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1. First, assemble your flowers.  You want to make sure your flower petals are completely dried before you resin them: any remaining moisture may cause them to decompose once covered in resin. 



There are several ways to dry flowers:

• Hanging upside down to dry:
  This is by far the easiest method. You can dry whole flowers this way, but it takes a few weeks for flowers to dry completely. Be aware that you will lose the flower's vibrant color.
  
  
• Pressing in a book:
  This method is very easy and takes one to two weeks to dry thoroughly.
  It works best for thin petals or leaves, but the color can also lose vibrancy.
  
  
• Drying in silica gel:
  You can buy silica gel at a craft store or online. This method takes up to a week and allows you to dry whole flowers. Preserves colour beautifully!
   
• Using a microwave flower press:
  Microwave flower presses are made of two wood, plastic or terracotta plates with cloth and wool pads in the center to absorb moisture. Takes literally minutes in a microwave and preserves color very well. 
  
  

💡TIP: Whatever method you choose to dry your flowers, always make sure to allow plenty of space around each petal ( don't overlap ) so that the petals dry uniformly. Do not resin petals that are bruised, torn or bent as the resin may bleed into the petal at these points and cause dark, wet, spots.

We chose to use a microwave flower press for our petals.



Once you have your dried flowers assembled, you're ready to apply them to your wood panel. You may choose to draw a design outline directly onto the wood panel before you start ( as we did ) or you can simply freehand your design.

Either way, coat the panel with an adhesive of your choice ( we used ModPodge ) and carefully apply your petals, one by one. 













When your collage is complete, seal it with a spray or brush on sealant ( we used some ModPodge thinned out with water and applied with a disposable foam brush.)

Once you've sealed your piece, allow it to sit and dry for at least 24hrs.

eing an organic material, flower petals may contain trapped air which can release into your resin as bubbles. Pre-sealing with a spray or brush-on sealant is a good precaution to help to prevent bubbles. We used ModPodge, but as it is so thick, we chose to thin it out with a bit of water so that it wouldn't damage the fragile petals.  

1. Complete your watercolour painting on paper sized to fit your panel. 
Trace as we did, using transfer paper, or draw your outline freehand onto the paper.

If you choose, you can apply masking fluid to block out any areas you don't want painted. Masking fluid is easily removed after your paint has dried with an eraser, or by peeling it off.





Paint your image as you wish using watercolor paints.
Allow your painting to dry thoroughly.





Once dry, mount your artwork onto your wood panel using adhesive - you can use either a spray adhesive, a glue stick or a brush on adhesive.  
For best results, smooth the drawing out with your hands or a brayer to ensure that it's evenly mounted to the panel, with no air pockets.

Seal your work using a spray sealant designated safe for watercolors, allowing it to dry completely.

A Note On Sealing:

We always recommend testing your particular materials out with ArtResin on a scrap piece so you know exactly what to expect before you resin your final project.  There are certain cases, however, when sealing your work prior to resining is required ....

• Sealing to prevent absorption:  It's a good precaution to pre-seal when applying ArtResin over soft or low quality paper that may otherwise absorb the resin, causing dark, wet spots in your work or causing your work to bleed.
  
  
• Sealing over loose material.  With a medium like chalk pastel or charcoal, or when resining over a loose material like glitter, you want to be mindful of loose particles that might get mixed up and float away in your liquid resin. For peace of mind, you can certainly err on the side of caution and seal your artwork first - use a spray fixative rather than a brush on sealant.  
  
  
• Sealing to prevent bubbles: Being an organic material, wood and paper may contain trapped air which can release into your resin as bubbles. There are many variables that can affect gas bubbles: with wood, the type of wood, how dry the wood is, and humidity can all affect how much air the wood contains. With paper, soft paper and paper that has been layered into a collage can contain trapped air.  Pre-sealing with a spray or brush-on sealant is an option to help to prevent bubbles. 
  As far as our wood panels, we've used them enough to know that we don't need to pre-seal them, but we always recommend testing with your particular materials so you know exactly what results to expect before you resin your final project. Again, if in doubt, you can never go wrong by pre-sealing first if it makes you feel more comfortable.    

2. Using our Resin Calculator, simply enter the length and width of your piece to determine how much ArtResin you’ll need.

1. Prepare your spray paint art on paper sized to fit the panel. 

Mount your work directly to the panel using adhesive. We like using a glue stick, a brush on adhesive or a spray adhesive. For best results, smooth the drawing out with your hands or roll with a brayer to ensure that it's evenly mounted to the panel, with no air pockets.  Seal with a spray sealant labelled safe for paper.




A Note On Sealing:

We always recommend testing your particular materials out with ArtResin on a scrap piece so you know exactly what to expect before you resin your final project. If you want to err on the side of caution, you can certainly go ahead and seal your work using a brush on or spray sealant that dries clear. 

You may choose to seal in the following cases:

• Sealing over low quality paper.  It's a good precaution to pre-seal when applying ArtResin over matte photo paper, or soft/low quality paper that may otherwise absorb the resin, causing dark, wet spots in your work or causing your work to bleed.
  
  
• Sealing over loose material.  With a medium like chalk pastel or charcoal, or when resining over a loose material like glitter, you want to be mindful of loose particles that might get mixed up and float away in your liquid resin. For peace of mind, you can certainly err on the side of caution and seal your artwork first - use a spray fixative rather than a brush on sealant.  
  
  
• Sealing the wood panel. Being an organic material, wood may contain trapped air which can release into your resin as bubbles. There are many variables that can affect gas bubbles: the type of wood, how dry the wood is, humidity etc. Pre-sealing wood with a spray or brush-on sealant ( or even painting them with acrylic paint ) is an option to help to prevent bubbles. We've used these wood panels enough to know that we don't need to pre-seal them, but we always recommend testing with your particular materials so you know exactly what results to expect before you resin your final project. Again, if in doubt, you can never go wrong by pre-sealing first if it makes you feel more comfortable.    

2. Using our Resin Calculator, simply enter the length and width of your piece to determine how much ArtResin you’ll need.

We love using our Wood Art Panels here at ArtResin. You can mount your objects and coat them directly in the panel - they feature a unique raised lip specifically designed to contain resin, making for an easy pour with clean edges!

Measure, mix, pour, spread, cover and wait, and in 24 hours your 3D artwork will go from good to gorgeous!

Let's get started .... 

Supplies:

• ArtResin's 12 x 12" wood Art Panel, painted white if you wish
• modelling clay
• ArtResin epoxy resin 
• nitrile gloves 
• a level
• a measuring cup with easy to read measurement lines 
• a mixing container 
• a stir stick 
• a foam brush to spread the resin
• a handheld torch like our Artist's Torch
• toothpicks
• an empty plastic tote or cardboard box with the flaps cut off to protect your piece while it dries

Steps:

1. First, assemble your modelling clay art. You may choose to draw a design outline directly onto the wood panel before you start ( as we did ) or you can simply freehand your design. Once your collage is complete, you're ready to resin it!
👉TIP: being an organic material, wood may contain trapped air which can release into your resin as bubbles. There are many variables that can affect gas bubbles: the type of wood, how dry the wood is, humidity etc. Pre-sealing wood with paint or a spray or brush-on sealant is an option to help to prevent bubbles. We've used these wood panels enough to know that we don't need to pre-seal them, but we always recommend testing with your particular materials so you know exactly what results to expect before you resin your final project. Again, if in doubt, you can never go wrong by pre-sealing or painting first if it makes you feel more comfortable.   

2. Next, using our 

 our blog How To Pour And Spread Epoxy Resin for more resin tips and techniques!

• How To Resin ResinTint
• How To Resin Alcohol Ink
• How To Resin Wood
• How To Resin Acrylic Paint
• How To Resin Paint Marker
• How To Resin A Metal Print
• How To Resin A Paper Collage
• How To Resin Chalk Pastel
• How To Resin A Metal Print
• How To Resin A Puzzle
• How To Resin Pencil Crayon
• How To Resin A Glossy Photo

Supplies:

• ArtResin's 12 x 12" wood Art Panel 
• a charcoal drawing sized to fit the panel 
• spray sealant safe for charcoal
• glue stick or spray adhesive
• ArtResin epoxy resin 
• nitrile gloves 
• a level
• a measuring cup with easy to read measurement lines 
• a mixing container 
• a stir stick 
• a spreader or popsicle stick 
• a handheld torch like our Artist's Torch
• toothpicks
• an empty plastic tote or cardboard box with the flaps cut off to protect your piece while it dries

Steps:

4. Pour the ArtResin onto the centre of your piece and spread it out to the edges using a plastic spreader or a popsicle stick. You'll have about 45 minutes of working time before the resin gets too thick to work with.
👉TIP: Read our blog How To Pour And Spread Epoxy Resin for more resin tips and techniques!

5. Using your Artist’s Torch, hold the flame a couple of inches above the resin surface just long enough to pop the bubbles, keeping the torch moving from side to side at all times. 
👉TIP: if you're nervous about using a torch, don't be! Read our blog with all you need to know about How To Use A Torch On Epoxy Resin.

With a plastic tote or a cardboard box ( with the flaps cut off ) cover your piece and let it sit for 24 hrs until it’s dry to the touch.

👉TIP: the resin will be dry to the touch at the 24hr mark.  At this point, you're free to hang and admire your artwork on the wall, absolutely, but if you're planning on packing and shipping your artwork, please wait at least 72hrs until the resin has fully cured.

• How To Resin Rocks
• How To Resin Alcohol Ink
• How To Resin Wood
• How To Resin Acrylic Paint
• How To Resin Paint Marker
  
• How To Resin A Paper Collage
• How To Resin Chalk Pastel
• How To Resin A Metal Print
• How To Resin Modelling Clay
• How To Resin A Glossy Photo
• How To Resin ResinTint
• How To Resin A Puzzle
• How To Resin Pencil Crayon
• How To Resin Mosaic