Summer is coming and what could be more fun than epoxy creations with a cheerful and summery "Ocean Art" effect? In this tutorial Grace teaches you this super popular technique.
Hi everyone, my name is Grace. Last year I got inspired to craft with epoxy resin. I started making keychains. Epoxy resin is very versatile, very fun to experiment with and create beautiful works of art.
I sell keychains and tokens on Tiktok and Instagram via my page @craftygracy. Take a look for inspiration or more examples of my work. It is a very fun hobby for me at the moment. I hope you find my blog fun and educational to read! Greetings, Grace.
- Sand (chinchilla sand from the pet store is best)
- Silicone mold alphabet letters (normal)
- Epoxy casting resin or UV Resin
- Transparent pigments (blue, green, red and orange)
- White pigment (for the bubble effect)
- Key rings with rings, chain and screw eye
- Hand drill
- Starfish and shell decoration (and possibly pearls)
- Mixing cups (or reusable silicone mixing cups )
- Baby wipes (for when you spill), burner or lighter, cocktail sticks, stirrers, tongs and gloves
In this example I will be casting key chains. You can use a silicone mold of your choice. The beach technique works basically the same.
To make these keychains I use a two-component epoxy, namely the Epoxy casting resin 1:1 . This epoxy is relatively cheaper than using UV Resin, but it does need 24 hours to harden.
You can also choose UV Resin. The great thing about UV Resin is that this epoxy resin dries within a few minutes and you don't have to mix this resin: it is ready to use. It is up to you which one you want to use.
Mix a small amount of epoxy casting resin with real sand. The mixture should be thick and viscous otherwise the mixture will spread throughout the silicone mold when you pour it. You want the sand to stay in one place in the letter, so a good thickness of the sand mixture is important. Pour the sand mixture into the bottom part of the silicone mold that you are going to fill. When using a two-part epoxy, this should cure for about 5 hours.
*You can also use UV Resin for this step. This epoxy dries within minutes under a UV LED lamp or in direct sunlight. If you do not have this lamp, you can also let the resin dry outside for a few minutes.
This is my favorite step; making the bubble effect. Pour a layer of ready-made UV Resin into a mixing bowl. Add a little white opaque pigment (1-2 drops) and stir well. Pour a thin layer over your first layer (green-blue). So don't pour this over the sand. Now take the bottle of UV Resin and drip a few drops of UV Resin close together to make the bubble effect. As soon as your entire letter is filled with bubbles, place it immediately under the UV LED lamp, otherwise the epoxy will spread and you will lose the effect.
After a few minutes of drying under the UV led lamp, your letter is hard and you can start with the decorations. I used shells and starfish . itsOkay has real shells, but also beautiful golden ones made of metal. I still had some self-adhesive pearls myself and I used these too. You can place the decorations yourself wherever you want. For the orange key rings, I mixed a little UV Resin with silver glitter. I did that with a toothpick around the "water bubbles" for a nice effect.
After applying the decorations, fill the entire letter to the brim with UV Resin and let this last epoxy layer dry well under the UV LED lamp . Then turn the mold over and let the bottom of the mold dry well under the lamp.
You can of course also do this last step with the Epoxy resin 1:1. Let it dry well and then your letter with beach/bubble effect is ready and you can remove it from the mold.
In the Keychains Deluxe Set contains everything you need to make these key rings: a hand drill with 10 small drill bits, screws and key rings, but you can also buy these separately on the itsOkay website. With the drill you can drill a hole in the key ring. Here you put a screw in and here you put a key ring on.
When drilling, make sure the hole is deep enough for half of the screw. Screw the screw all the way into the resin so that it is secure. For extra grip I use pliers.
Now that you have mounted the key ring it is ready. Let it harden for another 24 hours. This will also remove any stickiness. You can cut away rough edges with pliers or scissors. You can remove unevenness with a little more resin or clear varnish/nail polish.
Have fun making these summery resin art keychains! I hope this blog helped you on your way! Love Grace.
Use a mini blowtorch or long lighter to pop the bubbles. Be careful not to hold the blowtorch too close to the silicone mold. Otherwise, you risk the blowtorch blowing epoxy resin out of the mold or damaging the mold.
If this does not work, you can also remove air bubbles with the Bubble Blaster . This is an efficient and safe solution where you cannot damage the silicone mold.
Use a pair of pliers to hold the screw securely and easily turn it into the epoxy. itsOkay has a great set of pliers and tools that are very useful for making resin art keychains and jewelry.
Do you have questions about making art, jewelry or casting/coating floors or other objects? At itsOkay, several epoxy experts work with each their own expertise. We are happy to help you.
Please contact itsOkay customer service or take a look at the Epoxy knowledge center .
Do you also like to craft and develop your creativity? Then itsOkay is the store for you! ItsOkay is the Epoxy Specialist of Europe. Active since 2018 and therefore a large online epoxy store for more than 6 years.
In addition, our epoxy specialists always work transparently and give you honest and personal advic
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Comments
Beste Linda, We hebben 2 soorten mallen. Normaal of gespiegeld. Het is aan de klant de keuze welke ze liever mee werken, daarom bieden we beide opties aan. Gr. Patricia, team itsOkay
Hoe doe je dat dan met de letters in spiegelbeeld? Die kan je niet vanonder af opbouwen want dan zit de mooie kant aan de achterkant van de letter? Of heb ik dan een verkeerde mal gekregen?