How to Make a Rose Gold Resin Pyramid with Casting Resin
We have a fabulous resin tutorial for you today! Katie from Resin in Bloom is teaching us how to make a rose gold resin pyramid with Culture Cast Casting Resin. This project is absolutely gorgeous, y’all!
If you have been wanting to try your hand at preserving flowers in resin, now is the time to dive in! Katie is giving us all the info we need to make amazing resin pyramids with flowers. When you learn how to make a rose gold resin pyramid with Casting Resin, you will open up a whole new world of resin art options!
When we asked Katie if she would be willing to share her process with us, she went above and beyond! Not only was she more than willing, Katie also took great care in writing out all the steps and details. So we are going to turn this post over to her. You are in great hands with this talented resin artist!
How to Make a Rose Gold Resin Pyramid with Casting Resin
Hi, I’m Katie with Resin in Bloom! I love using Culture Cast Casting Resin for my projects because I mainly focus on preserving flowers and plants in my pieces. Casting resin is a softer curing resin that can be poured in depths from ½” to 2”. It cures in approximately 24 hours which makes sure it doesn’t get too hot for flowers, you don’t want them to get burned. I want to share with you how I made my “Rose Gold” pyramid.
Resin Pyramid Supply List
- Culture Cast Casting Resin
- Big pyramid mold
- Dried spray roses
- Gold Leaf Flake
- Heat gun
- Mixing cups
- Mixing sticks
- Filter mask
- Gloves
- Degassing Chamber (optional)
Let’s Get Started!
To start, make sure you always wear proper personal protective equipment, including gloves and a filter mask, safety glasses and an apron are also useful. I like to make sure that my work area is always above 70F as that helps the resin cure and keeps microbubbles from forming.
Before starting the resin process, you’ll need to make sure that your flowers are totally dry. I use Activa silica drying gel to dry my flowers. Drying times depend on the size of the flower and the silica. Spray roses usually take about 5-7 days in fresh gel, to dry them, cut them at the base of the rose so there’s not a lot of stem left and then bury them in the silica.
They are dry when you take them out and they sound like paper when moved. I like to press the base of the flower with my fingernails, if it’s mushy, it’s not dry yet, if it’s hard, then it’s dry.
Now for the Culture Cast Casting Resin!
Mix the casting resin in a 1:1 volume ratio. For the tip of the pyramid, you’ll want to mix only about 4oz to start. After mixing the resin, there’s usually some bubbles, this is where I use my vacuum or degassing chamber. I’ll put my mixed resin in that for 10-15 minutes to bring the bubbles to the top to pop them, or make popping them easier. This is an optional step, I started out without one, but it does help!
Time to Add the Flowers!
Pour the resin into the tip of the pyramid, there will be a bubble in the very tip, The easiest way to get rid of that without scratching your mold would be to take the pyramid liner out and squeeze the tip, that should force the bubble up and you can pop it at the surface with your heat gun. Let that first layer cure about 4 hours.
Mix another 4 oz, pour a little in the mold, grab 4 of your dried spray roses to get ready to put in the mold. You’re working upside down in this mold, so you will be placing the roses upside down. To avoid air getting trapped in the roses, you’re going to “flood” them. Flooding flowers means you’re going to pour resin into the flower before placing it in the mold.
I like to make sure that I get resin in to as many of the little crevasses as possible. Flood one flower at a time and immediately turn upside down in the mold. You should be able to fit about 4 small spray roses in the mold at this depth. Once all your roses are flooded and placed, if you have any left over resin mixed, pour that in slowly from the sides so you don’t misplace your flowers. Let cure for at least 4 hours.
Adding More Layers…
Again, you’ll want to mix about 4oz of resin. This should give you a layer that just barely reaches the bases of the roses. I like to do this layer this shallow to allow as much air to escape from in those roses as possible. If you do too deep of a layer here, a bubble may get trapped between the flower and the top of the resin layer that’s curing. I have a personal rule to do at least 3 layers on roses to make sure that I don’t get any surprise bubble from air escaping the rose. Let cure for at least 4 hours.
Your next layer should be the base of the stems and the pyramid. This layer you’re going to want between 6-10oz depending on how big you want your pyramid to be. After mixing the resin, you add the gold foil flakes and mix those in. Pour in the mold, let cure at least 4 hours.
At this point, assess the base of the pyramid and see if there are any bubbles that you need to pop or fill and if you like the texture of the bottom. When using the flakes, they tend to float, so you may have an uneven surface on what would be the bottom of your pyramid when you take it out. If you want a smooth bottom, pour another small layer of resin, 3-4oz will do.
A Few More Tips…
Make sure you let the resin cure at least 24 hours before demolding and let it cure for 3 days before being too handsy with it.
You don’t have to pour every 4 hours on this project, some people like to try and avoid layer lines, but with this pyramid mold, they are hardly noticeable between the layers of the flowers. You’ll obviously see the layer where the gold flakes start. Pyramids are very forgiving when it comes to layer lines. If you have a bubble that cures at the top of the layer you poured, just use a skewer or toothpick to pop and fill with clear resin, it should disappear as long as you get all the air out.
What’s great about flower pieces is that not every one turns out the exact same, thanks to nature and how flowers all differ, there will be differences in each flower and that’s something that I love. There’s no pressure to create exact copies of pieces because it’s basically impossible to do! Resin can be incredibly fickle and when you add flowers to it, it can be down right temperamental, but once you get the hang of it all, it really is a beautiful process! Layers are key! Good luck and tag me if you try making this from my tutorial!
The Wrap Up…
Katie’s “rose gold” resin pyramid is absolutely gorgeous! And we are so grateful for all the fabulous information she shared with us. We hope that, now that you are armed with Katie’s instructions and suggestions, you feel confident enough to give this project a try. Preserving flowers in resin is not only beautiful, it is also a great way to keep flowers from sentimental occasions safe forever.
If you enjoyed learning from Katie you can follow her on Facebook and Instagram. You can also check out more of her beautiful work on her website, Resin in Bloom, and her Etsy shop!
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