Glass of Sherry
The resin cured overnight on this 16″ project and I was able to take a few snapshots of the final product. I’m much happier with the way this one turned out than the first one. Not that the first one looks bad – it just doesn’t look quite the way that I meant for it to look (the colors were lighter than I intended on the first one).
About four years ago we had the best family vacation ever at Yellowstone National Park. If you have been there, chances are you have seen Morning Glory Pool.
Yellowstone was amazing to me – I saw so many things that were beautiful and / or that I had just never seen nor imagined! Morning Glory Pool is what was on my mind when I started working on my second lazy susan resin project. I didn’t use any glass in this project; it was just a spur of the moment creation after I decided to embellish two wooden lazy susans we had that have been in storage. This one is 16″ across.
I gathered the colors I wanted to use. I tried to use fewer than on my first lazy susan. I considered adding some alcohol ink, but ended up not using it for this project. I haven’t experimented with that yet.
I mixed the resin and started pouring it in concentric circles from the center of the lazy susan. I tried to use higher contrasting colors between each ring. I forgot to take a photo of this before I started moving the resin with the heat gun, but here it is with the first layer poured and blown with the heat gun.
From there, it’s just a matter of more pouring, then more moving the resin around with the heat gun – repeating the cycle until I was happy with the look.
I tried to be a bit neater with this one, and the sharper edges on this lazy susan made it easier to do so. I used a sponge on a stick to put a layer of resin all around the edges of the piece, but also let some of the resin just flow over the edge.
I used the heat gun to make the textured appearance in the pigments by moving the resin back and forth across itself repeatedly.
After this, I used my gloved fingers to clean up any drips from the underside of the lazy susan. I still had a lot of drips even after doing that on my first one, but I think I had less waste on this project to drip over the edge. Still I will check on it a few more times to see if any appear, as it’s much easier to deal with them before it cures. Now I just wait overnight to see how it turned out.
What do you think – do you see any resemblance?
The lazy susan I worked on yesterday is pretty much cured. It came out a lighter shade than I had planned on, but is still pretty.
Here are some close ups of the detail in the resin.
Ok, this is not a glass project whatsoever, but it’s something I have been wanting to try for a while. I have been doing some minor decluttering around the house and in the process ran across a couple of old wooden lazy susans that have just been sitting around for the last 15 or so years. This one measures 14″ across. I decided to try out decorating them with resin. I was hoping for a “beachy” look, but, well, you can judge for yourself. And remember this was my first try.
I used a lot of powdered pigment colors for this. Probably overkill, but it’s my first try. I mixed some yellow with white and later actually added a tiny touch of brown to it because I was going for a sandy look with this color.
I mixed the clear resin (about 200 ml), then poured it into the individual containers with the powdered pigments and stirred some more.
Now comes the leap of faith, as once I started working with the resin, I was making a mess and didn’t want to touch my phone to take photos. However, the process was basically to add a circle of the yellow/white/brown (sand) mixture to the center of the board, then add concentric rings of different colors, trying to alternate with white frequently (I mixed about twice as much white as any other color). I also held back a small amount of the clear to use as accents. I filled in any bare spots within the rings with the gold colored resin. Once the lazy susan was about 3/4 covered, I used my heat gun to move the resin around and completely cover the lazy susan.
I used my (gloved) fingers, a sponge brush and stir sticks to try to clean up the drips from the underside of the lazy susan. Ultimately my fingers seemed to work best for this. I kept messing around with it a bit until the resin started to firm up, and there was one spot that wanted to bubble even though I sealed the wood beforehand.
This is how it turned out by the time I was done pouring and blowing it with the heat gun. Overall, it wasn’t really the look I was going for (beach), but I still think it is pretty. For a first try, it is OK. I think I should not have used so many similar colors – I need to stick with fewer, more contrasty shades. I’ll see how it looks after it cures tomorrow. I also want to try this with alcohol inks, but one step at a time. I had a small amount of resin left over, so I poured one coaster (half a layer – it will need more resin to finish it).
Today is the last day of the Charleston Holiday Market, and it was a busy day. My Mermaid mosaic, Starfish Trio, and Here Comes the Sun mosaic windows all found loving new homes, along with numerous smaller pieces. I’ve made a *little* bit of room to make some new things, so hopefully I will have time to revisit the sunset mosaic I started a few weeks ago with dichroic glass.
I had a busy first day at the Charleston Holiday Market today (you can get a coupon for a dollar off admission if you visit their website). I will be there from 10am to 6pm tomorrow (Saturday) and 11am to 5pm on Sunday. I don’t think I will have a single coaster left by this time Sunday. My Beach Window went to a loving home, and several ornaments did, as well. Since this is my first time participating in such a large show, it is a great learning experience!
The best part is that I will have a whole year to prepare for next time; I will know what items resonate with people most and be able to work on similar projects. The date for this creeped up on my quickly because I signed up late in the game, but I will have plenty of time to prepare for next year. Since all of my projects (coasters, ornaments) take at a minimum 2 days to make (windows much longer), I can’t quickly make more. That is part of what makes them special, though! I still have some coasters, plenty of ornaments (both glass and resin) and several window mosaics for the rest of the weekend, though. Come on out to the Convention Center and visit – it’s a great time! Another bonus is that my booth is right next to Mountain Mist – I love their products (especially anything in Orange Blossom scent). My family thinks I will spend all of my earnings in their booth, though.
If I sell out of anything you really like, I can make more – just send me a message. My items are all one of a kind, but I can make something pretty close to what I made before (especially in glass – the coasters are more difficult to reproduce).
I finished these yesterday and they cured overnight – here’s how they turned out!
In preparation for this week’s Charleston Holiday Market, I’m really pushing the limits on how many individual items I can pour and decorate at the same time. If it goes well, at least I will have all year to prepare for the next one! I finished shaping the stained glass items for this batch of ornaments and was able to pour / decorate the resin this evening.
Many thanks to my husband for taking care of dinner while I tended these – I really need a solid two hours after pouring the resin to work with them, which can be hard to find between my regular work and carting my teenagers around to their various obligations. I had a few issues during the pouring (pouring too much resin, a couple of the ornament hooks came loose, etc). I think they will turn out OK, though. I’m pretty sure I will be spending a chunk of time tomorrow cleaning up cured resin drips from the back sides of these ornaments, though.
I used some different glass for the holly ornaments I made today (on the left). The glass on the right is the sparkly green I love for so many different projects. I’ve made several tree / wreath ornaments with it. It’s really great for hummingbirds, too!
I went out of my usual habit and made some new designs for beach themed ornaments – the heart is made of resin and sand that I molded a few months ago. They both have recycled clear glass bases (the squares), sand, and blue shell chips for the water effect. Great for anyone who loves the beach!
I’ve had a lot going on the past couple of weeks and I haven’t been able to make as many new small items as I expected for the Charleston Holiday Market that is starting on Friday. It’s a pretty big event, much larger than any I’ve ever done before, so it should be a learning experience! If you click on the link, you can get advance tickets for $2 off, or a coupon for $1 off admission. I was able to finally pour the resin on several new ornaments as well as the second layer of resin on a few resin ornaments and a coaster today, though.
I use stained glass for the leaves, berries and snowman and clear glass that is recycled from old windows to make these festive ornaments. I cut the glass for these ornaments and glued it down yesterday, so today it was time for the resin layer. After mixing, I pour a blob of resin on each ornament. A little goes a long way, and too much makes for more difficulty with drips, so it’s better to use too little and then add more later. I went a bit overboard with a few of these and had to wipe away a lot of drips. That also causes some of the resin to form on the underside in such a way that I have to scrape it off with a razor blade later, which is tedious and a little dangerous if you’re clumsy like I am.
I used a sponge on a stick to spread the resin around so it covers all of the top surface of the ornaments. The resin will settle itself down and look smooth once it cures, so I don’t worry about the streaks left by the sponge. I do have to use a heat gun a few times during this stage to remove bubbles. They are worse in the deep molds for the beach themed resin ornaments and coasters than the thin layer on the stained / recycled glass ornaments, though.
After the resin is spread, I place the glass blobs, chunks and chips I like to use for decoration in the resin. I also poured a little leftover resin into three new coaster molds that I decorated for the first layer of some more coasters.
This post is just photos of the glass ornaments I’ve finished over the past few weeks. Enjoy! I will have these at the N. Charleston Farmers Market this Thursday (Halloween!) and at the Charleston Holiday Market at the N. Charleston Convention Center November 8-10.
