Same Day Resin & Alcohol Ink Clock

If you prefer to watch tutorials rather than read them, then check out my YouTube video below on this exact project.

Click above to watch the video

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• Resin - 5 Star 1:1 Thin Coat Resin. Use HANNAH at checkout for 10% off. FREE SHIPPING with every order too!
• Round silicone mold (mine was 10 inches in diameter)
• Alcohol inks
• Silicone cups
• Measuring jug
• Mixing sticks
• Heat gun
• Blow torch
• Drill
• Clock mechanism kit
• Possibly pliers
• Respirator or a well ventilated work space (please research for yourself what this would be)

First, a quick overview of my favourite resins and what to expect:

So I’ve chosen to use Rockstar’s 5 Star 1:1 Thin Coat resin for this project out of all their awesome products because it cures crystal clear and in half the time of their 4 Star Thin Coat Resin (their slightly cheaper equivalent product).

Curing time isn’t really an issue for me but I know that the time it takes to complete resin projects sometimes puts people off so I wanted to show how versatile this particular product was!

Once on Rockstar’s website (link above) click the ‘shop’ option where all their different products are arranged into helpful categories.

Their 4 Star Coating Resin will give you a work-time of about 30-45 mins once fully mixed. A very generous work-time for someone who wants to take their time and make things up as they go along. The full cure time is about 12 hours for the 4 star resin.

The 5 Star Coating Resin which I will be using gives you about 20-25 mins work-time once fully mixed so I’d say make sure you’re familiar with your steps before starting or your resin may start to stiffen quicker than you’d like. The full cure time with this product is about 6 hours.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this project and wanted to show how you can save on time so again, that’s why I chose the 5 Star Coating Resin.

Mixing:

For my mold size I mix up 600mls (2.5 cups) of resin:

I do this by adding first 300mls of hardener (part 1) to my measuring jug, followed by 300mls of resin (part 2). Mix the 2 liquids together thoroughly for at least 5 mins. I usually mix a bit longer just to make sure I get a rock hard cure in the end.

Make sure you regularly scrape the sides and bottom of your jug when mixing to ensure both parts combine completely.

With my now fully-mixed 600mls of resin, I pour a small amount out into a separate container (no more than 20mls). Then I pour a further 80% of the remaining resin into my silicone mold.

I set aside the remaining 100mls (approx) for later.

Mix a small amount of white liquid pigment with the 20mls portion and set it aside also.

Using your heat gun, pop as many bubbles as you can that have appeared during the resin mixing process.

Leave it a couple of minutes between each popping session to allow any little bubbles from the bottom to work their way to the surface, otherwise you are just going to overheat the resin and speed up it’s curing time, which we don’t want.

If needed, pop any last surface bubbles with your blow torch.

Now drizzle in a thin white resin spiral using the white mix from earlier. Keep the white to the outside edge rather than adding it to the middle.

Using your mixing stick, gently swirl into the clear resin the white spiral so that it loosens up and becomes light and feathery.

Now it’s for the fun part, adding in all your alcohol ink colours.

My colour scheme is blues, purples and pinks. I used both regular transparent alcohol inks and opaque versions too in baby blues and pinks. This can be instead of using a white alcohol ink but I advise using one or the other as the opaque colours help the transparent ones sink and give more dimension to a cured piece.

Start by adding a layer of a transparent ink colour followed by a layer of a corresponding opaque ink colour (or white), then another transparent colour layer, then an opaque colour layer and so on. You can see how this is done best in my YouTube video near the top of this post.

Keep going until you have added 5 or so layers of both transparent and opaque colours, however, switching this up will only give you different effects, so feel free to experiment.

You now want to mix up some resin that contains mica pigments. I have 2 different coloured mica pigments that I want to use for this project, a pearl colour and a purple colour, so I will need 2 mixing cups. If you just have one mica pigment colour, you can just add this straight into the jug from earlier containing the leftover 100mls. Add just a small amount and mix thoroughly.

I divide my left over resin into 2 mixing cups for my 2 different mica pigment colours and mix in a small amount of each colour.

Once the pigments have been thoroughly mixed with the remaining resin, hold your cups/jug about 12 inches above the mold and pour the resin in. We do this because we want this mica resin to pierce the surface of the resin below and sink to create lovely blooms of shimmery colour in the patterns below.

If you have any white resin left over from earlier when we swirled white in at the start, you can pour this in from a height just as you did before with the mica resin. This will add some interesting laces of white throughout your design too.

Now, carefully pop any last bubbles that may have formed during the above steps using either your heat gun at a distance or short bursts of your blow torch - remember, we just used ALCOHOL inks so do not let the flames get close to the resin.

If you’re unsure about this step and haven’t experimented with alcohol inks and resin before, just miss this step out. The bubbles that form should be minimal anyway.

Now it’s time to allow your resin to cure. Leave for 6 hours using this particular product.

After 6 hours, de-mold your resin clock base and admire the beautiful design that has formed.

Being careful not to scratch your clock, drill a hole in the centre using a drill-bit that is slightly wider than the thread of your clock mechanism so that it will fit through the middle nicely when assembling later.

If you wish to add an extra step to create a more polished finish to your clock base, coat the back edges with liquid latex and add an extra layer of clear resin over the front to even out any dints your mold may have left behind. Because I intend to sell this piece, I will do this later.

Following the instructions for your particular kit, assemble the clock mechanism to your clock base, using your pliers if needed.

And that’s all there is to making your own beautiful resin clock in just half a day.

As I mentioned above, I am selling this piece in my Etsy Store along with many more of my hand made items. Please visit my store and have a look around

Many thanks for viewing my project today and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Happy crafting x