Hi all, today I have some exciting news, I am going to be working with Let’s Resin! I’m so excited to see what happens.
Today I have my first project to share with you, it is a Mother’s Day gift for my nan as she is the most wonderful person I know:
You can find the video for this project here – https://youtu.be/Ja2XjwEu6ew
Check out the Let’s Resin YouTube channel here – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSaLW33GPJS5f8MHKg0R5Xw
For this project I used the following items:
- Let’s resin Family sign – https://letsresin.com/products/lets-resin-family-mold-silicone-resin-molds-good-gift-idea-to-creating-a-unique-resin-project?_pos=1&_sid=48151cf8d&_ss=r
- Let’s Resin Couples Keychains – https://letsresin.com/products/lets-resin-couples-keychains-molds-couple-necklace-pendant-molds?_pos=1&_sid=1d83ab162&_ss=r
- *Mica powder (though any resin colourant would work) – https://amzn.to/2JiIzrJ
- Resin8 1:1 resin – https://www.resin8.co.uk/coat-it-1-to-1-epoxy-art-resin—500ml-7893-p.asp
- Preserved flowers (from my garden)
- *Eye screws – https://amzn.to/2Jj8kb9
- *Jump rings – https://amzn.to/2WUnT0S
- Chain (from my stash)
- *Lighter (to pop bubbles – do not use a torch on silicone moulds!) -https://amzn.to/2xpT75E
*Disclaimer, I am an Amazon affiliate, and as such, I earn a small commission, but AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU. However, when you purchase through these links, it helps me to continue creating content.
Before we start
It is useful to consider the following if you have not worked with resin before.
- Resin reacts differently in different temperatures (it is very cold here in the UK still, so I place my resin into a small tub of warm water from the tap for 2-3 mins to warm it slightly)
- PPE – you need to wear a respirator when working with resin – it is a toxic substance. Even if the bottles say low or no VOC/fumes, as soon as you add colourants or heat, it changes the chemical structure. You should also wear nitrile gloves to protect your skin. In an ideal world, you should also have all of your clothes covered!
- Silicone is your friend. the mat I;m working on is silicone (its a baking mat), the pots I mix the resin in are silicone. The reason is that (like the moulds) you can remove cured resin from the silicone. This means you can reuse the cups (good for the environment and your pocket) and clean your work surface more easily.
Let’s get started
Step 1: I started by creating the 3 charms to dangle from the sign. I mixed my resin in a large silicone cup and divided it into two smaller cups . Into these cups I added the mica colourant – I used light green and anti-gold.
Step 2: It’s time to pour the resin into the mould. I poured the anti-gold into the heart shaped cavity with the puzzle shaped ‘lock’. I teased the resin around the handle using the small spatula. I then poured the light green into the puzzle piece shaped mould.
I had some resin left over so I decided to mix the colours in the heat shaped cavity to see what would happen.
Step 3: Time to demould – my favorite part of resin!
Step 4: Now we are going to start the word sign. I mixed up 100ml of resin and let it rest to give the bubbles time to rise and pop. I used Resin8 1:1 resin, so that was 50ml of the resin and 50ml of hardner. I mexed these together for 4-5 minutes. You need to mix it until it goes clear and you can’t see any more striations (stringy looking treads) in the resin. You need to mix slowly to minimise bubbles.
Once fully mixed, pour the clear resin into the mould.
Step 5: Now comes the fun. I have these dried flowers that I picked from my garden. I dried thes in silica gel, which removes the moisture. Moisture and resin DO NOT mix. If you place fresh flowers in resin, they will either cause the resin to overheat and ‘boil’ in the mould or they will just rot inside the cured resin – it’s not pretty!
I had chosen the hydrangea and ivy for sentimental reasons but, I spotted this yellow flower in the same box, so thought I would include that too. You can add all sorts of things into resin; metal charms or beads (check outmy next collab!), flowers, photographs (as long at the are prepared properly), buttons, fabric, snakeskin – basically anything that is dry. I do a lot of memorial pieces and regularly work with fur, hair and ashes.
Step 6: Once the first layer has cured (24-48 hours later) it is time to add the backing colour. I mixed up another 100ml of Resin8 1:1 resin and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to let the bubbles rise to the top and pop. Then I split it into 2 cups. To one, I added the light green mica and to the other I added the anti-gold mica. Once they were properly mixed, I poured them into the mould.
Step 7: Once the coloured layer had set (another 24-48 hours), I added a layer of white to fill up the mould. It too approx 260ml to fill the mould to the top.
Step 8: time to demould – my favourite part (not sure if I mentioned that before 😉 lol). Carefully seperate the mould from the resin. If you yank, you may rip the mould. These word signs have small spaces and you can get stuck. I tend to go around every edge and oush the silicone away from the resinto break the seal. Then, carefully, starting from one end, you need to peel the mould away.
Step 9: Now its time to attach the charms we made to the bottom of the sign. I selected the eye screws and jump rings in a bronze colour , as I felt they best reflected the antiquey feel of the piece. Using my small hand drill, I drilled a hole into the bottom of the F, M and Y. I also drilled into the three charms. IMPORTANT NOTE: when drilling into resin you MUST wear a mask designed to filter dust particles – you really do not want resin dust in your lungs!
I then attached eye screws using my pliers into all 6 holes that I had drilled.
Then I use the co-ordinating jump rings to attach the charms to the sign.
Step 10: now we need to hang the sign, I was originally going to use a hidden hook, but looking through my stash, I noticed that I had a chain that matched the colour of the eye screws and I really liked the idea of keeping things matching.
I drilled into the top of the sign this time, into the F and the Y. I then attached eye screws and the chain.
However, you can hang your sign using any technique you llike, you could use leather cord, you could use chain, you could attach hidden hooks to the back. You can try any hanging technique that fits your decor.
And we are done! 10 steps to make this gorgeous sign! What do you think? I love it, and so does my nan! Here is a picture for you to see it in its full glory.
Well that’s it for today, check back next week for my next project. I’ll be back in 2 weeks with my next Let’s Resin collab project!
Keep crafting
Squdge xx