Resin Resin Resin!

Welcome to my first blog entry! I've never run an actual blog before, so bear with me ;)

Casting resin jewelry is something that I've wanted to experiment with for some time... and I've finally begun! I have some really neat ideas for necklace designs and projects that I'd like to try in the near future, I think it's got a lot of potential! 
In this first batch, I was mostly working on mixing the resin correctly (which can be very tricky), trying different colouring methods, and seeing how I could incorporate different marine life. I tried sea turtles, stingrays, sharks, humpback whales, a sea lion, orcas and pacific white sided dolphins. 

My first set of resin pieces fresh from the mold! Still have some work to do, like trimming the excess material from the edges, but so far I'm really pleased!

One thing I did not fully anticipate about the process was the mess it was going to create! This is one MESSY medium! Mixing cups everywhere, all coated in semi-hardened resin... stir sticks (read: old popsicle sticks and toothpicks) jutting out all over the place... and having to wait for the whole thing to harden before cleaning it up! 
I've never been accused of being a neat-freak, but do have to admit that it bothered me a little bit XD

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Here's a photo of my first set of pieces in the mold. Something to know about me... I HATE waiting. I'm used to polymer clay, a medium that is almost instantly ready once the sculpt is finished. I wasn't prepared for resin's 24-72 hour drying time, and kept gravitating to the mold to poke the pieces to see if they were dry enough to pry free. Casting in resin is going to be a learning process, hopefully I'll learn to be more patient while I'm at it. Hopefully. 

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This shows a few of the colouring techniques that I've tried... not a big fan of the blue/white on the sea lion necklace, but pretty happy with the other three! I'm trying to learn to colour the resin while leaving it transparent, as well as colouring it to be opaque. 



The first on the left is opaque turquoise, the middle is partially transparent blue, and on the right is lightly tinted transparent blue. 

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Sea turtles, orcas, and stingrays! These photos show two of the colour approaches I've tried so far... silhouettes and full colour. I really like the way the orcas came out, although I wish I'd have coloured the background resin differently. Oh well, learned lots! 

Check it out! Kind of difficult to see from the other photos, so here's a look at what I'm going for... they look fantastic against the light. 

not finished with these yet... so stay tuned for updates!