Creating Beautiful Bezels with ICE Resin by Susan Lenart Kazmer

A couple years ago, I discovered ICE Resin, a product developed by Susan Lenart Kazmer...she is one of the most inspiring artists I've ever met.  If you're not familiar with her work, click on the link above to view her amazing work.    

Susan worked with Spellbinders to develop a line of bezels and pendants...and I became very familiar with the products. I got to teach and demonstrate the products, literally around the world at trade shows and art events...here's a flashback from the blog archives where you can see some of the places and people I met...Creating Beautiful Bezels with Spellbinders Media Mixage...for me, it was an incredible experience to work with the products and to share them with other artists and crafters.  I'd not created any jewelry peices for years...so it was a nice reintroduction to jewelry making. 

And, over time as I worked with the products, I discovered a few techniques and tricks of my own when working with ICE Resin.  For example, the resin in the photo above is tinted with artists pastels...the resin looks like Lapis...it's a cool technique that I love to share in the workshops I teach today.

And, over time, as I have moved on and done other things, artistically and professionally, I still get asked to teach ICE Resin workshops...I absolutely love getting to share the techniques with students who attend.  The student work is always very inspiring.  Very often we create memory pieces...I ask students to bring family photos and personal letters and we set out to preserve family memories by creating pendants and bezels with those treasure images.  

During the course of the workshops, I often end up with some beautiful pieces that I've created with the students as examples and instructional pieces...I've started adding them to my etsy shop,          Ken Oliver Crafts. They're often too beautiful not to share.   

I'm still teaching ICE Resin workshops and in fact, I have a workshop on October 24th in my hometown.  The event is called ICE at the Edge, You can click on the link...or click on the ICE at the Edge banner at the side of this page for more details.  The event will be smaller and more intimate than many of the workshops I teach, and we're going to be in the most beautiful venue...our classroom over looks the Ohio River in Southern Indiana.   

I am getting really excited about ICE at the Edge. Students are traveling from as far away as Florida, Connecticut, and Minnesota to attend.  

If you'd like to enroll, it's really easy, and affordable and the workshop includes dinner...

And, at the end of the workshop, you'll have created 4 beautiful pendants that you can wear yourself, or give as gifts.  

As you can probably tell, I love working with ICE Resin...it's let me create and express my art in lots of new ways...I'd invite you to visit my etsy shop to see more...and hopefully, you'll think about coming to ICE at the Edge to learn how to create these beautiful pieces yourself.  I hope to see you there!  

Embossed Copper Collage Classes

Last week, I had the opportunity to teach a couple classes in St. Louis Missouri and in Evansville Indiana...I am always amazed with the creativity my friends and students share when we're creating together.  

I feel extremely blessed to get to teach techniques that inspire others to make art.  

I wanted to share just a few of the photos from each class. I loved seeing the finished projects, and I think you will love them too.  

At the base of this project is embossed copper...we use embossing folders, copper sheets, and patina solution to create stunning backgrounds for our collage pieces.  

It's an easy technique that gives amazing results.  

Often, students bring family photos, my friend Ann commented that she had relatively few photos of her parents together in the same photo...she pieced a couple photos together to create this tribute to them.  

 I love how this project below has a family photograph incorporated into the collage.

  

Thank you again For Keeps Sake in St. Louis, Missouri, and Mary's Scrap Den in Evansville, Indiana for letting me share some art and some new techniques with everyone at your shops. 

'til next time,

Ken 

March is National Craft Month!

March is National Craft Month....I kicked off the month long event by teaching a workshop at Frenzy Stamper in Scottsdale Arizona.

Frenzy Stamper is known in the Phoenix area for it's mixed media classes.   

I'd been looking forward to working with the artists at Frenzy Stamper for a long time...a workshop there was a great way to kick off National Craft Month.  

I taught a class on how to create an embossed copper tag deck.  I created this project a while back but I'd never taught it as a workshop before.  You can see more images and details in this earlier post...

Since I knew the artists who frequent the shop liked mixed media, I wanted to show them some cool techniques using leaves and modeling paste to create background textures.  

We started the day creating textured background images in modeling paste by impressing leaves, burlap, combs, and strings into the modeling paste.  Then we adding color with acrylic paints to really bring out the textures.  

It was really interesting to see everyone's textures come to life with color!  

In fact, the texture sheets were so beautiful, they looked as if they could be framed and used as art.  

Each student's texture sheet was different and each amazing.  

We cut pieces of Kraft*Tex and copper sheet to use as mats behind die cut pieces of the texture sheets we'd just created. 

 

The layered effect is beautiful.  

And then we used bits of scrapbook papers and printed ephemera to create mini collages.  

Each collage was different, and interesting...

Some students brought copies of family photos to use in their collages.  Jill brought color copies of photos of her grandchildren.... 

to make her art personal.  

The results were amazing!  

It was great to kick off National Craft Month with a workshop at Frenzy Stamper!  I've got a busy month in store with more workshops and classes.  

Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you will be inspired to create something beautiful! 

Ken

Resources:

Spellbinders Paper Arts

DecoArt

C&T Publishing

Tattered Angels