Today is Thanksgiving, a great day to make some progress on small projects! Today was second layer of resin over the two heart / mica rainbow suncatchers / ornaments and also for the first mica rainbow coaster. I liked the first mica rainbow batch so much that I decided to make a round mica rainbow suncatcher / ornament and three more coasters to match the first. Next up will be the second layers on those. I also made a medium sized stained glass snowman suncatcher that will need another layer of resin and some decorations tomorrow.
Small projects in progress
I was able to pop out a few finished projects from yesterday’s batch, too!
Continuing to try and make some new things for the small, outdoor, masks required pop-up craft fair I signed up to do at 3 Matadors for December 5th.
First I needed some more snowballs for snowmen, as I used up all the ones I had on hand. Back to the old grinder so to speak. 🙂
Making snowballs – rough cut then grind down to roundGetting the “big” snowman ready for resinLaying out all of my small projects to work on today
Before I start mixing my resin, I lay out all of my projects and needed supplies. Today was the second layer of resin on the holly suncatcher and all five coasters, though one will be a new coaster design and the other four will be sandollars in the sand. I like to elevate the larger projects like the snowman panel so I can reach any drips that happen. I sometimes tape the underside edge, but forgot this today.
After resin and decorating – ready to cure!
I’m trying out some new colors of mica for the rainbow projects. I think they will be really pretty!
Close up of the rainbows / snowman suncatchers and coasterSnowman panel curing
Now everything just needs to sit overnight to cure.
Yesterday the friends who will be the recipients of the big Frank Lloyd Wright window came over and we decided to do another layer of resin. I decided that I really needed to move it to the garage for the final layer so I could access all sides of the window, despite the space being more prone to dust / humidity. Luckily it is an unseasonably warm day and the temperature in the garage was 75, which is perfect for my resin (Envirotex Lite).
Making sure it is level
Layer 4 in the process of curing
Adding a final layer of resin.
This took a bit of planning as I had to mix up a lot more resin than usual and keep my family out of the garage (next to impossible today for some reason). However, after pouring, spreading and using my heat gun to clear the resin, everything looks good so far. Hopefully we can move it into the mud room later in the evening so the temperature remains a bit more consistent while it continues to cure overnight. In the meantime, I had a few smaller projects in the works I wanted to continue / start. Unfortunately this included repairs on a holly suncatcher I made yesterday. I had covered it with some wax paper to keep dust out while it cured and the paper made contact with the resin and made a giant mess. I had to carve some lumps off of the suncatcher today when it was cured enough, reinsert it into the mold and sort of “top it off” with another layer of resin. We’ll see how good it looks tomorrow (hopefully). I don’t think it will look as good as it would have had it not needed the repair, but I can likely keep it to use at home.
After chipping off the bumps and reinserting in the mold, prior to repair layer of resin
Coasters of the day
Suncatchers / Ornaments
Today’s small projects
So all in all, I poured a second layer on three beachy coasters, first layer on two more beachy coasters, repair layer on the holly suncatcher / ornament and the first layers on three snowman ornaments.
I finished this guy yesterday and he cured overnight. Measures approximately 6.5″ w x 9.5″ tall, stained glass on recycled window glass coated with resin and decorated with glass chips, ground stone, glass glitter and blue shell accents.
I’m on roll with the holiday ornaments. I only have four molds, though, so I can only make four every other day, and that’s if I actually don’t skip any days, which I do. So it’s not a high output production, but it is a labor of love. 🙂
Today’s projects
I poured the second layer on the fourth “Holiday Confetti” coaster and the first layer on the other five pieces. In addition, I poured the resin and decorated a small (though big compared to the other items) Snowman panel.
Pouring and spreading the resin
The yellow on the glass is actually painters tape I applied to the underside of the glass to make cleanup a bit easier. I pour a small amount of resin over all of the stained glass, then spread a thin layer over the rest of the backer glass so I have a substrate for my decorations to adhere to. In this case, I used crushed stone for snow, clear glass chips and blue shell chips for sparkle and interest. I dusted a bit of fine glass glitter over the snowbank and bottom area as well, but I’m finding that the glitter doesn’t seem to show up very well / as I would hope.
Resin curing with decorations embedded
I also popped out some finished products from yesterday’s time spent creating.
Cardinal Suncatcher / Ornament
Snowman Suncatcher / Ornament
Snowman with blue sky
Holly Suncatcher / Ornament
Holiday Confetti Coasters
Beachy Coasters
I used some of the fine glass glitter in the Cardinal and Snowman suncatchers / ornaments above and it didn’t turn out as I had hoped. The glitter is sort of cloudy instead of sparkly. It still looks ok, just not the way I expected it to look. It might be better on the surface of my non-mold resin projects, so I will keep experimenting.
Today I poured the second layer of resin on several small projects and then spent some time making several small snowmen. I am experimenting with some abstract red and green coasters too, though my son says his favorite is the holly leaf suncatcher. My current favorites are the little snowmen. This is as close as you can get to making snowmen here in Charleston, SC. It’s 80 degrees outside and it’s well into November!
Resin curing!
To make the “snowballs” for their bodies, I use glass nippers to rough out a generally round shape, then I use my glass grinder to smooth the edges. My fingers are pretty sore after making so many snowmen in one day! After the “snowballs” are ready, I paint on their faces (on the tiny ones). I use glass for the detail on the faces of the larger snowmen. Since these tiny ones are destined to be in two sided ornaments, I painted both sides of their faces / buttons and the little birds that will perch on their stick arms.
Lots of snowmen!One “big” snowman
I also cut some backer glass and glued the pieces of this “big” snowman in place. I will pour the resin and decorate it another day, after the mosaic adhesive has had a chance to fully cure. This piece will be table top sized as it’s slightly smaller than a standard sheet of paper.
Today’s little ‘cheer-full’ projects! Second or third layers poured on the beachy coasters, first layer on all the others. I got some new colors of mica and other types of flitter / glitter from meyer-imports this week and I can’t wait to try them all out!
White molds are coasters, aqua molds are suncatchers / ornaments
I signed up to have a booth at this small, outdoor, socially distancing and mask wearing event on Dec. 5th. Come on out and see me! All vendors will be offering locally made handcrafted gifts (no mass produced / franchise type vendors). Be safe – wear a mask!
