for our booth at the CHA Show using ICE Resin and our bezels. Each person contributed at least 8 samples each. Multiply that by 5 people (6 really because I managed to pour a few myself) and that is a lot of inspirational work!

Check out Creative Team Member Kecia Deveney’s beautiful focal that she calls “A Girl with A Crown Bezel”.  What I really enjoy about Kecia’s piece is how she made it three-dimensional by pouring her bezel to a nice dome and then allowing it to dry before she added her final detail of the bling rhinestones and crown top.

The design of this piece is really colorful, fun and fabulous. Way to go Kecia! To see more of her work, visit Kecia’s blog at Lemoncholy’s Flight of Fancy.

Kristen, Barbe, Jane, Deryn and Kecia — all members of our Creative Team – did such an amazing job (as usual!) on the samples for our booth at the CHA Show using ICE Resin and our bezels. Each person contributed at least 8 samples each. Multiply that by 5 people (6 really because I managed to pour a few myself) and that is a lot of inspirational work!

Each Wednesday, we’ll show you photos of pieces that had people coming into your booth to touch, oohhhh and ahhhh over all the cool things one can do with ICE Resin.

Today’s inspiration comes from Kristen Robinson. Her lovely frozen Charlotte doll embedded into vintage paper, lace, rhinestones and ICE Resin will soon be featured in an upcoming Somerset Studios Workshop from Stampington. Kristen was in the magazine’s California offices during the tail end of the CHA show to film the step outs to this amazing project. We’ll let you know when the issue is available on the newstands, so you too can learn how to make this lovely lady.