#Cre8time Wine coaster with Amazing Clear Cast Resin

Good day friends,

I want to show you a quick and easy peasy idea for creating your own special coasters.  I love wine and am always looking for ways to craft either using wine products or making wine decor.  I have the perfect job as I work in a wine store.  We carry only South Dakota made wines and also some local gift and food items.

One of my very good friends loves this wine made in Rapid City.  It's a Cabernet and made by Firehouse.  Well, we carry this wine in the store and we open various bottles for tasting.  When this bottle went empty I snatched it up and took the label off.  Now I've tried a gazillion different methods and this is the one I've found to be the best.  I put the bottle in the sink standing up and run water through my coffee maker.  Then I pour the hot water into the bottle and wait about 3 to 5 minutes.  I immediately make another pot of hot water. Then I slowly start peeling the label off.  If it's not easy yet, pour hot water in again.  Honestly, most of the time it works the first time.  It also depends on the actual labels.  Some come off easier than others.  Now you don't have to wait for the label to dry or risk the label tearing by other methods.

Once I had the label off nicely I applied a thin coat some ModPodge to the tile (just got at my local hardware store) itself.  Some labels will still be a bit sticky which works perfectly.  Just place your label on your tile how you like it.  Some labels you may need to trim or place wonky.  Totally up to you how you want it to look.  This label was rectangular instead of square so I placed it corner to corner and burnished down the sides.  I used the labels from both the front and the back of the bottle to make a "set" of coasters for her.  Now let this set up for a half hour or so at least.  Once that is dried completely I brushed another coat of ModPodge to the top to seal the label.  I also let that set up for another half hour.

Now this next step in not necessary, but I wanted my tile to have a nice finish.  ModPodge is ok, but I love the look of the Amazing Clear Cast Resin.  It gives a feel that the label is under glass.

So mix up your Amazing Clear Cast Resin like this HERE.  It's super easy and does not require a lot of experience.  After I've mixed up my resin I let it sit for about 5 minutes to get all the bubbles out from stirring.  Then slowly pour over your tile.  I actually pick my tile up and let it flow around.  Amazing Clear Cast Resin is self leveling so make sure when you have the resin all over your tile that you place it on a level surface.  Also, if you have some bubbles forming you can take a heat gun to it or if you don't have a heat gun, take a straw and blow the bubbles.  You can even take a lighter and go over the bubbles and they will magically disperse.  I found this item at my local thrift store while looking for things to upcycle.  I'm not sure what it is, but Oh Lordy, it's Amazing!  A perfect doming board for my bigger items.  The excess resin just drips into the bottom of the pan.  I'm assuming that someday I will have this filled up and then will need to throw it away.  That will be a sad, sad, day!  LOL

When I work with my resin I tend to overmix and then I need some of my 

molds made from the Amazing Mold Putty to fill up.

Nothing ever goes to waste.  I always have extra embellishments ready for crafting.

Now I placed a box over the tray and let that set up for 24 hours to make absolutely sure it was hardened.  I really wish you could see the thickness of the tile, but I just couldn't get a good picture.  You can see the awesome glare on the tile though.  It's a beautiful finish.  I actually like doming these tiles better because you don't get the streaks like when you use ModPodge and you also have to understand that the Amazing Clear Cast Resin is food safe.  So you could make some tiles for your cheese to eat while you are drinking your wine!

(The stains on the label is actually from the wine when we poured it.  

I was totally ok with that as it gives it authenticity.)

I added some cork to the bottom of the tiles so that they wouldn't scratch 

the surface when placed on the table.

I can't wait to give these to her.  I'm sure she will love them.

I hope you've enjoyed my quicky project and I'll be seeing you soon again.

I've got some fabulous projects in the works.

As always, have a great day and God Bless.

Frog Dog Day 2 Resin Covered Pictures

Good morning crafters and welcome to day 2 (really 3) of my posts for Frog Dog Studios.  We, over at Amazing Crafting Products have teamed up with Frog Dog to show you Aprils kit and to inspire you on how to get as many uses of out the kit as possible.  Well, I've taken on that challenge ...

In your kit you would receive this:

The Frog Dog Studio April Mixed Media Kit includes:

(1) **Alumidust Powder - Red Plum; (1) StazOn Midi Ink pad - Claret; (1) StazOn Midi Ink pad - Blue Hawaii; (1) iZink Pigment Ink bottle - Gold; (1) Stampendous Mica Fragments Jar, Pearlized; (1) Dusty Attic Chipboard set - Birds; (1) Stampendous Mini Clipboard Canvas pack; (1) Set Canvas Mini's - Canvas Corp; (3) Sheets of Decopatch Tissue Paper; and (16) Tim Holtz Clear Fragments (random sizes/shapes). ** Alumidust is one of the many additives from the Alumilite Corporation.

And of course you would want to purchase the add-on kit! 

The Frog Dog Studio  April Add-On Kit includes:

(1) Amazing Clear Cast Resin – 16 Fluid Oz Box; (1) Amazing Mold Putty – 2/3 lb Box; (25) 1 oz Measuring Cups; and (50) Wooden Stir Sticks. Valued at over $47

and today I am showing you to how to domb your pictures with Amazing Clear Cast and how to display them.  

When you purchase the add on kit you will receive the Amazing Clear Cast.  It takes a bit longer to set up (24 hours or so), but it gives you a clean clear coating.  Depending how thick or thin you apply it the glass look is amazing.  I did not have a dome board, but I have made my own.  You can go HERE and see how I made it and see the instructions for the tutorial.

Just mix part A to part B of the clear cast and stir gently.  If I am doming something I actually let it set up a bit to get most of the air bubbles out before applying it to my item I am doming. 

Gently pour it over the items you want domed and then I use my heat gun to "pop" all the air bubbles.  This will set up in about 24 hours.  Make sure you place something over your dome board so that no dust particles attach themselves to the resin.  

ALSO, very IMPORTANT, make sure you set you dome board somewhere completely flat.  

The resin will level itself out and if it is not level it will pool to one side.

here is what the backside of your piece will look like

and here is the front.  It's hard to photograph, but there is a raised glass like look to it.

Now I quickly painted the edges of a piece of wood I had laying around

and mod podged it to lay my paper onto.

I also glued a picture hanger onto the backside.

I used the same paper for the larger clipboard that comes with the kit and using black/clear stickers I added the kids' names.  See these tiny tags?  Yup you guessed it, I got a variety of these acrylic tags in the kit but I had to reproduce them and poured 2 with clear cast and 1 with casting resin.  I love the black and white look.  I also tied a ribbon and bow to the top of the clipboard.

Now, in the kit there were these 3 canvas circles.  Perfect since I have three grandkids.  I hot glued the domed pictures of the kids onto the canvas circles and hot glued them onto the "frame".  Now the nice things about displaying pictures like this is you do NOT need a glass over the frame.  Your pictures are protected with the resin and you can just wipe them off if they get dusty.

and here is my finished board.  I tried to take the picture with a bit of glare on them so you can tell that it has that domed look to it.  LOVE IT!  But unfortunately I did NOT make this for myself.  This will be going to a special person soon!

I hope I've inspired you to make your own photo/memory board using the products I've talked about today.  You can find everything by following the links above.  I hope you will come back tomorrow for another project I made using more of the Frog Dog Studio pieces from the April kit and of course my Amazing Crafting Products.  Please make sure to check out ALL the posts this month over at the Amazing Mold Putty Blog.  You are in for a treat with all the designers.

As always, have a great day and God Bless.