How to colour resin jewellery

It has been quite a while since I last did a tutorial type of blog post and I felt the urge so here goes. As you are probably aware, I like to use bright and vibrant colours to my jewellery making so I thought I would share the different methods of colouring resin jewellery.

Coloured resin horse hair jewellery

This is by no means a definitive method of colouring the resin but the way I like to do it... I suppose other people may have their own methods. Similarly the methods that I use for colouring resin may also be used for other crafts such as polymer clay and glue.

Pearl-Ex Powder

The Jacquard Pearl-Ex powders are contained within tiny pots however the size is very deceptive! You actually only use a very tiny amount of the powder to colour the resin and each pot goes a very long way indeed. The powder leaves a lovely pearlescent finish and comes in a variety of colours including metallic finishes.

Jacquard Pearl-Ex powder

I use a toothpick or cocktail stick to add the Pearl-Ex power to the resin. Just a very small amount on the end of the stick is required and it mixes into the resin very easily.

Mixing Pearl-Ex powder in resin

The resulting pearl-like colours are very pretty and these are also great for achieving a metallic look. Although the pots do last a long time, it can be quite costly if lots of colours are required.

Resin coloured with Pearl-Ex powder

Castin’ Craft Liquid Pigments

The Castin’ Craft liquid pigment dyes are another method for colouring resin. They are provided in small bottles and provide either opaque or transparent finishes. The resulting colours are extremely rich and it is probably the best method for achieving solid colours.

Castin' Craft colour pigment

Care needs to be taken though when using the Castin’ Craft range of colours; it is a liquid and resin does not like liquids at all! The smallest of droplets is needed to colour the resin (too much and the resin will not cure properly).

Mixing Castin' Craft colour pigment in resin

The Castin’ Craft pigment mixes into the resin so easily and is great for achieving rich, solid colours; not so good for blending colours together though.

Resin coloured with Castin' Craft pigment

Artists' Pastels

This is my personal favourite and something I use all the time; why buy specialist powders and dyes when simple (relatively inexpensive) artists' pastels achieve the same thing. I bought my set of pastels for less than £10 4 years ago and they still look hardly used.

Artist Pastels

A very small amount of pastel is required to colour the resin. Just shave a small amount off with a knife and mix. It can sometimes take a little while to get all of the pastel absorbed by the resin but it is worth it.

Mixing pastels in resin

I think the pastels are a great way for controlling the colour of the resin; you can use as little or as much as you like and a great way for blending different colours together too. I am often asked to match colours exactly for some of my resin jewellery custom orders and using the pastels is the only sure way of achieving that. For the price you get a great range of colours too!

Resin coloured with artists' pastels

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial about colouring resin jewellery.

Mick