Resin Jewellery

"A craft post?" I hear you cry, "On what was supposed to be a craft blog?! Well this is unusual..."

Yes, I may have deviated slightly with the whole craft blog thing. Allow me to atone for my bloggy sins with the following.

Due to my recent obsession with MsTrinity143's Youtube channel, I decided to have a go at making some resin jewellery. Given my love of stickers, glitter, and pointless glass/plastic objects, this seemed a craft match made in heaven.

I couldn't get the resin used in any of the videos I saw on Youtube, so I decided to go for the Pebeo Crystal Resin kit (300ml), because it was available in my local Hobbycraft. Then I realised that it was £19.99 in Hobbycraft, and I could get it delivered to my door for £15 from eBay...So...Support your local high street guys, or shops will die and all retail will be online...I'll let you make your own choice over where you spent your £15. ;)

Anyway...this is the kit I got:

 

There is also a 750ml version, but at £34.99 I can't afford it. :S

 

 

To start with, I followed some of the Youtube videos, and bought some chocolate moulds. Chocolate moulds are supposed to be good because they are really shiny...The resin sets with the texture of the mould, so a rough mould means the piece needs varnishing/more resin painting on to make it shiny/clear. I got this mould:

 

I also got a shell one too. The moulds are the transparent, vacuum-formed plastic type. The stickers and glitter I used are just generic ones.

 

 

There are all manner of warnings about the fumes, etc, when using the resin, so I worked on the electric hob (fully cooled, of course), with the extractor fan on. That worked pretty well for getting rid of the smell! One thing I didn't do was grease/coat the moulds. In hindsight, this was a mistake, as I now have two very bent moulds from wrestling the pieces out of it! :( But, I have some beautiful pieces. I also made my own mould using mould putty (the castle and Pudge pieces).

 

 

 



Pudge and Cinderella Castle are actually print-outs that I laminated myself. That darker shadow on Pudge's tail is what happens when you don't seal the plastic tight enough and resin gets on the paper inside. :( I still love him though!! :)

 

For the next batch, I hit up Lakeland for some new moulds. Their moulds are great because they aren't in packaging, so you can see if the insides of the moulds are shiny or not. As a rule, their silicone small moulds are shiny and the larger ones aren't. Sadly none of the new Dr. Who moulds are shiny. If anyone wants to buy me the Lakeland carousel and fairy cottage mould sets, I will love you forever. I sooooooooo want to make a little resin gingerbread cottage and put fairy lights inside it.

 

I also raided the Paperchase and Accesorize sales for some stickers.

 

Resin Round 2:

 

 

As you can see, the new moulds make lovely shiny pieces! :) Also, the backs are much neater/flatter with less of a lip than using the plastic Wilton moulds. I think we have a winner on the mould front! A few things went wrong, stickers moved, there's the odd air bubble, but on the whole I'm very happy with what I've got so far!

 

The Pebeo resin is AWESOME, if you were wanting a little bit of a review. A lot of the resins online you mix 1:1 hardener and resin, this you mix 1:2. I have to say, the hardener bottle is an awful pourer. I will definitely be short on hardener for the last batch because so much of it ran down the side of the bottle the first time I tried to pour it. :S Not good considering how expensive it is and how precisely you have to measure it. It does have a strong smell. Personally that didn't bother me. I worked with the extractor fan on, and suffered no ill effects. For the first pouring of the first batch, I worked under HAZMAT conditions, wearing the gloves that came with the kit. Yeah...that lasted for all of 10mins. If you have sensitive skin (well, I have sensitive skin, but anyway), take appropriate precautions. It is dangerous for skin until it sets. It is also a total b!tch to get off skin. Expect to go full Lady Macbeth Mode for 10-15mins if you get any on your hands. That stuff is STICKY. It takes longer to set than the 1:1 stuff, a full 24hrs for completely dry. It took 3-4 days for each design, working in layers.

 

Layer 1: sticker/cabachon

Layer 2: smaller stickers/large glitter
Layer 3: glitter background

Layer 4: clear empty layer

 

It's kind of like doing decoupage, building up the layers, but with resin instead of foam pads. I love it!

 

I have another batch of resin, Mylar glitter (always wanted some for nail art too!) and 500+ stickers winging their way to me as we speak, so I'm sure the next resin update won't be too far in the future!

 

 You might have also noticed that I am now on Instagram...You can follow me here. :)

 

True Friends...

I've seen something quoted all over Twitter and Facebook lately that makes me think. The basic jist is "True friends never walk away". I disagree. the statement is wrong.

"True friends never give friends reason to walk away" would be more accurate. "Friends aren't doormats" would be a little more to the point.

Friends are wonderful, amazing, awesome things. Some will be there your whole life. Some become more family than friends. I don't know where I would be without any of mine (and it should go without saying, none are referenced below).

But "true friends" don't make your life a nightmare. They don't put you under undue stress, spread rumours and talk behind your back, cause problems for you with other friends, get you in trouble with the law, chase your boyfriend/girlfriend, put you in awkward situations, make unreasonable demands on you or your time, condemn you for spending time with other people, damage your posessions, or take advantage of your charity (and that's just a few examples I've seen on FB/Twitter). Friendship is a two-way street. If you don't behave like a "true friend" to other people, you can't expect to get that in return.

Likewise, awarding someone the honour of being your "true friend" isn't your free pass to treat them like crap, put them through the mill, and then turn around and berate them when they get sick of taking your crap and walk away. There's one statement which circulates a lot less often, one which I think the new version probably stemmed from, and that I can say I believe wholeheartedly.

..."I'll never walk away from a true friend."

May that always be true of me. :).