So off I went this week to Michaels. I searched all the glues and found Easy Cast Clear Casting Epoxy which is a boxed "kit" containing one bottle of epoxy resin and one bottle of polyamine hardener. Truth be told, I'm still not 100% sure if this is the same two part epoxy that is used in these little art projects but I gave it a whirl and purchased it for $11.99 (ouch!!). I gathered all of the supplies: the easy cast, a few bottle caps, a drill for making holes in the bottle caps, a black choker cord (purchased for 1.99), a print out of an old family photo and some small findings.
My original idea was to cut out a picture of me as a little girl to fit inside the bottle cap. The directions on the epoxy stated that pictures had to be coated with 2 coats of craft glue before pouring the Easy Cast over it. Unfortunately, the craft glue lifted the ink off of my photo image so I had to scrap my original idea. I ended up going through my beads and filling the bottle cap with tiny seeded costume pearls. Breen was so helpful as usual. He drilled the holes in the bottle cap and mixed the two part epoxy resin. Mistake number one: we should have drilled the holes AFTER the epoxy solution set for at least 24 hours. As soon as Breen carefully poured it in to the bottle cap, it started leaking through the holes. We ended up grabbing some Saran wrap to put the cap on. Mistake number two: when I woke up this morning to check on the progress of the bottle cap pendant the Saran wrap was completely glued to the bottle cap. All in all, the jury is still out as to whether or not I'll give this two part epoxy resin more play. It is extremely messy and sticky, it's a little on the pricey side and the warning signs ALL OVER the bottles make me a little nervous about its unhealthy properties. Here is what I am hoping the pendant will look like after the epoxy fully sets:
But for now I have it attached to a big clip until it dries:
Here is something wonderful that happened though while we were working with the epoxy mix. I still wanted to go with the idea of making a pendant with my childhood picture in it. I remembered I had found an old mashed up Budweiser beer cap on one of my walks this week and I had the rest of the supplies in my jewelry supply storage. So Breen drilled a hole in the bottle cap and I decorated it with a gorgeous little crystal flower. I made a wire wrapped glass pendant and put it all together. On the back of my pendant, it reads: Honor the child. Be the woman. This is powerful for me and the old mashed up bottle cap reminds me of my love of rescuing old unwanted things and making them beautiful again.
So even though the two part epoxy resin may not have worked out the way I planned, there was something even better that resulted from the learning process!
What did you do this week?
