i've been wanting to work with resin for a while, but the precise mixing and the messiness of the whole process kind of turned me off. recently, i found a product called magic glos, which is just like regular resin except there is no mixing involved and it cures under a uv light or sunlight. i really wanted to find a way to bridge the gap between my paper goods and my jewelry, and this seemed like the perfect way, so i bought a starter kit from crafter's cafe.
it arrived in the mail yesterday and i was really excited to use it right away. so excited that i squeezed the bottle too hard, causing the plastic tip to pop out and spill most of the contents of the bottle onto myself and my work surface . . . not a great start! once i cleaned up the mess and threw my clothes in the wash, i started over. i managed to salvage about half the bottle, and was able to make 7 pendants with varying levels of success. here is what i learned:
- coat your paper first with some type of waterproof barrier. i used fimo decorating gel, which was recommended by the creator of magic glos. i found it at joann fabric; you have to bake it in an oven for about 20 minutes at about 265 degrees farenheit to cure it.
- uv resin does not work well in thick layers! if you pour too thick a layer, it seems to cause issues with curing and lots of air bubbles. it is best to apply several thin layers, curing under the uv light in between layers.
- you can use a lighter to remove any unwanted air bubbles. just run it over the surface of the resin before curing. be careful not to get too close though!
- the resin is thick and may not spread into your setting perfectly without a little help. use toothpicks to spread the resin evenly in the cavity and make sure it covers your image completely. for the final layer, use a toothpick to make sure it your image is completely covered, then add a little extra, drop by drop, until you acheive the desired doming effect.
here are some of the pendants i ended up with:
the picture at the top of this post is a selection of 4 pendants that turned out pretty well . . . playing around with different design options.
this one is my favorite! i made it out of the corner of an envelope i received from hong kong . . . they have such gorgeous stamps and i love the postmark. i am keeping this one for myself :)
this one turned out really nicely. i used a section of my gocco printed doily design (also seen on one of my notecard sets). i will be adding it to my etsy shop soon!
i will be doing more experimenting as soon as i can get my hands on more of this stuff, so keep your eyes peeled for new additions to my shop!
xoxo,
lesley
