Resin Sun Catchers!

Here is a pretty craft you can make to personalize a gift or fill your windows with color!
To make Resin Sun Catchers like these, you will need the following:
Amazing  Mold Putty
Amazing Clear Cast Resin
Decorative tissue paper napkins
Precision scissors
A pencil
Clean and dry prism crystal (real or plastic)
Wax paper, mixing cup for resin, mixing stick, tooth pick, foam brush, wire, clear thread and a paper piercer.

 First begin by mixing your putty according to package directions, equal amounts of white and yellow until one solid color of yellow. Press your prism face down into the putty and let set 15 minutes. Pop prism out. Make a few more of the same.  Mix equal amounts of the clear cast resin into the measuring cups provided. Stir well, scraping the sides and bottom as you work. Pour carefully into your molds. Don't worry if you cover up the part where the prism hole is. We will fix that later.

  Select your tissue paper napkin of choice. I collect mine from discount shops and store them in a decorative box. Separate the top tissue layer from the plain tissues. Place your prism onto your desired pattern and trace with a pencil. Then cut out the traced design inside the pencil lines.
Place design face down into the resin filled mold. No need to press down, it will absorb right away. Fill in any gaps with little bits of decorative tissue. Use the toothpick to put things in their place.
 
 When you have covered all your areas with tissue, make up a small batch of the clear cast resin.
pour this on top of each prism, covering the tissue just so. use your toothpick to corral any stray pieces.  Leave to set in a dry, low traffic spot in your house.
 

 These will take about 24 hours to fully cure, but half way through, you should be able to work them out of the mold. Use the paper piercer as shown to open up the holes.  If I were to place the piece on my work surface, the not fully cured resin would stick. Once I get the piercer through the hole, I can pick it up and wiggle the piercer to enlarge the hole. Do this to each one. Then place back into the mold as found to continue curing.

  Now when you removed your pieces from the mold, you may have noticed that they were cloudy. This is normal.
 In the past, depending on the project type, I have used a clear spray sealer or diamond glaze to add some shine to my resin pieces. This often results in a even more dull shine or exaggerates any cuts and scratches on my piece. Sometime that is fine. In this case I wanted a clear, clean glass-like finish. So I did some research on the web and found  Wanda Eash. She answered all my questions and then by browsing her tips on resin, I became even more inspired!
Here is what I learned from her in adding a high gloss finish.

Place your pieces flat side down onto some duck tape. Really smooth the tape onto the piece so there is no air pockets. you don't want the next step to leak under....

Make up a very small batch of clear cast resin and proceed to paint your pieces with the foam brush and resin. You only need one coat for the top and sides.

   Here you can see instant results!

Let your pieces set until the top coat is no longer sticky to touch.

 Now slowly peel off the tape. Trim off any rough edges with your scissors.
 Work at the hole again with your paper piercer if needed.

  Add some wire through the holes to make a loop,add the thread, hang and enjoy!

 This is my last post for the Amazing Mold Putty design team. I'm taking some time off to focus on my family, studio and personal art. I hope to be back on the team come this Fall, but don't worry, I love resin and will be posting more projects here on my blog any chance I get! in the meantime You can see some of my AMP creations  here.