Resinating

January 23, 2022

Many years ago, I bought a gold tray at a yard sale for $2.00.  I was doing stained glass at the time, and saw that it was really nice to take scraps and do mosaiacs.  So, I did a mosaiac of autumn leaves in this gold tray, surrounded it with scraps and some tiles I found at Home Depot, and then had the idea of pouring in clear resin.  I'm not sure where the resin idea came from, truthfully.  I had made a few candle holders since then - adding seashells and that for "seascapes" after a candle we bought had run out of this weird polymer gel fill.  I dabbled in this (literally) and then this past holiday season, it exploded.


Not sure really, how it exploded either.  All of a sudden, I was pouring into silcone molds, maknig coaster sets, pyramids - LOTS of pyramids, and then using a 3D printer to add even more goodies inside my resin creations.  I am currently working on mastering "ocean waves" and am going to do a pour in a little while that will be a mirror.  I'm hoping it comes out right...

I never realized what an art form resin was.  Luckily I know where to get decent resin at a good price with my 40-60% off Joann coupons!  I need to start going to craft fairs once we get to have them again.  I have a lot of product to sell.  And PYRAMIDS!  The thing about pyramids is that when I am pouring, I will inadvertenly have too much resin after a major pour.  What to do with it? It's GOLD.  So, I'll grab a pyramid mold and pour.

I was pouring these candle holders I was getting at Walmart - about a 4" square, thick-walled glass jar and I had purchased votive cups from Amazon.  So, I'd plunk a votive cup in the center, pour my resin - maybe in layers depending upon the project, and put interesting things in the resin surrounding the votive cup.  I made some great ones for Christmas that made nice gifts (my neighbor told me it was their centerpiece) and did a lot of seascapes.  I incorporated colored inks into the mix (literally) and then discovered mica powder.  Now that stuff is amazing!  I can make things look like geodes. 

I learned pouring techniques, how to use a heat gun to move it where I want it, and how to make a GIANT mess.  I also learned to make silicone molds and made a couple of molds to add to the mix.  It's really fun, but now I have a whole bunch of resin items...time to sell...don't say Etsy; tried that a while back when I did stained glass and no one bought anything unless they knew it was there by my telling them.

As I approach my upcoming hand surgery, I see that I can pour without hurting my hand and even do it with the left hand, so I can continue this while I am recovering. 

Here's a link to pix of my stuff:  http://www.spacerock.com/photos.php?action=g&g=144

More to come!