Differences in Resins

The other day I finally had a good result with resin and my VU light.  I liked it so much that I had to try it again.

Here is my little mouse with Magic Glos Resin.

Still waiting for spring....

 

Then I tried a different resin I got at the Bead Festival last year - Gel du Soleil.  It is also a one part UV resin, and gave a good finish but is not as thick as Magic Glos.  It ran over the edge and has several indented areas, which are hard to see on the picture. I think it will be good to use when as a filling resin where there is an edge to stop it from running, like some bracelet blanks or bezels. 

Christi in new book

I just received my copy of Polymer Pizzazz 2 from Amazon.  And what a surprise!   My favorite PC teacher Christi Friesen has 4 projects in it.  One of them is the Calla Lily project which is really special to me as Christi made and gave me one at the Friday Harbor workshop last month. 

This really makes me want to get back into the studio. I have had a forced hiatus due to back issues.  I may even have to miss our guilds Clay Day this coming weekend.

In lue of something new, I present a project from Christi's workshop last month.  This will be a wall hanging when I get around to affixing a hanger to the back.  I had a lot of fun learning to make Christ's favorite leafs.

Finally Resin Sucess

I have had a UV light for a while now and not really used it much.  The first couple of times I did, all I got was small clumps of resin all over the pendant or brooch.  And it would pull away from the edges.  All and all, not a satisfactory experience.

Then one of the yahoo PC groups I belong to had a discussion on resins, and put forth some good ideas. So I thought I would try it again. This time I used Magic Glos and first made a "dam" around the edge of the piece.  After curing under the VU light,  I filled in the rest of the piece with more resin.  The second curing was not completely smooth, so I filled in with another thin layer and once more under the light.

Third time was the charm.  I finally had a piece that domed well and looked good.  You really can't tell from the picture but this stuck up little rabbit has a perfect resin coating, with no air bubbles!! Success at last.

Lettuce, I don't want no stinkin' lettuce.  I'm holding out for a CARROT!

Another Twist on the Squish

The latest twist in my Squish beads is the addition of another color band.  I mixed a little cad red into transluscent clay and added a a bit of sparkle using an embossing powder.  Instead of the chicklet bead shape I have been semi-fixated on lately, I used my bead roller to make a more typical shape. 

This is the same coin roll but two different extrusions.  One had more black clay after the white and the other red after the white.   This is also the same combo that I used for the chicklet beads from my previous post.  So much fun learning what different combinations look like.

Little Mouse

I reduced the size of the sleeping mouse I made last month, and she turned out really cute.

Sleeping... waiting for spring.  Will it ever get here??

Color combos that just don't work and one that did

Haven't been doing much this last week. I spent a lot of time last weekend preparing for my guild demo of my Squishy beads. It kinda screwed up my wrist  rolling out that much clay and cutting out all those small circles of clay for the coin stack. But it was worth it. I got some good complements on the demo and people seemed happy to learn the technique.

 As I said, in preparation for the demo, I made up some coin rolls ahead of time.  I just used up bits and pieces of various packages I had laying around, and I admit I was curious as to what the color combos would look like.  Still experimenting, as one never knows till they try what might work.

This time though,  I mostly discovered colors that did not work so well together.  Oh well, they can't all be winners.

                                                                                                                                                                             Red white and blue... very good colors when it comes to patriotic themes but not so well together when blended.  I was hoping that the blue and red would blend to make a pretty purplish color....well, it is purple but the combo not the best.  Will not try it again.

 Another combo used that did not turn out well is cad red, yellow and black. I am almost ashamed at posting these, but the top three where the yellow and red made orange are cool. This is the blended color that I was hoping to achieve when I chose the colors for the coin roll.

 Since I had so much cad red left over, I put it together with white and black, and got these.  I really like the red and white ones at the bottom of the picture.

And finally the beads that I really like.  Silver, black and white.  Will definitely make more of these. 

The difference a color makes

I have tried out several color combinations when making the squishy beads. So far, the first beads I made have been my favorites. So today I decided to recreate them. 

I have never been one to keep consistent  journals/logs of what I do, but perhaps I should start.  I was pretty sure that the original colors I used were white, yellow and violet.

 As you can see from the picture, my memory is faulty.  I now think I used fuchsia originally instead of violet. These beads  may not be exactly what I set out for, but they didn't turn out half bad.

While the beads were curing, I actually did something different so as to not get totally bored with them. It has been several weeks since I did any drawing so just played around a bit and made this little rabbit. Not sure yet whether he will be a pen or pendant.

I'll just wait here till someone gives me a carrot.