Tag: window

Sun half way there

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.

Check for level!

Mermaid background poured

This morning I was able to pour the resin and decorate the background of the 9.5″ x 30″ mermaid window.

Ready for resin.

I mixed up 16 ounces of resin, which turned out to be a good amount. I had enough left over to start the first layer of one coaster, so there really wasn’t much in the way of waste. I love these silicone measuring cups because they are reusable and there is plenty of room to stir even when you fill it to 16 ounces.

When the resin is well mixed, I started pouring it gently over the mosaic.

Once I feel like I have everything covered pretty well, it’s time to use the heat gun to remove the bubbles that form in the resin. I have been thinking about getting a craft blow torch for this because the heat gun is hard to control and can move the resin more than I would like.

Now it’s time to add the decoration to the background. For this piece, I used some tiny blue filler (which I can’t get anymore because it was discontinued, but that’s another story). After the blue filler, I added clear glass flakes to add sparkle. My sister sent me some beads and I was thinking about using some of them, but I chickened out at the last minute because I haven’t tried them yet and I’m not sure how they will look in the resin. I’ll probably try them in a coaster first, rather than a larger piece like this.

Blue filler sprinkled into the resin.
Sprinkling the glass flakes.

After that, I just keep an eye on the whole piece while the resin and the decorations settle down. I added a bit more of the decoration materials and touched up some spots that seemed to need a little more resin after shifting. It’s also important to check on the piece over the first hour of curing time to ensure you can remove any bubbles that form – sometimes they can be large and will detract from the look I am trying to achieve. They can be removed with the heat gun or sometimes a craft stick. Below are some up close detail photos of the window.

Now we just wait for the resin to cure.

Mermaid almost ready for resin

Today I went back and forth on, but finally committed to (read that, glued in place) some background decoration features for the mermaid. I glued them in place because they are small and the resin might push them out of place when I am pouring it. I don’t want to be trying to make the swirls look perfect when the resin is applied, so I used some Mac glue to secure them. I might add just *one* more little blue swirl. The next step is to let the glue dry overnight. Hopefully tomorrow everything will look great and I can pour and decorate the resin background to bring it all together!

Ready for the final step!

My least favorite thing

Today is a prep day. I have to do a little cleanup / painting on this window frame, clean up my resin measuring cups and pour a base layer of resin in my next batch of coasters before I can do the fun, creative part.

I’m thinking about doing a mermaid in this window.

When I started using resin, I used disposable cups for measuring. That seemed wasteful, so I switched over to these silicone cups that I can clean and reuse indefinitely.

I use old gift wrap to cover my work surfaces when I work with the resin.

When I’m done pouring the resin, I just leave the stir stick in place to dry for a day or two. Once the resin cures, it is easy to just pull the stick out of the cup, bringing with it any leftover resin in the bottom.

I then cut off enough duct tape to fit two fingers in and use it to pick up the rest of the cured resin from the inside of the measuring cup. It comes right off and leaves a nice, clean, ready to use surface.

In the above photo, you can see the little drops of cured resin stuck to the sides of the silicone measuring cup. Below is how it looks when I use the duct tape to remove the drops from the cup.

I decided to pour another base layer of coasters while I was at it. Now I just have to wait for the paint to dry and the resin to cure before I can continue.

Back to windows

I set this window aside for the past several weeks while I was focusing on making memory beads. Now it’s time to get back to something fun. I found these bright glass nuggets and they just screamed, “Valentine!!” at me. For this window, I used glass nuggets, diamond dust glass chips, tiny red glass globs and some chunks of clear shiny glass.

Laying out the basic design.
Resin is poured and blown with the heat gun. I used 8 ounces of resin for this window.
Filling in the background after pouring the resin.
Putting on the finishing touches with smaller glass.

After posting this, I realized I meant to make some swirls in the background with the tiny red glass bits, but forgot. I guess there’s always next time!