Little Windows
An interview with owner, Fran Valera.
Recently I had a great conversation with Fran Valera, owner of Little Windows, a California
company that manufactures and sells a high quality line of brilliant resin, molds, tools,
kits, and supplies through little-windows.com and independent bead shops. Fran has
more than a decade of experience managing resin and related product development for
the industry before leaving to form Little Windows. Little Windows has won at least two
prestigious awards that are testaments to Fran’s creative leadership in this field.
Breakthroughs and improvements in this area of crafts no doubt account for a lot of its
dramatic growth.
1.RitzyToo: Resins for use in hobbies and crafts go back 50 - 60 years that I am aware of.
Is this a growing hobby? Has the technology changed?
Fran:Yes, that’s right, resins have been around for a long time in different forms, but over
the past few years interest has increased tremendously. I believe many things contribute
to this: trends in fashion, the growth of the maker movement, the ease with which anyone
can present and sell their creations online, and improvements in the tools and supplies
available.
2. RitzyToo: I get the impression that you have brought or found improvements to the
hobby, its materials, processes, and applications. Would you please elaborate on these
issues?
Fran: Previously, resins available at craft and hobby stores were originally developed for
more industrial applications, and were then repackaged for the craft market. They were
not healthy to use, and while they might be great for varnishing a bar top, they didn’t
have the qualities you’d want for making jewelry
and other small items. These harsh chemicals
smell bad, they bubble, they yellow, and they often damage the items you try to embed. When
you’re hand making creations you intend to wear,
gift, or sell, you want them to be clear, and you
want a system that makes it easy. That’s where
Little Windows Brilliant Resin & Supplies shine.
We’ve developed a proprietary formula designed
for use in making small shiny things. It’s the safest epoxy you’ll find, it doesn’t stink, it’s really
low bubbling, and it’s really quite color stable.
It’s versatile too, our high-quality resin can cast,
dome, layer, embed, fill bezels, coat, seal, glue,
and varnish.
48| April-May | RitzyToo! | RitzyToo.com