This year I won’t be participating in the market at the convention center. Instead, I will be at two smaller events at Citadel Mall. Details: November 19th fair/Christmas tree lighting and December 10th Santa’s Workshop fair. Each fair is 11:00am-4:00pm near the food court at Citadel Mall. Please stop by! I will have some special holiday themed smaller decorations / Swarovski and bead jewelry in addition to my usual glass and resin items.
Swarovski crystal tree pendants with handmade glass bead / wire embellishments on a festive silk cord.Sparkling strands of crystal and glass beads to add to your holiday decor!
At the November 19th event there will be a lighting of the community Christmas tree with our elected officials at 6:00pm and Holiday music throughout the day by our High School and Middle School Choirs. Some vendors will stay open past 4pm for the day long festivities!
I’ve been busier than usual at work, but was finally able to circle back to these ornaments to pour the resin. For these molds, I first pour a thin layer of resin and then use the heat gun to reduce the amount of bubbles. I also run a craft stick around the edge of the mold for the same reason.
First resin layer poured
I also had these ornaments assembled and elevated on silicone ready for the resin coating.
Ready for resinResin poured
I try to cover the glass in the foreground completely, then use a sponge on a stick to spread the resin to any areas that aren’t yet coated.
Spreading the resinSpreading the resin
Once the resin is spread, I also use the heat gun on these to remove bubbles.
Decorations set into the first layer of resin
Once the resin in the molds is starting to thicken, I place the glass pieces and then the sparkly mica chips used for the snow / sky / leaves.
Glass chips added to the background
For this type of ornament, I sprinkle glass chips into the resin in the clear background areas for sparkle, then I spend about an hour scraping drips off the backs of the backer glass. I can clean up any leftover drips with a razor blade once the resin has cured, but this helps reduce the cleanup. On larger pieces I like to use masking tape on the back, but I don’t always remember to apply it in time. Now just to wait until the resin cures!
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.
Poured the second layer of resin on four Cardinal coasters (one needs a third layer as I ran out of resin) and the first layer on some new holiday suncatchers / ornaments!
Coasters, suncatchers
Also took some better photos of the past few weeks worth of ornaments, though I’m no photographer with my phone, ha!
Shark tooth / sand
Shark tooth / sand / water
Shells, shark teeth, blue water
Heart of gold
Stained glass cardinal / green mica
Stained glass cardinals / sparkly green
Stained glass cardinal / mistletoe
Sand dollar on the beach
Resin ornaments handmade in Charleston SC, $20 each
I signed up to have a booth at the Charleston Holiday Market again this year. It will be at the Charleston Area Convention Center in N. Charleston on November 20, 21 and 22. It was a tiring weekend last year, but I think it’s a great event! This year the parking garage is supposed to be finished, too.
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.
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.
Palmetto & Crescent
Available (in person) at the SC Artisans Center in Walterboro, SC. http://scartisanscenter.com/
Stained glass with resin, 7.75" x 6.25" - $50
Palmetto & Crescent (o/w)
Available in Charleston. Stained glass, resin, glass chips, approx. 6.25" w x 7" h - $40
Rainbow River
Available (in person) at the SC Artisans Center in Walterboro, SC. http://scartisanscenter.com/
Colored mica set in resin 13.5″ x 30″. $250.
Corner Sun
Available (in person) at the SC Artisans Center in Walterboro, SC. http://scartisanscenter.com/
~13.5" x 30". Stained glass with blue shell accents set in resin in a recycled window. $500
Hummingbird with Flowers
Available (in person) at the SC Artisans Center in Walterboro, SC. http://scartisanscenter.com/
~13.5" x 30". Stained glass with sapphire mica accents set in resin in a recycled window. $500.
Rainbow Row, 13.5" x 30"
Rainbow Row, 13.5" x 30" - $800 at SC Artisans Center
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!
My booth at the Charleston Holiday Market.
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).
