winter – Page 2 – Sherry Glaab

Crossing fingers – 3D pour

I spent the past few days mulling over how best to pour the resin on these projects, and came to the conclusion that it would have to be in stages. Today is the first stage, which is an experiment. My plan is to coat the trees with a thin coat of resin and possibly decorate one side of each of the rectangular trees. The second stage will be (for the rectangular trees) to pour another coat on just the undecorated side and decorate. The second stage for the stand alone tree will be to pour and decorate the base that will serve as the candle stand as well as provide stability.

Projects are laid out on a silicone baking mat.

It’s cold out today and my work area is only 60 degrees F. My resin likes it to be a minimum of 70 degrees, so I used my heat gun to warm each part of the 2 part resin prior to mixing it.

I ended up elevating this one higher off the mat on top of a couple of silicone measuring containers to help me manage the drips on the edges.

After the initial coat of resin, I repositioned these two in order to decorate one side.

I continued trying to touch up bare spots and wipe off drips with my sponge on a stick. I repositioned these two and sprinkled the glass chips / chunks I am using to decorate the background and base of the tree. Above you can see the glass chips in place on the left hand piece.

Finished with one side for each rectangular tree.

I had enough resin left over to make some memory beads for our beloved cat, Neo, who passed away in November. I’m also trying some cat shaped mementos with his ashes.

In addition to scraping the drips, I periodically blew all of the above pieces with my heat gun to remove bubbles and also to warm the resin, as my working area is only 60 degrees F today!

A bit more progress

I’ve been adding a few branches / details each day to these 3D tree projects. I can only do a little at a time because the branches shift if I do more than one side at a time (3D). So one thing I am learning is that 3D is slow and you have to be patient. I’m also sort of worried that I’m adding too much – I’ll think I’m done, then I decide to add just one more branch, then I look at it some more and do the same again! Over yesterday and today I also added a glass triangle base to the two rectangular trees and planned a resin base for the triangle tree. I am planning on coating these with resin and decorating the resin with glass chips, but I’ve not quite sorted out the best order to do it in yet. Because they are 3D, I think I will need to coat the trees in stages and then pour the base last. We’ll see how it goes.

Back to the fun stuff!

In the rush to prep for holiday sales, I got into “production” mode. Now I’m easing back into “creative” mode and revisiting some experiments I’ve been thinking about trying for a while. A few months ago, I was toying with the idea of making some small 3D trees that could be set in front of a candle. I cut some triangles from some of my old window glass and adhered them together, but didn’t feel like they were heading in the direction for success, so I set them aside. Today I decided to revisit that idea and also an idea of a two sided right angle tree on rectangles of recycled window glass. First, I cut the rectangles for the base / backer glass to about the same size.

Rectangles cut from recycled window glass.

I let the glass dictate the size of the project, so all of these items will be slightly different sizes. After cutting, I ground the edges of the glass so it won’t be sharp.

After I ground and dried the glass, I laid the pieces side by side to make sure they matched, as these will eventually be connected at a right angle for stability, and to make a space for a candle.

Making sure my pair of rectangles match.

Next I took some green glass that I cut into branch-y shapes and started laying it out on the two rectangles. I made two sets of these.

After I was satisfied with the layout of the first layer, I glued the pieces to the recycled backer glass with Mac glue. I apply the glue on the backs of the pieces with a small paint brush. The Mac glue can be watered down and still hold well.

There is a lot of glass dust on the glass pieces, so I will definitely need to clean them before I apply the resin layers later on in the process. While the glue dried on the first trees, I grabbed my mock up triangle tree and set it on a foam base so one side would be level / flat.

Another view so you can see the angle of the two triangles.

Next I started experimenting with layouts for the branches for the first side of the tree. I haven’t glued any of these down yet, though. I will wait for another day to do that step.

Branches laid out on one half of the triangle.

I’m not sure how it will go pouring the resin on this because I already connected the two triangles, but this is an experiment, so I will figure it out as I go. For the rectangles, I will try pouring each half, then adding the final layer of branches to cover the seam between the two pieces of recycled base / backer glass. That will likely require two layers of resin, as well.

Suncatchers and Ornaments

I have a few suncatchers / ornaments on hand for last minute holiday gifting. Drop me an email, message me on twitter or tag me on my facebook page (see social links down on the right) if you would like to see them. Rectangular ones cost $25 each and are generally between 6-7 inches tall (including hanger) and square ones cost $15 each and are generally around 4-4.5 inches tall (including hanger). I also have some coasters available. I’ll try to get some good photos of them this week.

Winter tree with red bird, $25

Snowman, $25

Holly leaves with berries, $25

Mistletoe, $25

Holly, $25

Holly with red glass dots, $15 each

Heart, $15

Holly, $15 each

Winter tree with brown bird, $25

Holly leaves and berries, $25

Snowman, $25

Making Ornaments

I’m trying to stock up on ornaments for my booth at the Charleston Holiday Market, which will be held at the North Charleston Convention Center November 8-10, 2019. I glued these winter scene glass ornaments yesterday and plan on pouring the resin and finishing the details today.

Here are a couple of snapshots after the resin was poured and decorated, but not yet cured. I have been making these with the rectangular background instead of the free shaped tree ornaments because the tree branches are pretty sharp. The rectangle keeps you from having to hold the pointy part of the tree glass. The one ornament with the blue background is an experiment – I’m trying to see if putting painters tape on the back is helpful in keeping the resin drips off the back. All of the others I have to keep wiping down the underside to keep drips from forming, and this is a very time consuming, sticky undertaking. I tried the tape once before and didn’t have much luck, but I thought I’d try again.

I also decided to make a couple of snowmen ornaments. I really love the trees, but variety is the spice of life, right?

The one on the left has its resin coating and glass chip decorations. The one on the right has to wait another day for its resin, as the glue that holds the hook in place is still drying.