Resin: not frightening, FABULOUS! October 24, 2018 14:32 1 Comment

If you are part of the rock painting community, you know that resin coated painted stones are all the rage. Those of us who like to go the extra mile to make our art stand out have jumped on this very accessible, very easy to accomplish bandwagon. Resin is not frightening, it's FABULOUS!

I have been using resin only a short amount of time, yet I have created so much amazing product for my art business! After seeing others turn out stunning painted stone after stunning painted stone, I knew I had to take the plunge. I watched only one tutorial from a very talented artist in the community (Rachel's Rocks Canada on Etsy), and I felt completely motivated, and ready to tackle the task. I already had many painted stones completed, so I had plenty to choose from to make super shiny, and therefore irresistible!



First thing first, it's EASY! I know that many people are intimidated by resin. Just the fact that it's a two part product makes folks think that it must be difficult. Plus, when you think resin, you think fumes, right? Well, with Art Resin's product, it's not only super easy to mix and apply, it's fume free. It's even safe to use indoors. How many of your spray acrylic products can make that claim?

The most difficult part of using resin is the fact that it must be equally measured in order to work...and that is not even really hard. I make small batches of painted stones, and like to coat them quickly to get them stocked into my shop. What I love about Art Resin is that you can mix as little, or as much as you'd like. As long as you use equal parts resin and hardener, it's all the same. I usually mix as little as one half teaspoon of product at a time. This is one quarter teaspoon of resin, and one quarter teaspoon of hardener. It covers three or so medium stones, or a whole slew of little magnet pebbles, which is my current obsession.



You need just a few supplies to make your resin application smooth and easy:

• Latex Gloves
• Paper Towels
• Popsicle Stick
• Small Disposable Cup 
• Plastic Measuring Spoon
• A Straw (for blowing out bubbles on the stones) 
• Plastic Container (I save berry containers from the store, they have a built in dust cover!) 
• Pin Frog or Kiln Stilts for larger stones (to prevent pooling, or a resin "lip." ) 

I recommend watching the tutorial video mentioned above (some folks are video makers, I am not!), and then jump right in! The easiest way to realize this is easy is to just do it!

1. Gather your supplies. 
2. Tie back your hair. 
3. Set up your stones on the plastic containers so you can cover them for curing without moving them. 
4. Put on your gloves.
5. Measure resin into your cup. Wipe the measuring spoon with a paper towel. 
6. Measure hardener into your cup. Wipe the measuring spoon with a paper towel. 
7. Stir the mixture with the popsicle stick for THREE WHOLE MINUTES. It seems excessive, but it's crucial (and not difficult). 
8. Pour a dollop of the mixture on each stone. 
9. Pick up each stone (with GLOVED HANDS ONLY), and "soap it up." This applies the resin in a thin layer over the whole stone, and minimizes pooling underneath. 
10. If I have a rough stone, or thick design, I will add another little dollop to the top only. 
11. After you have "soaped up" all your stones, carefully remove your gloves, then lightly blow on them with the straw to pop any bubbles. Some people use a creme brulee torch to pop bubbles, but honestly I feel the straw is plenty effective on stones. 
12. Cover your stones so dust doesn't settle on them, and WALK AWAY for 24 WHOLE HOURS. (That's another of the only difficult parts! They are so pretty, you just want to touch them, and photograph them, and share them with the world...but you must be patient!)
13. After 24 hours, pop them off the plastic, and marvel at the wondrous, gloriously shiny thing you've created!! 

Great job! Now go paint more stones so you can do it again!!