Resin experiments, etc

For the past week, I feel like I've been in a whirl with a number of projects going at once (like that's something new)! I'm getting ready for Landis Valley Herb Faire, working on a Viking knit bracelet (how ya doing on yours, Faith?), catching up on soapmaking and playing with resin.

The class I took a few weeks ago from Susan Lenart Kazner was about casting with resin. Shapes, embedding, etc.

Sunday morning, Tina & I were playing with it and yesterday, I finally sat down, with a bit more experience under my belt and produced a few things that might actually warrant a look.

The yellow flower in the first photo is a tiny Johnny-Jump-Up. The resin is apparently alkaline and pulls blue colors out of most things that are embedded. I think the flower wound up looking like a yellow orchid.. pretty cool.

The background is still rough and will become quite smooth if I apply a thin layer to the back of the piece and allow it to cure.

The second picture - the Maple leaf is actually a stamp of a Maple leaf. I stamped it on a piece of Shrinky Dink and shrank. Then I applied a "dam" around the piece and added resin.

I think it turned out pretty well. The leaf looks real - very tiny and detailed. Because it is on a clear backing, it seems to just float in the middle of the puddle.

The last piece I'm showing is my Lancaster County Soapworks logo.

I did a couple of these and they all turned out well. I printed out the logo on the computer... it's only 1/2 x 1/2". I had a tiny square of glass the same size and put "dams" around the sides.

First I poured a drop or two of resin on the bottom, then slid the tiny slip of paper on top of it and finished filling the mold.

Since I took these pictures this morning, I have worked on the charms and found that the sides on most have come off somewhat easily and after a bit of filing, they look almost like cabochons. Little nuggets. Now, to decide what to do with them.

I'll have to think about it as I continue getting ready for the Herb Faire... Still got lots to do on that project!