Thursday, June 25, 2015

Resin, resin, resin!


Wednesday 24 June 2015

Hot but with breeze so felt agreeable for a while
28 degrees

Decided if I was going to get any resin pouring done, then it would have to be early morning so got up at 6.45 and did a mix.  It was absolutely full of bubbles.  Made some more seed buttons and a pendant using a dried tiny flower head and stalk and a base of grass seed. The flower head kept on trying to bob out of the mix.  Smaller individual seeds sink well and integrate.  From 30ml made all of the buttons and the pendant.  That is a tenth of the amount bought which cost me 22 euros.  Send some examples of buttons to friend in the Tarn who uses a lot of them in order to see what she thinks.  The ones I sent have a crackle glazed effect as I was fiddling around with the seeds placement once the resin had started to set.  Due to electrostatic effect, seeds can float to the sides of the button and look too 'placed' so I had been poking them around with a cocktail stick.

There are two main problems with resin casting for jewellery.  One is that bubbles form and spoil the look of the piece and the other is that it doesn't set.  I use a special technique for pouring the buttons and another technique for the pendants.  Sometimes the pendants don't set and I have just realised why - I pour direct from the mixing cup and obviously the resin is picking up some of the less well mixed parts from the side of the cup and that is why I am having these fails.....  I need to pour into another recepticle and then remix or use special technique for larger items too.  On Resin Obsession blog she advises keeping a record of what worked and what didn't.  What I have learned from extensive reading and watching of YouTube videos is:

1.  Resin hates water
2.  Mix thoroughly but gently and for at least a couple of minutes, scraping down the sides of the mixing pot.  Mixing pot must be of inert substance.
3.  Inclusions must be fully dried or will rot in the resin.
4.  Whites and yellows and blues cope well with the process.  Reds need to be sealed first - can use pva.
5.  Keep the environment as clean and dust free as possible or resin will pick this up too.
6.  Careful when you de-mould as if it is still slightly tacky, it will pick up your fingerprints. So use gloves to demould and then press flat larger items which will bend slightly.

Went down the rental units and I cleaned the small flat ahead of the renters who are arriving for a week from this Saturday.  The last lot, a solicitor with gout and a wife who didnt like stairs (they knew there were stairs) had taken the opportunity of bleeding all over the pillow cases and the sheet.  How can people bleed so much?  Come to think of it, didnt see his wife on the day they left....  Stripped everything and removed many spiders and their webs and scrubbed.  OH swept the hall, stairs and landing and sneezed a lot and then insisted I went for cake.  I had chocolate drop which is a brioche swirled into the shape of a pair of owls eyes with chocolate chips and OH had a croissant aux amandes.  Back home and it was then too hot to go out so had lunch and caught up with emails.

Looked for cellophane sleeves in which to put my fabby new cards and discovered that the dimensions of 3 x 8 inches were extremely unusual and that sleeves just dont exist - well at least in Europe.  Need to think of an alternative.  I am going to sell them in batches of five so can have a larger bag.

OH suggested I go and see WF and I thought that was excellent idea.  Just need to contact WF now and see if his housemates have left a room open....  He needs this time, to wash the sheets and clean up the room.  When I went over to his graduation last year, that was the first thing I had to do.  He is in another house but nearby the former one.  OH said it was grim.




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