Making of...JRandall Resin Necklaces!

Being a JRandall fan, I wanted to make something for myself and other fans to help spread the word about JRan! Naturally, I figured a resin jewelry piece. I really need to get another mold because these take FOREVER as I only have one square mold and can only do one at a time. Once you see the steps, you'll see why this is frustrating. So, next step for me is to get another mold! The steps below can be used for any paper item you want to preserve in resin.

Step 1- Find pictures you want to preserve in resin. (Since these are printouts on computer paper, I gave them a little more thickness by gluing them to cardstock first.) Coat the pictures, back and front with at LEAST 2 coats of Modge Podge. I did the first two coats, then cut out the pictures, then did the backs and the edges.



Step 2- Mix your resin according to the instructions. I use epoxy resin, so I mix equal parts of resin and hardener. Fill mold just enough to hold the picture in, then place picture in and gently push down to force out any air bubbles. It looks goofy but I have the stir stick anchored to hold the picture down until the resin has thickened enough and I don't need to worry about air bubbles anymore (usually about 4 hours.)



Step 3- Wait...and wait...and wait until the resin cures. If it was mixed properly, you can usually feel that the piece is solid the next morning, but wait at least 24 hours to be sure that it really is cured.


Step 4- I wanted to use a solid colored back but didn't want to wait another 24 hours for the second layer, so I mixed my quick-cure Alumilite polyurethane resin (again, equal parts A and B), with a bit of shimmery white powdered color (I use powdered eyeshadow, works perfectly!) and quickly poured into the rest of the mold. This resin sets up FAST so you have to work FAST. The fun part of Alumilite is that it cures completely opaque and pastel colored depending on the powdered pigment you add to it.

In 10 minutes, the piece is ready to pop out! After that, I superglued a bail to the back and here is the finished piece!

JRandall, Christmas Style *Updated*

I've been enjoying JRandall's music lately, it's such a breath of fresh air from all the repeats on the radio lately. I am still so excited looking forward to a whole album from JRan. Truthfully, I haven't been this excited about a new artist since Adam Lambert and prior to him, Britney Spears. I remember being in 7th or 8th grade, running around to every record store I could find, asking for the new Britney Spears album. All I'd get in response was, "Who?" and a blank stare. Now it's hard to find someone who hasn't heard of Britney and I just know this will end up being the case with JRan.

Anyway, Mr. Randall has bestowed this little gem called "Santa Gimme" upon our speakers for the holiday season. Some may not like it and yes, it's for the younger crowd, but it's hilarious and is a very catchy song; I've had it on repeat since I first heard it! The video is coming soon and I can't wait for that either. Thank goodness for twitter so I won't miss anything! This blog site is offering a free download of the song, once you click over to the site, right click on the link that says, "Free Download" and then either "Save Target As" or in my case, "Save Link As." Or if you don't want to download it, you can listen to it right from the site.

Enjoy!
http://clizbeats.com/j-randall-gives-the-gift-of-free-music121104/


*Update!*
The video is now available, view it here!

You Need This Guy in Your Life: JRandall!

I usually don't write posts about music but I just recently heard his single, "Spirit of the Radio" on the radio and loved it immediately. At first, I thought it was by some well known artist like Jay Sean or Jason DeRulo, but it was only when I heard the song a second time a couple days later, they introduced it as being by a new artist named JRandall! Being the curious person I am (I pretty much research everything I'm interested in), I wanted to find out about him so I searched around on Youtube and found the video to the song, which is from the Step Up 3D soundtrack. Again, I LOVED it. Anyway, I'm so looking forward to his album which is supposed to drop next year and I feel like he has the potential to knock the Biebs off of his musical throne. Plus, JRan is a better dancer and has songs you actually won't mind getting stuck in your head all day, so there you have it. Who says the teenyboppers are the only ones who can have a hot new singer?

You follow him on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/JRandalland

And see his "Spirit of the Radio" video here:






UPDATE as of 10/6: You can now hear JRandall's new song, "Oo La La" which features Akon, via the Just Jared blog:
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2010/10/06/jrandall-oo-la-la-song-premiere-with-akon/


Or here on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE28bOT14QU


Oui, oui!