Resin Casting

I received the Mixed Media box from Craft Box UK last week and amongst the lovely goodies was a Prima Silicone Mould.  I was desperate to have a play and make some resin pieces for my crafting. I have used resin before in jewellery making but it was quite some time ago so I watched some tutorials and decided to get the same resin that Anna from Craft Box UK uses, it is Polycraft EasyFlo 60 Polyurethane Liquid Plastic Casting Resin (available here).  It is a fast curing resin that dries white.

I also bought some small measuring cups and stirrers, I won't link them because they weren't very good pourers and I ended up with a very messy craft mat, luckily, once the resin is cured it is quite easy to scrape it off.

I have a few Martha Stewart moulds that my Mother-in-law had bought and never used and she kindly passed them on to me so I used them as well.

I am so impressed with how they turned out, I really thought that I would have a few fails before I produced something that I could actually use.  I only made up 30ml of resin at a time, so 15ml of each bottle, and I think that is the most I would use in one go.  I don't think you would have time to pour any more before it starts to cure, especially if you have intricate moulds like the bird, I needed to use the stirrer to coax the resin in to his wee legs.  By the time I had poured the fourth mould I could see the first one starting to go white.  Once the resin is totally white it can be removed from the mould really easily.

I have put in an order with Aliexpress for some more moulds so you can definitely expect to hear more from me on this subject.

Thank you for reading xxx

Welcome to 2018!

The past couple of years have been horrendous for me and my Family. I lost my brother after a long illness and then my Mum passed away very suddenly. As you can probably imagine, we are all devastated and I have struggled with life going on around me and I have just felt lost.  The last conversation I had with my Mum was about how she wanted me to be happy, this is easier said than done because I didn't just lose my Mum, she was my best friend too and so many of my hobbies involved her.

I know that I can't go on the way I been as my Mental health is beginning to spiral out of control again,so, I have made the decision that 2018 is going to be the year of ME!!!! It's going to be difficult but I owe it to my Mum and the rest of my family to be fit, healthy and happy.

I am going to invest more time in doing the things that I enjoy doing, so lots of crafts and fun things and I also need to get myself healthy, mentally and physically.  I am going back to Slimming World next week which will be difficult because it's something I always did with Mum but, I have a good friend, who is going through similar things, coming with me.

I want to invest more time in my You Tube channel and this blog and I have lots of ideas so keep checking back and come with me on my journey to happiness.  It is my intention to have a new blogpost and video up every Sunday.