Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Adventures in Resin - Part II

The Big Reveal!


Now, if I were doing this in the style of an American Idol results show, I would put in a whole bunch of uninteresting crap and filler here for about 20 pages and THEN have the results all squished down at the bottom.


But I HATE when they do that (which is why I DVR the show so I can fast forward to the good parts) so I'm not gonna put y'all through that kinda torture.


We'll start with the "totally sucks" results, move through the "okay, but could have been better" section, and then get to the stuff that actually came out okay (uh, assuming there is any of that which I'm not guaranteeing).



Here are all my small mold items - nearly all of which are totally ruined by cloudiness. GRRR!
















I'm so disappointed. These would have been so cute except for the cloudiness. I can't figure it out because this is the same batch of resin that worked perfectly in other areas so it wasn't a mixing/proportion issue and it wasn't an environmental humidity issue.




Out of all the small molds, only this piece came out without any cloudiness. It does have a small bubble in it, but it's not very noticeable. Now, why would this one be fine and everything else had cloudiness issues? Weird.



I had better luck with the larger molds, although one of the rings still has some cloudy patches on one side.




This one came out perfectly, though. I used the holeless beads on this and just suspended them randomly in the resin. Some sank to the bottom and others floated on top and I kind of like the effect. I just wish that both pieces had turned out instead of one having cloudy patches. Again, can't figure out why one would be different than the other.




Out of all the molded items, this one came out the best. This was the one where I mixed the mica pigment into the resin and I got this gorgeous pearlized blue color. I have a ton more colors of mica pigments so I may have to do some more experiments like this. Also, no cloudiness.


All in all, the mold experiment was kind of a disaster. I had much better luck with the bezels.




In fact, I'd be totally satisfied with these had I not (like an idiot) used the part of the paper that had the bar code on the back. Ummm...DUH! All I can say in my defense is that it didn't show through like this until AFTER I poured the resin on it so I didn't even realize I'd used that part of the paper. It's a bummer because these are really cute otherwise.



Now THIS version came out perfectly. I'm totally happy with this and how CUTE is that strawberry?!




This one would be perfect except it's got a scattering of tiny bubbles right across the middle. I thought I'd checked and gotten rid of all of them, but these popped up later after I'd stopped checking on everything. Also, while I loved these papers together in real life, I'm not sure they actually have enough contrast to make a good design in miniature like this.





This one came out cute, though. I love the colors and the glittery scrapbook paper.
















These both came out awesome and I can't wait to make them into some cool, sophisticated, Parisian jewelry. Vive la France!




My best results came with the Patera images and bezels. No bubbles, the pictures look great, I didn't overdo on adding "bling" to the pictures - awesome.


Lastly, I took a couple of the wooden butterflies I recently bought on Etsy and coated them with resin. I think they came out really well! I'm especially proud that I managed to do this without gumming up the holes that were already drilled in them! One guy even got some little pearls added to his wings. Perhaps I am not completely hopeless at this whole resin thing.

Especially now that I've gone out and bought REAL mold release (no more cooking spray) AND I've bought some silicon molding putty so I can make my own molds of things around the house. I'm determined to solve this whole resin molding thing!

Uh, plus, I still have a whole bag full of embellishments that didn't get used in the first go round and I need to do something with them.

So, stay tuned for more future resin adventures!

KJ

14 comments:

susanc said...

I don't know why the cloudiness happened in some spots of your molded pieces. I just tried ICE Resin for the first time two weeks ago and love it! Your bezel pieces are great! When you added the rhinestones, did you completely cover them with the resin or leave part of them exposed? I used some in a bezel and they look "flat" - the faceting doesn't show up.

SueBeads said...

Your paris items turned out great! I love the muted colors of the one you didn't like too much, and the good ones turned out great! Same with the butterflies! Great job!

EmandaJ said...

Love the resin piece. I haven't attempted it yet, but seeing your suceess and (minor) failure, I might just pluck up some courage and give it a go!
Emanda

TesoriTrovati said...

I think part of the fun is the unknown... maybe those cute ones with the bar codes could be salvaged. What about layering some velum or other slightly transparent papers over the top and then brushing with a layer of resin...that way you won't see the barcode, or it will recede to the background. It is worth a shot anyway. I like to build them up as I go to create depth. I wondered if the cloudiness was due to the cooking spray...see if you get the same result from the mold release. Nice job all around! Enjoy the day! Erin

SummersStudio said...

I would love to try resin so it's really interesting to see your results. I like the muted colours as well. The wooden butterflies are my favourites. But then I like the Paris stuff and....

Jen Judd said...

Thanks for sharing your experiments!! I'm sorry, but I laughed out loud at the barcode pieces...I would totally do something like that!! I can't wait to try some of my own experiences. I have some Pam to use up! haaaaaaaaa

Anonymous said...

I just bought resin and goodies and I've yet to try it. I'll keep watching your work, I think you've done a great job.

Ruth Trowbridge said...

Absolutely Awesome - wow, you never fail to amaze me - peace

Michelle said...

Great job...I really need to sit down and do this. I still have some bezels that are waiting for resin since August! Plus want to try out another idea.
Bead Happy!
Michelle

Marie Cramp said...

You did agreat job! I have to say I have a special fondness for the French Ephemera! Being French myself, how could I not? Love the butterflies!
Looking forward to Bead Porn Friday!!

Cynthia said...

I think all in all, you did fabulously well. The butterflies are very cool. And I love the birds, and Paris pieces. Can't wait to see what finished jewelry you'll make from all of these. Maybe the cloudy ones could be used on a busy charm bracelet, where it won't be as noticeable.

Unknown said...

Oh, so sorry about the cloudy mold pieces! I understand your disappointment.

The Pork Chop Show butterflies are totally awesome! I can't wait to see what you do with those.

Dave Robertson said...

:) Kelly, barcodes are "a look" -- as we say sometimes at R&T, every bead has a buyer. You can find the right person to wear barcoded bezels! Someone ironic and with several piercings, perhaps. (Speaking from personal experience.) Great 2-part report!!

--Dave
at Rings & Things

msminimode said...

can't stop looking....love all of your work!