An abundance of dried flowers from my garden

Now that some of my dried flowers are ready, I thought I would make a few jewellery dishes, T-light holders and soap dishes.

Dried pansies and daisies set into a resin dish

 

White rose petals and ivy set into a resin dish

Bougainvillea leaves set into a resin soap dish

Cyclamen flowers set into resin tee-light holders

And lastly a Cyclamen resin soap dish

Pansie filled Jewellery Dishes, Soap Holders and Bangles

It was really sunny out in the garden this morning so I thought I would go out and pick a few of the lovely purple pansies flowering in my hanging baskets.

Colourful shades of purple pansies picked from my garden

Getting the pansies ready for my flower press

Soon these will be dry enough then I can set them into resin to make my jewellery dishes, soap holders and bangles

Flower filled dishes, tee-lights, and bracelets

I recently purchased a large sized flower press from a charity shop. Upon taking it home and opening it up, I found an abundance of dried flowers inside the drying pages - what a lovely surprise that was.

I decided to take some flowers from my own garden and press these in the flower press, so I have an abundance of flowers ready for some winter projects.

Really pleased with how these came out, dishes, tee-lights, bracelets here we come.

Pop back soon to see how these came out!

New Resin Collection in my Etsy Shop 

Its been a while since I last posted, so I thought I would show a few of my new makes I have recently been working on.

I purchased a few different size ring molds and had great fun filling these with colour and various gold, silver and varigated red guilding flakes.

I have been drying flowers too from my garden and experimenting putting these into plates, business card holders, tee-lights and soon resin rings and bracelets.

Resin rings with guilding flakes

Sapphire blue with silver flakes

Clear resin with red varigated flakes

Various glitter and sequin rings

Real dried rose petal in a small dish

 Various dried leaves for a business card holder

Dishes and tee-light holders with dried leaves

You can view more of my latest work here in my Etsy shop.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/464796956/sapphire-blue-resin-ring-with-silver?ref=shop_home_active_3

Rainbow Resin Glitter Rings

I thought I would try and make a few different size rainbow rings for my Etsy shop and future craft fairs.

Iv'e had tubes of glitter sitting on my craft shelf for ages so today seems a good time to use it!

First I sorted out which molds would suit these rings, I went for a curved ring mold shape.

I picked the coloured glitters I wanted in the rings and mixed up the resin. I poured the resin in first, then put in the glitter.

Putting the glitter into the molds and swirling it around was a bit tricky because the molds are quite small and you end up getting glitter all around the edge,but I got there in the end!

I let the resin cure in the molds for 2 days then take them out. 

All my resin work goes through a process of 9 different grades of sand paper before a final polish.

This takes quite a few hours of elbow grease, but it's worth it for the end results.

 

Really pleased with how these turned out, I may try a bracelet to go with it next.

Large Wire Resin Tree

Large 3D Wire Resin Tree

Now I have made one large resin tree, I'm set to make a few more as I enjoyed the learning process and end results greatly.

1st Stage - Set out the Tree and base mold and half fill with resin, this way I can eliminate most of the air bubbles with my gas lighter. If I fill the mold completely too many air bubbles will get trapped and I don't really like the overall effect it gives at completion. (Of course all air bubbles would be eliminated if I had a de-gassing chamber but I don't at the moment so this method will serfice for now)
I filled the mold with thin wire that I bent into shapes to fit the branches and the trunk of the tree, it gives a mythical feel to the piece and its an idea I have not tried before, it may or may not work we will have to wait and see at the end!
I now let the resin cure for about 12 hours then I will do the final pour on this side of the mold, not too sure if its going to be a colour or colour and mylar flakes!!

2nd Stage - Background colour, I decided I would use two colours in the end - shimmering green and shimmering copper. I quite like the effects it gives once dry, this is very different to anything I have done as i'm thinking outside the box on this project.

3rd Stage - Coating the back of the tree with dark brown resin, so that the green and cooper colours will have a solid background for their shimmering colours to show through from the front side.

4th Stage - The tree has had its final coat of clear resin on the front. The first picture taken with my camera was with the flash on, so it shows up the shimmering green and brown in the design.I also love the way the wire dominates the foreground with its swirling silver patterns.

5th Stage - Assembly of the tree and base - Now a completed tree ready for hanging your jewellery on or just put in a sunny window to catch the light and admire!.

Close up showing the twirling wire inside the resin

Sea Glass Resin Tree

Now for a Bigger Tree!

Now to try something bigger and bolder. I made this mold last year and have not tried it out till now. I'm going to try and make a "Sea Glass Jewellery Tree" with stand. It measures 28cm high by 21cm wide - this should be fun!!

1st Stage - First I Laid out my tree mold, then poured the prepared resin into the mold after which I add the various sizes of coloured sea glass until the mold is completely filled.

2nd Stage - After the resin has cured in the mold for 24 hrs I demold it and lay it flat onto some silicone sheets. Now I give it a top coat to even out the layer.Then once this coat of resin has cured I need to turn it over and do the same on the other side but I will have to wait 24 hrs before I can turn it over. So far I have spent an hour altogether making this, but waiting 2 days in between for drying time - its no quick process unfortunately!!

I love the way the sea glass comes alive showing its vibrant colours just like when I spot it for the first time on the shore. I also love the fact that the sea glass I find has been rolling and crashing around in the sea for 60 years or more to get to that frosty pummeled stage and that each piece of sea glass carries a history of how it came to be and where its been!!

At last finally finished my "Sea Glass Tree" it took 3 hours but 5 days of waiting for the resin to cure between each layer, I'm pleased with my first result. This tree could be used to hang your jewellery on, or just placed in a sunny window to show of the coloured glass.
I will be selling this tree for £20 because of the work involved making the tree not to mention hunting for blue sea glass on the beach, hours and hours looking for those rare pieces of blue! The tree measures 28cm high by 21cm wide.

The Finished Tree