More experiments in ring making

I have spent the past few days experimenting with rings in a variety of materials.  Here are a selection of the finished rings.  The top left hand ring is resin with little pieces of cut thread embedded into it.  The top right hand ring is faux bone, art clay silver and alcohol inks. The bottom right hand ring is faux bone but before I textured it I made a mould and then poured a resin version with red thread embedded in it.  I am really enjoying my time experimenting like this, it is always good to take a break from the 'bread and butter' work and play for a while, letting new ideas bounce around the studio.

Red resin and thread

I have been trying not to work over the Christmas holidays, difficult when my studio is so close to home.   Anyway as a Christmas treat to myself I bought a pack of casting resin and a bangle mold.  Here is my first attempt, not perfect by any means but I have quite enjoyed making it.  I used three shades of sewing thread and mixed it into the resin as I poured the resin into the mould.  I have got a few bubbles a couple of which are on the edge so I am not very happy about that and may have to file it down and alter the profile to remove them. I have also sanded it back as I didn't really want the usual high gloss finish. It was really difficult to get the set bangle out of the deep mould but I have since found instructions on a blog that say after it has set to pop the whole thing into the freezer for a short time before trying to remove it.
 (I would then of course have to wear gloves to try and wrestle it out of the mold as I can't actually grip anything cold or frozen).

Of course I realised before I started that there was little chance the bangle would fit me as I have large hands that don't flex very tightly but I have found that if I warm the bangle up, by running it under the hot tap, I can flex the bangle just enough to get it on.  I don't know whether it will get more brittle with age though?  Anyway, it was a fun project for the holidays.