Since my coaster molds are a bit out of shape, I thought I would experiment with a couple of new colors of pigment I haven’t tried before while I wait for the new molds. I also wanted to make some other accent beads, so I thought this would be a good chance to try the colors in those molds as well.
Mixing Pigments
I used the purple pigment last week, and I wanted to make some additional beads using it. However, I hadn’t tried the Bronze or Gold pigments yet. The gold pigment is extremely light and flew all over the place when I was trying to mix it with the resin. I piped the colored resin into the bead molds right away. I wanted to do this quickly, since it is difficult to get the resin into them when it starts to thicken. I made several with the gold and purple and one with the bronze pigment.
Beads of each color
After pouring a thin layer of Envirotex Lite resin into eight of the coaster molds and removing bubbles with a heat gun, I added the pigmented resin on top. I then swirled them around a bit with my craft sticks. I also waited about 20 minutes before adding shells to two of the molds.
Adding decorative elements.
Glass called “Blue Shells”
I also have some new material to try using as the water element in the beachy coasters. It was very expensive, so I will likely limit using it to particularly special projects after today.
I waited until the resin was starting to thicken before adding the shells, and waited even longer (maybe 20 minutes) before adding the sand and the glass chips to the resin in the mold.
I decided there wasn’t enough of the gold pigment in the gold coaster molds, so I mixed up another medicine cup full using some that was left over from the initial batch of resin and added it to the molds. If all goes well overnight, I will add another clear layer of resin to the coasters tomorrow and demold the beads to see how they turned out. I am a bit leery of pouring another layer of resin today after the experience the other day with the resin turning yellow during curing. The manufacturer got back to me and recommended I use a different product, EasyCast, for molds / thicker applications. I can continue to use this type in 1/8″ layers, though. I can’t wait to see how they turn out!
Over the past few days, I made a batch of coasters using a method I don’t usually try. I split 16 ounces of resin between 9 molds, then decorated four of them with glass chips and four of them with some seed beads. I also made an experimental one with white and black pigments for my eldest child in an attempt to create a “galaxy” look. I also made a few beads while I was at it. I normally wait longer before I decorate, but with this batch, I decorated within 20-30 minutes of pouring and then topped off all of the coasters with another batch of resin. Maybe that’s not a long enough waiting time.
The finished products.
The resin yellowed as it cured. I’m not sure if this was because of the amount I poured (I normally use smaller layers) or the amount of time I waited (or didn’t wait) between layers of resin. I’ve only had this happen once or twice in the past.
Gold glass chips.Seed beads.
But that wasn’t the worst part. After demolding, I noticed that the molds where the seed bead coasters were now have little indentations anywhere the seed beads were. That pretty much ruins the mold, so I had to order some new ones.
Damaged silicone mold.Close up of damage to mold.
I’m guessing the resin got too hot when it was curing. The type I have been using (Envirotex Lite) thickens pretty quickly, which can make it difficult to get into the tiny bead molds if you’re slow. I sent an email to the resin makers to see if they can tell what I did wrong. Hopefully it’s something straightforward.
Note: I heard back from the manufacturer of the resin a couple days later. They recommend a different type of resin for molds/ thicker applications.
“Our Envirotex lite is intended for coating table tops, bars, chairs etc… We do not recommend for filling molds. Envirotex can be poured at a max depth of 1/8 inch, any more than that causes a heat reaction. We recommend waiting 6 to 8 hrs in between coats. We do have a two products that we recommend for molds, Easy Cast. Polyester casting resin. Both products can be found on Amazon, Michaels Craft store, Hobby Lobby and Joann Fabrics. I hope this information helps and if you have any further questions please feel free to ask.”
Here is some of the fruit of the labor of prior days. The sun mosaic is complete, and I have 8 coasters and some beads ready, as well.
Here comes the sun!
I had a new request for some memory beads, but I’m not yet sure what type she will want. Since I had some resin handy, I just made a selection of beads. They turned out pretty well!
Rondelle (6 mm hole), rondelle (5 mm hole), ball beads.
The coasters I made with the quick layering technique turned out OK. I think next time I will swirl the water pigmented layers a bit. I was hesitant to do that because the layer underneath wasn’t cured, but I think the pigments need to be moved around a bit more. I also think the look of the bubbles at the edge of the water are improved with this technique.
Today was a very busy, but productive, day. I finished the sun panel by pouring the resin over it, set a few memory beads in their molds, and made 8 coasters using the layer method where you don’t cure the resin overnight between layers. At times I felt like the proverbial one-armed paper hanger! It was a challenge doing all this in one day, but hopefully it was a success. I will find out tomorrow when I can take the beads and coasters out of their molds. Here is the basic rundown of the methodology and things to note.
Pouring the resin.
Pouring the resin on the sun mosaic was pretty straightforward, since everything was pretty much secured in place one way or another. I mixed up 16 ounces of resin and used almost all of it to cover the glass. After pouring, I immediately used my heat gun to help distribute the resin evenly across the window as well as to remove bubbles that form as the resin settles under the individual pieces of glass.
Pouring the resin.
I thought about adding some glass chips to the resin, like I had planned to do, but I just wasn’t sure how that would look in the end, so I decided to save that to try on a smaller project that won’t be such a big deal if I don’t like the way it ends up looking. I normally use the glass chips in a clear background, but this whole window has glass in it, so I chickened out.
Using the heat gun.
The difficult part comes after the resin is poured and bubbles start to emerge. For the next 45 minutes to an hour, I had to repeatedly use the heat gun to remove bubbles as they emerged in the resin.
Bubbles forming in the resin.
While I monitored the bubbles on the sun mosaic, I used a bit of the resin to make a few memory beads. The beads take very little resin, and I had enough left to make about four of them.
Using extra resin for some beads.
Since the bubbles in the mosaic weren’t slowing down, I decided to make another batch of resin and try to do the coasters in layers without curing in between. I read that this results in a stronger end product, though I haven’t had any “strength” issues with my previous creations.
First layer poured and decorated.
I poured about an ounce of resin in each mold, waited about half an hour, then started placing the shells, shark teeth, etc in the resin. I then waited about 2 hours before the next step.
Added the sand for the beach and the white bubbles.
First I added the sand for the beach, which I made smaller than usual in this batch. I mixed up just about 3 CCs of resin and added the white pigment, then drizzled it in a line along the edge of the “beach” using a small craft stick. I went back and added a bit more after it dissipated a little. I also had enough white resin left over to make a couple of experimental beads. The white resin still spread out a bit more than I anticipated. I just drizzled a thin line and by the time I took photos, it had spread into the sand.
Bubbles added.
I wanted to let this layer cure enough that it would be more gel-like than liquid, as I believe that causes the white pigment to spread out more than I want it to (I really want it to be a thin layer at the edge of the sand and water to look like bubbles when the waves are crashing at the beach). Since it was just a small amount of resin, that didn’t take very long, and I started mixing up the various colors of pigment for the water.
80 ccs of resin for pigment.
I mixed up 80 ccs of resin using a small silicone measuring cup, then split it evenly between the four medicine cups. I then scooped a bit of pigment powder into each cup and mixed it together. After all the colors were ready, I drizzled some of the Caribbean Blue (far right in the above photo) in a few lines into the mold. It will be interesting to see if making lines with the pigmented resin results in a different look for the water in the coasters.
Adding the first color for the water.
After that, I repeated the steps for each of the other three colors. I tried to fill in empty areas with each color. I didn’t add any of the water-pigmented resin to the sand, but I knew it would drift over it a bit after the last step.
Two colors added.Adding colors.
I used up every last usable drop of the pigmented resin I mixed for the water. I really wanted to fill in all the gaps.
All four colors added.
The final step was to add the last layer of clear resin, so I mixed up my last batch of the day, 14 ounces of resin. The reason I go back and forth between ccs and ounces is because my measuring cups have different measurements which I use for different purposes, just for convenience and ease of reading. For some reason, these really had a lot of late-emerging bubbles – much more persistent than I usually see with coasters. That could be a side effect of not letting the layers cure fully between pours. Having to use the heat gun so much moved the pigment / water around quite a bit (at least on the bottom of the coasters). I might need to get a blow torch, as I think they might be more precise in removing bubbles without moving the resin around so much. I’m a bit impatient to see how these turn out, but I have no other choice but to wait until they fully cure to find out how they look. Unlike the sun mosaic, which I can look at while it cures. The only problem with that is keeping curious fingers out of the resin while it is still soft (yes, my children have been known to poke at things during this stage). Hopefully tomorrow I can bring it upstairs to photograph.
Resin curing.
Just a side note – I’m normally a day behind posting these, but I try to write the post the same day as I do the project so all the details are fresh in my memory. That means when I reference “today”, it’s not usually the same day as the post went live. I’ll actually be pulling these out of their molds on the 30th, but I will also schedule this to post on the 30th at a somewhat random time.
Today I filled in some of the empty spaces that were left (though not quite everything) and thought some more about bringing some pop to the design.
Trying out some options.
I tried some swirls, but ended up not really feeling the love for them.
Yellow swirls
Finally, I tried a double row of yellow glass around the “ball” of the sun and it seemed to work. I didn’t want it to be a complicated look – I like the bold simplicity of the orange sun and blue sky. I will likely add some accents when I pour the resin, though.
Double row of yellow.
I went ahead and glued the yellow glass in place in anticipation of pouring the resin tomorrow or the next day. After that, I decided to check the levelness of the window. I have been using some sawhorses and I didn’t think they would be level enough for this piece, so I cleared some space on my workbench (much better level, stable surface) and set it up there.
Glued and ready.
Yes, much better situation for pouring the resin. If the window isn’t level, the resin won’t settle evenly and you waste resin and have a wonky surface.
I like making sun mosaics, and they have been popular in the past, so I decided to try another with this latest old window frame I’ve been prepping. It’s approximately 30″ x 13.5″, so it’s a good size to hang at the top of a window and get some nice light. For the background, I’m using that same Spectrum iridized blue glass that I used in the mermaid’s tail. I’ve used this glass in many projects. It’s one of my favorite colors – especially for skies. I cut a sheet of this glass into strips, then into squares, then nipped the corners off to make rough circles.
The blank slate – I drew a rough ball for where the sun will go with a Sharpie pen on the back side..
One thing about the sun is it’s not really something that just falls into a rectangular shape in my brain. I tend to want to have a nice square frame for the sun, but that’s obviously not going to happen with this mosaic. For the past few days, I have been trying to decide whether this sun will be to one side or in the middle, and how the rays will be distributed. I finally settled on this starting point for this big ball of fire. I used a circle from an old pattern I have used for the sun in the past to draw a guideline on the glass, then used a self-oiling handheld glass cutter to cut the shape. I finished off the rough edges with an electric water cooled glass grinder. Of course, I cut myself while handling the glass, but a tiny circular adhesive bandage came to the rescue so I could keep going.
Sun peeking out.
Next I had to start thinking about the rays for the sun. Since I’m not using a pattern for this piece in general, I will likely try a few options and move things around a lot before I start gluing anything in place. This way I can change my mind if I decide I want wavy rays instead of straight, or whatever. For now, I’m trying out some triangles with smaller pieces of glass in between. I have some more glass to cut before I will get an idea of how much I like where this is going. I also laid out some of the blue glass to see if I like the pairing with this design. So far I’m a bit apprehensive that the blue circles might be too large in contrast to the sun’s rays. I might want to make them smaller. Here I have them just sort of stacked / scattered around for an overall idea, they aren’t anywhere near where they will be when everything is ready for the resin. However, stacking them like this in layers might be a nice effect. I stacked the seaweed glass on top of itself (two layers of glass) in the mermaid mosaic and I really like that effect.
Laying out an option for the sun’s rays.
I liked where this direction was taking me, so I decided to fill it out a bit more to see how it would look. More band aids needed.
Filling in the sun’s rays a bit more.
Next I glued the outer bands of glass forming the rays down. They will keep the glass forming the sun in place when I eventually pour the resin. Then I started laying out the blue sky. After I filled in as much as I could with large circles, I cut some smaller ones and repeated the process. Then I started filling in the smaller gaps with triangles and even smaller pieces.
Filling in the gaps.
There will be a bit more filling to do tomorrow, but I have done as much I can in one day. Half of my fingertips are in pain from being stabbed with the sharp edges of the small pieces of glass. Now I need to sit back and look at it because it still needs some interest to bring it together. My eldest child says I should add some yellow to the sun – maybe some wavy rays. I can also make another layer to give it more depth, or maybe some designs with the tiny red glass pieces I have. Hopefully sleeping on it will give my brain time to formulate a plan.
I will have a space at the N. Charleston Farmer’s Market in Park Circle every Thursday from 3-7 pm during September and October (including Halloween!!). Mark your calendar and plan to come out for a fun time!
Today I was able to see how my second attempt at pigmented coasters with bubbles turned out. Overall, they are OK, but not quite to where I want them to be. I also put the last coat of paint on the window frame I’m going to use for my next mosaic project, which I’m thinking about using for a sun theme, or perhaps an aquarium.
Bubbles with sand dollars
The white pigment spread out more than I wanted, so they aren’t defining the edge of the waves as much as I had hoped. I think if I let the resin gel a bit more before I put the bubbles layer in place, then let the bubbles gel before pouring the blue pigmented resin for the water, that will give me more control. I will try that next.
A closer look.Bubbles without sand dollars.Closer look.
I took an informal “bubbles or no bubbles” poll amongst my friends to see whether they preferred the beach coasters with the bit of white pigment (for bubbles) between the water and the beach. Bubbles won, so it motivated me to continue working on my technique for pouring these. I like the bubbles, too, but it can be a challenge to get the bubbles in the right spot. Yesterday I poured the first layer of a batch of coasters and put the shells in place in preparation for some practice.
Layer one – shells and shark teeth.
Today I poured a second layer of resin and added the sand for the beach and attempted to add the white pigment for the bubbles. I use a small craft stick to drizzle a line of white pigment along the edge of the beach, then sort of stir the line of pigment with the stick to give it a more bubbly appearance.
Pigment in place for bubbles.
After that, the natural movement of the resin really spread out the white pigment. I’m a little worried that it’s too spread out, but I won’t know until after I let it cure overnight again. After waiting a few hours for this layer to gel, I was ready to add the water layer. I used the below pigments in these.
I then mixed the pigments with resin in individual medicine cups and drizzled a bit of each green and blue into the molds. After that, I added some additional clear resin to help even things out and distribute the pigments. Layering like this is causing my coasters to be a bit thicker than I usually make them. I will have to see if I can reduce the amount of resin I’m using so they aren’t so heavy in the future. Now I wait!
The fun is on hold for a few days while I prep the next old window for the next project. Lately I have been trying to make smaller projects in preparation for having a booth at a Farmer’s Market (which I had to pay $90 for a license and submit an application to the city of N. Charleston for last week – wish me luck as they might not have a space available).
Old window
Since most of my old windows are pretty large, I got my husband to help me cut one in half. I then use the bottom half for a framed mosaic and use just the glass from the top half for one or more projects.
Half a window
First I clean the dust and dirt off of it as best I can, then I use some exterior repair putty to fill in any holes in the wood.
Glass from the top half
The pane of glass has some glazing and paint stuck around the edges, so I will use a utility knife to clean that off before I can use it.
Waiting for the putty to dry so I can paint
Once the putty is dry, I will paint the whole frame. It won’t look like new because it’s an old window that’s been painted several times, but it will be cleaned up enough to look nice for my next creation. Unfortunately it takes a few days to do the prep work… I’d rather be doing the fun part, but I think taking the time to clean it up makes a big difference in the end result.
