Today I''m doing a quick tutorial on making cell phone cases with resin. Some quick tips to remember-
1. Allow your resin to set up a bit, honey thick consistency works best because it helps to keep the resin from leaking into the camera holes and sides.
2. Try to avoid using excessive heat to get rid of bubbles as it will warp the plastic.
3. Give yourself plenty of time to babysit! It's almost impossible to clean up a cured cell phone case mess, believe me I have messed up enough of them to know!
I am so excited to share this tutorial today! I am the biggest sucker
for dual-purpose, thrifty and of course anything with resin in, on. or
around it lol! Quick breakdown!
1. Gyroscope necklaces (dual purpose! 1$-2$)
2. Paint Palette (around 1.49 and cheaper with a Joanne's coupon, also dual purpose for this project!)
3. Whatever awesome things you find to put in it and some resin ( I reccomend using Art Resin-see my review here-http://tinyurl.com/ooxfaea) You can purchase here https://artresin.refersion.com/c/dcd5
These little guys I found online several months ago, I was more
interested in the hourglasses than the necklace as a whole; that is,
until I realized that I could also make use of the actual gyroscope part
of the necklace too with paint palettes! Aren't they cool?!
So you have a dual purpose necklace in which you can use the hourglass
in other things like this pocketwatch-be sure to shoot me a message if
you'd like to see a tutorial for resin pocketwatches!
I'm really super excited to share and I hope that I get to see your
creations as well! Stay tuned for a chance to have you and your work
featured on my website that's under construction:)
Supplies needed for this project-
1. Some of these absolutely sweet gyroscope necklaces:) you can get some here:) http://tinyurl.com/ped6fx5 (opens in new window to an ebay seller) (see 1A)
2. Paint Pallette from Joanne's Fabric and Crafts (see 2A)
2. Adhesive of choice to secure cabochons to the necklace.(I used resin, because obsessed)
1A Firstly, I'll cover some key points to note about the gyroscope
necklaces. I have ordered several shipments from several different
sellers and I definetly noticed a difference in quality as well as a
difference in the adhesives used to secure the hourglass into place.
There are some that have used hot glue to secure it and some that just
used super glue, making it easier to pop out than with hot glue. The
method that I've found that works best is to bend the center piece a bit
and the hourglass will usually pop out intact. I've broken several by
pushing on the hourglass itself, although if it's secured with super
glue, popping it out is a bit easier.
2A
The reason that I list specifically the painters palettes from
Joanne's Fabric is because in my experience, having tried many different
brands from many place I've found that the palettes from Joanne are the
best quality. It seems to be the perfect combination of strong
and flexible. The reason this is important is because pouring resin in
the wrong type will leave you will cabochons that are stuck there
forever. Conventional wisdom says you can't use resin in these types of
molds but you certainly can and I'm going to show you how easy it is:) http://tinyurl.com/mojvb3w (opens to my blog posting)
So, getting started What you are going to do first is design and fill
the molds. I use several at a time and fill the molds in very thin
layers so that I'm good and tortured waiting the full cure and hardening
time to see how they turned out, lol.
Once you've cured and released the cabochons from the mold you are ready to discover the next dual-purpose for the palette:)
Using reserves from the next batch of cabochons I was pouring and
curing, I waited until the resin was pretty tacky and put the resin on
the BACK of the cabochon that was facing flat-side up as pictured in the
center of the palette. After placing the cabochon back into a cavity I
placed the gyroscope onto the top (as shown on the left) and allowed it
to fully cure and harden.(When I have a piece that it matters the
direction it is facing, I usually use that one in step two)
Once the first half is cured, repeat the same process of applying
the resin or adhesive of choice and do the same thing with placing the
gyroscope over the cabochon and allowing it to fully cure!
There are so many things you can do with the leftover hourglass, but here are a few things I've learned the hard way
1. Be sure to leave each layer alone for the entire curing process
including the hardening phase, because the resin heats up it can melt
the layer underneath which can cause your hourglass to shift postiions.
2. If you are using the pallette molds in this blog, its a good idea to
paint the bottom half of the hourglass because of the way resin bends
light it distorts parts of it (especially the middle)
I'm so glad that I was able to share this with you today! I love a
great project at a great price! Comment with a link back to pics if
you've tried this yourself! I do want to caution, these gyroscope
necklace are actually replicas of the "Harry Potter" time-turner
neckaces and as such are not as great of quality as the genuine ones.
Therefore, I would recommend using them as gifts or for yourself instead
of selling unless you've found a way to secure it properly which will
mean that the necklace will most likely no longer spin but will be
double sided which is great as well!
I hope to soon make #RTOTD (RESIN Tip of the Day) a regular part of my blog and twitter account (@endosurvivor)!!!!! I'll be posting several in the coming weeks. I want the first to highlight safety as well as throw in a good tip:)
Please, please, please wear proper protection when working with resin. Gloves, respirator, etc. Of course I know that it isnt always practical to use gloves, nonetheless-if you spill or get any on your skin Neutrogena T-Sal shampoo works great to get it off. The active ingredient is coal tar and I think that really helps to break down the oils and wash them away. I buy the Dollar Store brand since the active ingredient coal tar is the key! Baby wipes are great as well but they get expensive (TIP through 7/19/15 at Sam's club, member can get 10 100 ct packs for it for $14.36!) and you don't want to use harsher chemicals to remove it either.
When you mix Createx Airbrush Colors with Alumilite 5 minute casting resin! I mixed the two to use for a project and the results were hilarious! I think the paint is a form of latex and heats up faster when the resin started to cure causing bubbles but it's always interesting to see what kind of surprises resin has for me!
