Remember my easy peasy wire wrapped tutorial with Nunn Design's open frame rings? Well, wire wrapping is not the only technique you can use to dress up these dainty rings.  This tutorial uses resin clay which requires no baking at all because it hardens at ambient temperatures.  The resulting hardened clay is very durable. Plus, it is an adhesive clay to boot!


Nunn Design's marvelous geometric rings are available in different shapes and metal colors. You can purchase them here or in bulk over on Nunn Design.  These are the most fun rings I have had the pleasure to review. You do not need to do anything to them if you are a fan of the minimalist style!




But I love Swarovski crystals and wanted to use different types for this tutorial. So I used Swarovski bead caps (alas, I cannot remember where I bought these particular ones) and marguerites - a rainbow and a smaller blue one.

I also used ball head pins as they go through the center of the crystals. The head pins were trimmed as you can see later.


I used a small piece of packing tape and pressed it to the back side of the open frame. 


I used Apoxie Sculpt. You can buy this epoxy resin clay in different quantities. If you want to color them (light colors), you can mix in some oil paint.  If you prefer strong colors, you will have to purchase them pre-colored - try some of the jewelry supply companies. I generally stock only black and the natural off white ones. 


Just make balls of roughly the same size from Part A or B.  I sometimes use small scales and weigh them. But weighing is not really necessary.  The clay is sticky so I usually wear nitrile gloves to mix the two parts together until thoroughly blended.  You have a few hours before the clay completely hardens.


I added a small amount of mixed clay to each ring. The packing tape backing prevents the clay from coming out the back.


Then  I added the crystal and gently pressed it into the clay. Do not press too hard or the crystals will sink too deeply.  You may have to reduce the amount of clay used if the clay "overflows".   Trim each head pin so it is short enough not to poke through the back of the ring.


Work slowly.  Clean up the clay along the bezel. And gently smooth the exposed clay either with your fingertips or a round head tool used by polymer clay artists.


Cover and leave the rings to set on their own overnight.




My favorite was the rainbow marguerite one!




Photography
I used natural light, my iPhone 6S with the ProCamera app and the Modahaus TS400 tabletop studio  for final product photography. The tutorial pictures were taken with the same equipment but with artificial lights in my windowless basement studio. Check out my How to Photograph Jewelry Webinar  (resumes in the new year).

Disclosure
I receive samples for review. I also receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation.

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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