Let me start off by saying, I’m working on my skills a lot. I apologize if this blog is all over the place. That’s my life! My first love with resin/epoxy is using UV resin (it cures under a lamp). A friend of mine convinced me to try epoxy. I don’t even know what I was so scared of! I thought I was going to mess it up so badly. (Believe me, there are a lot of trials and errors!) But it’s not as hard and scary as I thought.
Please remember it’s recommended to use proper PPE. Use in a ventilated area. Wear nitrile gloves. Wear the proper mask for epoxy/fumes. I even wear an apron (I don’t recommend wearing clothes you wouldn’t be okay with getting ruined!)
I just want to take a quick minute to say what is needed to mix epoxy. You will need a plastic or silicone mixing cup. It depends on what I’m doing on what I’m mixing in. Something to stir with- I use corn dog sticks because I have an abundance of those. My PPE items of course. I recommend working on a silicone mat. If you’d like to tint or color the epoxy, you will need those items as well.
It’s actually really easy to mix epoxy. Take part A and mix with part B. (equal parts) Let it sit for a minute, then add your colorants. Don’t add more than 5% of whatever colorant you use. Also, it’s not recommended to mix large amounts of epoxy unless you are pouring into smaller cups or pouring it fairly quickly after you mix. It can “flash cure” and you don’t want that to happen. (Flash cure is where the epoxy heats up faster than the work time and basically prematurely cures.)
For this pouring- I used Mod Podge Brand epoxy. Y’all. I didn’t know this epoxy existed. I really loved how easy it mixed together. It felt smooth and hardly any bubbles. If you use paint to color the epoxy, don’t use much. When I say DON’T USE MUCH… I mean like DON’T USE MUCH…. LITERALLY. It can make things stringy. The REALLY cool thing I discovered that Plaid had was the cool trays and coasters. I painted these first before pouring. I will insert pictures soon on this. (I actually used mica in these “star” coasters.)
If you haven‘t used epoxy before, I do not recommend starting with these star coasters. The above picture is a work in progress. But I wanted to show you that you HAVE to tape up the sides or resin will pour out. I actually don’t have any resin tape on hand, so I used painters tape this time. I just want to show you everything but it will have to be in increments because there is so many cool things to show. I didn’t even know some of these products or blanks existed. I’m super excited. Please let me know if you have questions.
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Please be advised that Plaid Enterprises, Inc. has compensated Alisa Dunson of Alisa’s Artography by furnishing Plaid product at no charge in connection with this blog. #plaidcrafts
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