Resination

The way to increase your skill in anything is to practice, practice, practice and oh yeah...take a class.

Thanks to +Danielle at Nomadic Notions, and her Resinwerks class, I am now a B student. Last Thursday I participated in the 1st of two sessions teaching this medium and I loved it. Take the lessons learn and somewhat understood from readings and other tutorials and actually put them into practice, I'm more prepared now.

Things learned and reinforced:

1. Prepping your material. For the class we used paper as our background scene so it was important to prep your material to avoid the Resin changing the look of your material. Prepping the paper was the process of using Mod Podge not only as an adhesive but also as a sealer...to seal the paper. Lesson learned: apply mod Podge in thin layers and allow to properly dry between each layer. If you choose to use a heat source to assist with drying be careful not to bake or burn your piece. During the class I prepped 3 pieces...



 

Prepped Background from a Magazine cutout
 

Prepped Background from sparkly scrapbooking paper

 

2. Design. Although one could simply use the background paper...most of us wanted to embellish our pieces. Thoughts and tips: think about the effect you want to achieve. Single dimensional or not...that helps with the "when" to add the embellishments. Also consider the materials that you will use as an embellishment as this too may have to be prepped. Other than that..the sky's the limit.



Adding the element of design
 











3. Resin mix. Consistency and precision are important in this step. Ensure you are accurate with your mix ratio and allow the time as indicated on your resin product instruction. Remove air bubbles.

4. Lastly, the pour.... Ensure your adhesive is completely dry before you mix or pour. Ensure your pour surface is level. Make sure that your resin gets into all the nooks and crannies. Don't, I repeat don't over pour. Add a test drop of resin to a spot in front of your work. This is what you'll use to test for doneness instead of touching the piece...you'll avoid fingerprints in your work.

Remember to blow gently to remove any air bubbles...don't inhale

5. Recommended tools: toothpicks and/or craft sticks to help you during the pour process. Wax paper to avoid spills on your countertop or other work surface. Something to level your work. The bales on the bezels I used tilted the piece so it had to be leveled for a consistent pour.