They have since found a more permanent home. That is to say that I have completed this project (insert happy dance here)!
I know it has taken far longer than it should have, but that is due to the fact that the internet has too many other cool things to try and to do... Also, I have a rather limited attention span.
In all honesty however it was also largely due to the fact that I was dragging my feet with regard to actually purchasing the clear epoxy resin as it was the first time that I did so and I was rather unsure of which one of the thousands available would suit my needs.
I often find that there are too many options and for someone like me. Someone who isn't exactly cognizant of all the intricate details etc, and having no one whom I know personally to ask, it really makes buying something like this a bit of a gamble. Especially since I do the vast majority of my craft shopping online, and one has always to be weary when doing so, just in case.
But enough of that. Long story short (for the most part,) I have invested in some clear resin and for the first time ever, used it. Rather successfully I think.
So just a quick recap:
I made the (koi) fish out of translucent polymer clay, and painted them with acrylic paint. (Mom has a koi pond, and so she was able to provide some photos of actual koi fish for me to try and replicate.)
I like the stripy one, but only for the interesting colours it has. I am most definitely not a fish person (nor a bird or reptile person for that matter), but that is beside the point.
Next, I made a few aquatic plants, well really I just made some lily pads and a flower, but that still counts, right? These were also, naturally, made from polymer clay in the required colours.
The tin that I used is a ChapStick Collection tin. Basically it was just something I bought because I wanted the lip balm that was inside and the tin was/is pretty. I really didn't need it, or have any particular use for this tin, until just now.
I started by paining the inside with a mixture of acrylic paint and a course texture medium, and finished it off with a clear vanish. I placed a hand full of decorative pebbles from my garden around the bottom too, for a bit of decoration in my 'fish pond'.
Another coat of clear vanish made sure that the paint and the pebbles stayed in place. I left that to dry for what turned out to be much longer than required but: all's well that ends well...
Finally, I mixed up my newly acquired resin and carefully poured a thin layer, waited for a while until it was tacky, and placed my fish in their new home. The rest of the resin was then just as slowly and carefully (so as not to displace my carefully arranged fish) poured into the tin.
Again, I waited for it to set a while before I placed the lily and the lily pads afloat in the pond. The resin was viscous enough to ensure that they broke through the surface a little, but not so liquid that they sunk all the way to the bottom, or too hard so that they remained separate form the 'pond water'.
And voila!
I think it turned out pretty well, all things considered, even if I do say so myself.
Well that's that for another day.
Until next time,
ACL.
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