Saturday 15 April 2017

ICE Resin® Vs UTEE {by Lin Brown}

2017 Topic 6: Resin

Lin Brown has always been a dab hand with UTEE and used to teach amazing classes in her shop where UTEE focal points were incorporated into her amazing metal work pieces. Tonight you get a taste of that! What a treat! And not one, but 2 resins!
 
Hello....Lin Brown from Yoursartfully here. It's always an absolute pleasure to have a guest spot on the PaperArtsy blog and tonight I'd like to share a little experiment I did to see whether  ICE Resin® or UTEE would be the best product for the project I had in mind.

I had two things on my "To Do" list recently, one of these was to create a project for this blog post and the second was to make a gift for a dear friend of mine. I decided it might be fun to combine both and check them both off my list in one go!! I am pleased to say that my friend has already received her gift, so it's perfectly OK for me to share it here with you lovely creative folks.


Many of you may remember that I used to use a lot of copper in my artwork and one of the techniques I cooked up way back then, was combining my metalwork and UTEE (click here to see the original blog post). The original post shows a more in depth, step-by-step project, the purpose of my post this evening was to establish which product would give me the best results for the project I have in mind.

ICE Resin® is a two part, jewellers grade, epoxy resin. It is self levelling and after curing, it is crystal clear.

UTEE stands for Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel and the name is pretty self explanatory, It melts just like regular embossing powder but the crystals look more like chunky sugar crystals.This can be melted in a Melt Pot and poured into moulds to create 3D embellishments.


I knew that I wanted to incorporate some of Seth Apter's fabulous wood chips and stamps but I didn't really know if I wanted them covered in either ICE Resin® or UTEE or if indeed they should remain as stamped, raw wood. 

 

Having made a few samples, I tested the tag shaped Wood Chip with a covering of UTEE and immediately knew that I preferred it without any products on it at all. The image beneath the UTEE appeared blurry and I felt that the matt finish of the Wood Chip was a good contrast against the other shiny embellishments I had made.


The sample on the left is a bezel filled with ICE Resin®, the one on the right is UTEE. I know that the ICE Resin® sample is a more interesting one as it has other embellishments embedded in it (I totally forgot to put them in the UTEE sample!!!)  but I think you will agree that the ICE Resin® one shows the detail of my skeleton leaf stamp from ELB31 so beautifully, that ICE Resin® wins hands down on that score. Having said that, I do love the amber glow that can be achieved with UTEE. If I were to create projects like this again and used images with less detail, i would seriously consider using UTEE as it really does look like amber. This is achieved by leaving the clear UTEE in the Melt Pot for a while, it develops the most gorgeous amber glow.



Above are a couple of close up shots so that you can compare the two samples. My lovely friend Sally received the top sample which is the ICE Resin® one, I just love the way you can see every teeny tiny detail of everything inside the bezel....perfect for this small wall hanging. 

The last thing that I would like to point out is in favour of UTEE. If you look closely at the UTEE sample, you may just be able to see that it has a slight domed effect to it which is totally different from ICE Resin®.

In conclusion, which product do I prefer? For this project, definitely ICE Resin® but I do actually love both of these awesome products.

Thank you for joining me this evening, I'd love to hear your thoughts on both of these amazing products.

Lin

I bet Sally was beyond excited to receive that gorgeous piece!! And i agree the wood makes a fantastic contrast! Thanks for sharing these wonderful ideas Lin, I'm sure these products are going to stay around for a long time, they are so versatile and useful for crafting. ~Leandra


We always hope that you  learn something interesting from our blog. Our bloggers deeply appreciate your comments so much, so please take time to let them know you've been inspired! Why not join our challenge by blogging your interpretation of the current topic and link it here?

The current topic link (Resin) will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, April 23rd 2017, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

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19 comments:

Helen said...

wow, two gorgeous pieces - so similar in overall appearance but with subtle differences - I love the ice resin piece.

Kirsten said...

Lin, these are absolutely stunning. For clarity, the Ice Resin piece wins, but I also love the slight cloudiness of the UTEE. They are just gorgeous.

Lucy Edmondson said...

This is such a gorgeous project, Lin and I love it when You are on the blog. I love your helpful comparison. I like the domed effect of the UTEE. For me, if I was making jewellery I would maybe want to go for resin for strength, but UTEE for paper projects but I'm not an expert!

Lucy x

Nicole said...

As always Lin you are amazing. Both projects are awesome. Thanks for sharing these beauties. Actually this is a present for us too.

Miriam said...

Gorgeous projects Lin - stunning!

sally said...

I can't tell you how chuffed I am that Lin identified me as the recipient of this gorgeous gift, because now I can tell you all that the piece with the resin finish is just absolutely beautiful! The photos in the blog post are great, but the real thing is totally mind-boggling! The resin has left a "high polish", totally clear finish, with the copper leaf floating and shining inside. Wow! The piece is hangng on my wall and is a very cherished gift from a very special friend! Thank you more than lots, Lin.
xoxoxox Sally xoxoxox

Words and Pictures said...

Fabulous tiny works of art - so many inspirational ideas here, Lin, thank you.
Alison x

Unknown said...

If yo hadn't shown us this comparison I'd have been happy with the UTEE. Think I need to try Ice Resin at some point. Fantastic project.

Etsuko said...

Brilliant project Linda, this fantastic project and experiment was very helpful. I like the bulging of UTEE and the amber glow. I also like the transparency of the ice resin. Metal + UTEE = Fab embellishment! was so gorgeous and great tutorial. These wall hanging are just wonderful!! xx

Julie Lee said...

What a stunningly beautiful project and so useful to compare too. xx

mamablitger said...

Thank you so much for a very useful tutorial. It really clarified the differences to me. But I have to admit I would have a hard time to choose. I adore both of them....allthough their differencies.
Thank you so MUCH for sharing your fabulous art with us.
Hugs from Monica
Spain

Lauren Hatwell said...

I found this really informative Linux. I keep wondering about Ice Resin and it was so useful to see it used here so successfully. I am really impressed that the UTEE stood up so well too. All very interesting. The resultING pieces are amazing. Lucky Sally! Lx

Corrie Herriman said...

Gorgeous !

Cocofolies said...

Fantastic to know (and see!) the difference of effects we can get with UTEE and ICE Resin...
Your samples are SO beautiful. Thank you Lin.
Corinne xx

craftimamma said...

Absolutely stunning piece Lin! I've used UTEE many times but have chickened out on the ice resin even though i have some. Ought to get it out and try it as it will be past urs shekf life I've had it that long.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Hazel Agnew said...

Wow Lin, outstandingly beautiful pieces. Nearly missed this because of Easter business! Such wonderful pieces of art, and so informative, thanks! Xx

CastleKelly Crafts said...

Stunning pieces, great to see the comparisons X

Seth said...

Missed this one the first time around. Love it Lin!

Ash Green said...

Wow :)
This is an incredible collection of ideas!
Waiting for more helpful pieces.
You would amazing to read a similar one here-
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