Creating the Jewelry and Artwork

For this project I will be creating 4 types of jewelry pieces: headband, necklace, brooch, and a ring.

 In order to stick the flowers to the jewelry I used epoxy glue.

  I used the glue to stick the flower to one of the crystals found on the headband in order to create my flower headband piece.

 For the brooch I used this metal brooch I had and put the glue in the middle of the brooch and at the bottom of the flower. I then stuck the flower to the brooch in order to create my flower brooch piece.

   For the necklace I just glued on the metal pendant to the bottom of the flower and put a silver chain through the hoop found on the pendant.

  For the ring I used glued the bottom of the flower to the metal ring.

 For the artwork I used a black and white picture that I took of the flower and used the epoxy glue to stick the gold flower to the photo. I then used double sided tape to stick the photo to a canvas.

Based on the amount of time and money spent on just making four pieces of jewelry, I decided to not mass produce them, but to go through with my initial plan of auctioning them off in a silent auction. I hope to use the money made from the jewelry to donate funds ti charities that aim to protect nature in the Philippines.

Updates of flowers coated with resin and creation of Necklace

After coating the flowers from Surigao with resin, sadly only two made the day without wilting. The two small flowers turned brown and wilted even after the resin was brushed on the flower. I think the cause of this was how the flowers small size made two days in the silica gel too long. I plan to leave it for only one day when I dry the flower next time.

This is how the small flower looked like:

As you can see the flower completely wilted, turning brown and having the petals droop down.

Thankfully though the two other flowers turned out well. I plan to add a second coat to these flowers, especially the fresh flower as the resin seems to be sweating off the petals. I would like to see if the flower will remain fresh after two or three coats of resin.

This is how the flowers look like:

I also decided to start my jewelry line by making my first necklace with the orchid from my grandmother’s garden.

 In order to make the necklace I needed epoxy resin, a metal pendant, and of course the orchid.

 First I followed the instructions of the package for the epoxy resin and squeezed out equal amounts of the hardener and the adhesive. I then mixed them until the mixture turned clear.

 I then put the glue on the back of the metal pendant to stick on the flower.

 I stuck the pendant on the back of the flower, aligning it with the stem.

Once it dried, I put the chain through the pendant and finished my first necklace. This is how it looks like: