Today is Thanksgiving, a great day to make some progress on small projects! Today was second layer of resin over the two heart / mica rainbow suncatchers / ornaments and also for the first mica rainbow coaster. I liked the first mica rainbow batch so much that I decided to make a round mica rainbow suncatcher / ornament and three more coasters to match the first. Next up will be the second layers on those. I also made a medium sized stained glass snowman suncatcher that will need another layer of resin and some decorations tomorrow.
Small projects in progress
I was able to pop out a few finished projects from yesterday’s batch, too!
Continuing to try and make some new things for the small, outdoor, masks required pop-up craft fair I signed up to do at 3 Matadors for December 5th.
First I needed some more snowballs for snowmen, as I used up all the ones I had on hand. Back to the old grinder so to speak. 🙂
Making snowballs – rough cut then grind down to roundGetting the “big” snowman ready for resinLaying out all of my small projects to work on today
Before I start mixing my resin, I lay out all of my projects and needed supplies. Today was the second layer of resin on the holly suncatcher and all five coasters, though one will be a new coaster design and the other four will be sandollars in the sand. I like to elevate the larger projects like the snowman panel so I can reach any drips that happen. I sometimes tape the underside edge, but forgot this today.
After resin and decorating – ready to cure!
I’m trying out some new colors of mica for the rainbow projects. I think they will be really pretty!
Close up of the rainbows / snowman suncatchers and coasterSnowman panel curing
Now everything just needs to sit overnight to cure.
Yesterday the friends who will be the recipients of the big Frank Lloyd Wright window came over and we decided to do another layer of resin. I decided that I really needed to move it to the garage for the final layer so I could access all sides of the window, despite the space being more prone to dust / humidity. Luckily it is an unseasonably warm day and the temperature in the garage was 75, which is perfect for my resin (Envirotex Lite).
Making sure it is level
Layer 4 in the process of curing
Adding a final layer of resin.
This took a bit of planning as I had to mix up a lot more resin than usual and keep my family out of the garage (next to impossible today for some reason). However, after pouring, spreading and using my heat gun to clear the resin, everything looks good so far. Hopefully we can move it into the mud room later in the evening so the temperature remains a bit more consistent while it continues to cure overnight. In the meantime, I had a few smaller projects in the works I wanted to continue / start. Unfortunately this included repairs on a holly suncatcher I made yesterday. I had covered it with some wax paper to keep dust out while it cured and the paper made contact with the resin and made a giant mess. I had to carve some lumps off of the suncatcher today when it was cured enough, reinsert it into the mold and sort of “top it off” with another layer of resin. We’ll see how good it looks tomorrow (hopefully). I don’t think it will look as good as it would have had it not needed the repair, but I can likely keep it to use at home.
After chipping off the bumps and reinserting in the mold, prior to repair layer of resin
Coasters of the day
Suncatchers / Ornaments
Today’s small projects
So all in all, I poured a second layer on three beachy coasters, first layer on two more beachy coasters, repair layer on the holly suncatcher / ornament and the first layers on three snowman ornaments.
Today’s little ‘cheer-full’ projects! Second or third layers poured on the beachy coasters, first layer on all the others. I got some new colors of mica and other types of flitter / glitter from meyer-imports this week and I can’t wait to try them all out!
White molds are coasters, aqua molds are suncatchers / ornaments
2Stained glass cardinals with green mica coasters, set of 4
Stained glass snowman set in resin
Stained glass holly set in resin
Stained glass holly leaf set in resin ornament
Suncatchers / ornaments are between 3-3.5″ across. Handmade suncatchers are $20 each. Handmande coasters with stained glass are $50 for the set. Contact me for delivery / shipping options.
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
Shifting gears into holiday mode with some small projects now that the Frank Lloyd Wright Waterlilies 31″ x 48.25″ window is done (at least, I think I’m done with it). I’ve poured three layers of resin and each time there is some imperfection I’m tempted to address with another layer. There are still some imperfections; the third layer cleared up the worst, but contributed a few more. For example, I was trying to keep the texture of the flower petals visible, but the third layer covered a couple of the petals a bit more than I wanted it to. I can also see some edges of the third layer where it didn’t blend / flatten well. However, if I pour a fourth layer, I might mess something else up. Best to set it aside and get a second opinion.
Waterlilies – should I add a fourth layer of resin?
In the meantime, I am moving into holiday mode and working on some small projects. I made a flock of cardinals and some holly leaves / berries. My fingers are torn up from grinding all the tiny pieces of glass.
I love Cardinals and Holly!
I will likely use these in some resin ornaments and coasters.
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.
