Adventures in UV Resin

1. UV Resin is cool.
2. PearlEx powdered mica pigments are fabulous.
3. Silicone moulds are the way to go.
4. And layers, lots of layers.
5. Never mix black pigment with your UV resin (oops). Use black nail polish instead.
6. A little UV resin does NOT go a long way.
7. And it's expensive.
8. It may be that UV resin designed for fly fishing does not have the properties required for jewellery. It feels a little rubbery rather than crisply stiff. And breaks far too easily.
9. Patience is a virtue, even with UV resin.
10. Curing in sunlight is easier than using a UV torch. Though using a UV torch enables one to do this stuff at night. Which is important.
11. Little eyeshadow brushes are really useful in applying mica powder.
12. And toothpicks are good for swirling.
13. Lumps are a sign that that bit hasn't cured. Especially if you poke the lump and it breaks up. Remove the lump and add another layer of resin to fill the hole.
14. It is more reliable to paint on the mica powder and then pour on the next layer of resin, rather than sprinkling the mica powder and swirling it through the resin. But swirling is cool, even if it is risky.
15. Some fine pigment powders can behave strangely if there is too much of them. Like floating on top of the resin instead of staying underneath!
16. But at least mistakes like that can be wiped off if caught before zapping with UV.
17. It's astonishing how many resin tutorials feature pink, unicorns, cats, and glitter.
18. Looking at more tutorials, it seems common to pre-mix the resin with pigment, and then put it on with toothpick... so maybe my reservations about swirling are unwarranted. I guess it depends on how dense the pigment is.
19. Pondering whether buying a UV lamp might be worth it after all. But where would I put it? Takes up too much space. But my UV torch batteries run out too fast. And clear sunny days do not come on demand. And it would have been cheaper than buying the UV torch.

Photos later.