Ice Resin ATC's

I made ATC's this weekend for my Art Ventures swap group.  This is an A - Z ATC swap and we are on the letter "I", so I needed to use a technique beginning with I.  I had heard of Ice Resin, but hadn't used it before and thought this would be a great place to try it.   I am so Thrilled with the outcome I decided to do as my friend Carol Sweeney does and post the process to my blog.

First I needed an ATC size Bezel so I could pour in the ice resin.  As I have Many Times now, I went back to mold making that I learned in a class at Art & Soul Retreat from Ty & Marcia Schultz.  I had Silputty 40, A & B, from Silkpak, inc. that I ordered after that class.  The 2 jars actually go a Long Way and I Think the cost for both was less than $40.  I have made Many, Many, Many molds from these jars.  To make the mold, I took equal parts of the white and the green putty and mixed them together Well.  The color needs to be and even green for the mold to set up correctly.  No threads of white going through.  This doesn't take long.  I had a thick ATC shape (about 1/8" deep) which I used to make the mold.  I pushed that into the putty, then made sure the putty was pushed close to the ATC shape and would harden smoothly.  The mold hardens in about 5 minutes.

For the ATC design, I tore Stonehenge paper to ATC size (2 1/2 x 3 1/2), then painted the background with Golden Interference Blue paint. (Adding another "I" to the project) 

Then I stamped a design over the paint with Golden Iridescent Bronze Fine paint.  A 3rd "I". :-) 

Then added another "I", an Iris as well as stamping the word Iris in Stampin Up ink.  I had 2 issues with these....and that ink was one of them.  Next time I would use a Permanent Ink.  The Stampin Up ink pads did bleed in the process.  I was able to somewhat recover from that, but I would have liked the word to have been more clear. 

I used a little glue stick on the back of the ATC to keep it flat in the mold (which Kind of worked.....next time maybe double stick tape).  I did need to trim the ATC's a bit to fit the mold well.  That negated the Tearing of the ATC's instead of cutting.  I wanted the torn side to show.  Next time.....I'd tear them just a bit smaller than the mold. 

 Since I make multiple ATC's when I make them, I ended up making 6 ATC size molds, instead of having to make them one at a time.  I didn't realize before I started, it takes 6 hours for Ice Resin to set up enough to work with it and 3 days for it to completely cure.  I made 9, so I was able to do it in 2 groups, instead of 1 a day! 

Next step is to mix the Ice Resin & pour into the molds.  Several years ago I took a class with Susan Lenart Kazmer using resins.  She was a Great teacher & I had Much Fun in the class.  But the Biggest thing I learned is that Resin takes enough Patience to Stir it as Required in the instructions!  Ice Resin calls for stirring for 2 minutes minimum.  I learned from Experience....if you Don't mix the 2 parts well enough......it does not set up.  This time, I took the time & did it right. :-) 

Once they were poured, I put them in a flat bottom pan to be sure they would dry flat.  It Did take at least 6 hours to be able to unmould them.  I ended up leaving them overnight.  This morning I could pop them out of the molds and they were still soft enough I could trim the edges where necessary.  Through the day they have been hardening further.  But they Are out of the molds & I can add to them if I want.  And right out of the mold would be a great time to punch any holes one might want in them.  A punch would probably still work at this malleable stage.

And Here is the Ice Resin ATC out of the mold.  I love the feel of it.  I didn't have problems with bubbles really.  A couple here & there & I popped them with a turkey skewer (probably with some gravy on it! LOL). 

I will be putting a back page on with the ATC info and most likely use the golden iridescent bronze paint to go around the outer edges yet.  And I could now add any items I want on top......not sure about that yet.  I'm very happy with the end product, although there are a couple of things I would definately do differently next time.  The ink for stamping IRIS needs to be Staz On as this did bleed and is much lighter than I originally stamped.  Also the resin can soak into the paper in places.  I read that Elmers glue could be used to keep that from happening.  I did cover the front and back of the ATC's With an elmers glue mixture (with water), and it did not really work.  I think I diluted it too much.  I ended up not minding where the resin soaked in however, as it brought up parts of the blue in the interference paint & I kind of like the effect.  Anyway....................my first post of a How To project.  With the new blogger interface, it's Much Easier than it used to be so I might try to do this more often, IF a project works out that would be fun to share. :-)