It's Shocking What Happens to These Gems in Resin? 

Clear crystals with a tinted resin may look cool as well

I like both, but it would be interesting to see how clear crystals would work with slightly tinted resin.

The first Skull looks like hand carved Ice, it's gorgeous. I love the second one as well and have a suggestion. What about doing a third skull that in a 50/50 mix of both? It would look as if the gold edged crystals are floating and might allow a bit more light to pass through. Just a thought.... and Subbed. :)

I broke down and bought myself a skull mold.😊 without the serpent though lol. I filled mine with the glow in the dark gems and it looks really cool. I do have these clear gems too and now you gave me an idea on how to use them. Thanks Steve! ❤

I love the way they both came out. A thought inspired by the second one, just imagine how it would look with watch parts & cogs inside. Great work as always Steve.

Bubbles + crystals (barely seen) = outcome I have seriously fallen in love with!

wow, thank you for such a great idea! I have been on a skull kick lately, making them into snowglobes as well as with lights. Just made one last night with mardigra beads in it and lights. THIS crystal idea gave me the idea to make one with the ice crystals, cherries and lemons in it AND one with the clear crystals with colored transparent resin. Woohoo! Thanks Steve!

Very cool! I'm not really a skull fan, but if you say it's a best seller I'm in! I can't wait to try this, and first thing I will powder the snake in greens and blues! And put a fish inside as if it's alive and swimming lol 🎉 thanks Steve! ☙

I never really wanted to do the skull because it used so much resin or needed deep pour resin. Filling it with these clear crystals is genius. Thank you for all your time and effort to support our hobby💖

I think you should try rolling the crystals around in a color shifting mica and then try them in a mold again.

Different colors of metallic paint pens would be pretty too! This is an awesome idea, TY!❤

The crystals definitely give a wonderful effect. I love them both! The possibilities are endless. Thank you Steve 😊!!!

Love this! This would save a nice amount of resin! Thanks, Steve! You are a Gem, yourself! 😊

1st - Tint the resin a light blue. This will make the clear crystals show up. 2nd - The reason that the crystals don't show up in the resin is that their optical properties are too close. You either need some super light or super heavy crystals. Preferably some with an actual crystalline structure. 3rd - The second reason the plastic crystals don't show up is because, even though they are crystal shaped, their internal structure is still amorphous, just like the resin. So, aside from crossing the resin/plastic boundary, there is no optical effect. No refraction inside the crystal, etc. And this effect is reduced since it has to be done in pairs because the crystals are embedded in the resin. The upshot is that you wind up with a smearing effect that further reduces the appearance of the crystals. 4th - The third, and final, reason you can't really see the crystals is that they are oriented randomly. If the crystals were properly oriented, even the very minor refraction they have in resin could be enhanced to give a nice effect. However, their random orientation just contributes to the smearing effect. Further reducing their visibility. Recommendations: 1) Try using borosilicate (Think Pyrex) cut glass crystals. These will have a significantly higher density and, therefore, will give a much larger refraction at the interface between the resin and glass. 2) Use less crystals. Whe the crystals are tightly packed like that, the refractions largely cancel out, reducing the overall effect. 3) Pour the mold in layers. You can use UV resin to make this faster. This will allow you to set the orientation of the glass crystals to give the look of a faux crystalline structure while enhancing the refractive effects. The pattern will be determined by how the glass crystals are cut. 4) Precoat the mold in resin before you fill. This will ensure no crystals poke through and give a more uniform look. A better option than using cut glass crystals would be securing a mineral that has an internal crystalline structure but is optically clear. Examples would be large salt crystals and polished high clarity quartz. If you can orient these so that the crystalline structures align properly, you should see a large crystalline structure with lots of unique refraction patterns.

Love this idea. I bet it would look really good with a light underneath it

Hi Steve, I just wanted to leave a comment to say I am loving all of your videos! I have been going back through and watching all of them. You have given me so much knowledge for working with resin and I can't wait to try out all of the new techniques you've shown on your channel. You are so much fun to watch! Thank you! ❤

How unique is that? That is pretty cool! I so enjoy all the projects you do. Even the ones that don't turn out like you expected , they still look pretty awesome. Thank you for sharing your creativity. Have a lovely day , Steve.

I really like the effects of the painted crystals!!! Shows up very well and the tinted look is awesome. Stay safe, you do you, stay safe and enjoy crafting 👍👍🛎️🛎️🦋🦋

I would have loved to have seen them both sat the lamp bases to see what they would look like with the light shining up through them. And how they would look if the lamp light was not just a cool white, but a warm white & different colour lights as well, even if you needed to put coloured cellophane or Cadbury mini chocolate wrappers over the light but but under the mould just to see the effects if you can’t get hold of a coloured lamp base.

You must have the patience of a saint to go around the edges of all those crystals. But wow what an end result!

Love both these projects. I wonder how it would turn out if you painted the crystals in many different colors. TYSM for sharing this video with us.

Thanks for these videos! These are so fun and give us great ideas… Resin is so much fun to work with.

I like both, now do one with clear and painted gems? I think the clear ones would make the painted ones seem to be floating!!!!

They look amazing! It would be cool to see them on some kind of light.

WOW~ What a great idea the gold was. Love it...

Oooo maybe you could spray paint them too, that might look cool!🤔💜

My favorite suggestions; translucent resin with clear gems, light or color change light under the clear one, sliver combined with black painted gems, colorful gems in clear resin, make more of these. Thank the algorithm for sending me your art.

Ooooo. What would even better idea! If you lined the gems in a few paint color. I think that would be pretty cool.

Fun idea! Can we see them with a light underneath? I bet the both look super cool.

Hi Steven. Been watching you for months now and enjoy your channel. I have used these gems before myself and was happy with the results. Although my results were different and I used colored gems. Awesome work. Love your channel.

Those are both pretty cool! The clear one looks like ice.The second one is really interesting. I wonder what it would look like if you painted those crystals with different colors? Do some in silver, some in gold and some in copper. That might be interesting, too.

I was going to protest coloring the edges, because those stones are available in a variety of colors. But the overall effect is so intriguing. (I also loved the ice/cracked effect from the stones in their ordinary state.)

Very very cool. Thank you for sharing ❤

What a wonderful short video…and perfect timing because I’m about to start working on my skull molds too…. I’m thinking about a snow globe skull as my first 😆

I was thinking that you were going to lightly coat the gems in mica. I'd love to see that

Both looked great. Colored gems too would be cool. I would like for the snake to be highlighted though

I like them both

A combination of iridescent flake and glitter would make the voids of the crystals more apparent but also keep the cracked ice look of the clear pour

I'm in love 💕 with the 2nd one you made ❤❤❤❤

Clear crystals with silver marker would've looked fab I think, but I love the gold one.😃

This is a great video!!! I have to say that I did in fact, try adding crystals to epoxy and it turned out great. I purchased some strung 10mm clear-cracked quartz and a few of them arrived completely shattered into some interesting pieces. At first, I was a bit upset at the shipped conditioned of the stones but decided to see what I could with them. After collecting them into a container, I separated to 2 piles and dyed one pile with blue alcohol ink and the other with orange alcohol. My wife, Kristin dropped the dyed pieces into epoxy and the results were quite awesome 😎👍

Currently doing this same mold filled with all sorts of gold beads. Seeing how pretty yours were makes it hard to wait for mine

Very Creative!!! Thanks for sharing:).

To me the crystal one looks like ice the other one just plain looks so cool and and neat I bet it would look great with DND dice in it you give me such great ideas have a great day

I normally don't like skills but, you just change my mind. I'm getting one soon.

Fabulous demos Steve 😊

Love the skulls idea❤ Could you please tell me where the video on cleaning pipettes is? Feel like I've gone thru the playlists so many times!! Thanks hun xx

I don't actually mind bubbles in my resin, it makes a nice effect. Especially when your adding things into it.

Awesome Steve. What does the clear one look like on a color changing light up basae? I really love the 2nd one. Thank you so kindly for sharing your wonderful talent and videos with us all ❤ Take great care keep creating and smiling.

With the skull with the clear crystals, you should have a light shining through the bottom, it'll make a really cool affect

I love em both! I thought maybe u would cover the crystals in alcohol ink before u said the gold marker. I colored my own crystals by mixing inks in with them which turned out great but I haven't used them in resin yet. 💜💙

They've got iridescent interference medium acrylic paints that I bet would look AWESOME on those crystals.

It'd be interesting to see one with both kinds of crystals in it!

I must say, those look cool.

I love all things you could do with those crystals love the gold ones maybe even a little less gold tinted resin also might be nice with the bit of holographic silver glitter

A colored light underneath!!....0000...ahhhhhh. I love the skull molds.made coasters and holder with small flat back skulls...and a layered pink and black skulls, small to X large...I love 💀💀💀

Dying the crystals with alcohol ink is another way to color them. My favorite is the clear. I find it enchanting.

Love both of them

I thought the crystals would disappear completely in the clear resin. I am glad you can still see them. That skull is a true rock head!😂

I love these, steve! Great creativity! It's interesting how the second one looks green. Does it look like that irl? Or is it just an illusion the camera created? Btw, do people ever tell you you sound like Robin leach? 😁

You could also maybe tint the crystals with alcohol ink? Unsure if it would stick but would take less time than the paint marker :) Great job! Those are super cool :)

Very funky!!

I love the 2nd one, and I just bought that mold!😁

Wow, what a difference putting that gold on made!

Thanks!

It would be quite cool to use a mix of coloured and clear gems for a 'floaty' effect 🤘

I HAVE BEEN MAKING THESE FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS. USE COLORS ACRYLIC ONES. THEN ADD THE CLEAR EPOXY. BEAUTIFUL THEY ARE THEN I PUT A LIGHT UNDER THEM. AMAZING COLORS FOR SKULLS, LIGHTS, OR EGGS

I think those would look cool with a light under it, or better yet, a color changing light

I think you should shine a light through them or photograph them outside with sunlight shining through them. :)

The gold pen looks really cool. Has a steampunk feel to it too.

I was sooo hoping you would shine a light under it.... I bet that would reflect and refract beautifully... As a small lamp it might cast a fantastic light pattern.... Wanna borrow my torch... ?

you need a light up base to put things on at the end ...i think those would make awesome lamps

Love em both 😊

That looks really cool 😎 I luv it 😍 ❤️

You are a wonderful artist, indeed!! I just dont go for skulls an other demonic. Thanks for sharing😊

I think colored gems would look super cool too! Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald. Possibly Pearls and Gold coins for some different texture.

"@Steve McDonald Arts and Crafts" try colouring the crystals with (as lightfast as it can be) alcohol inks. They get kinda sparkly, kinda muted but really cool

Second one has terminator vibes, very cool

So cool!

Those came out cool. I’ve a few thousand real gemstones here and have thought of putting those in something resin. Maybe like in a sugar skull type mold. Wonder how those would look? Not sure which one I like the best out of the two you’ve done. ❤ both.

The first skull looks like it's made of ice, and the second one looks like it's filled with either straw, or money depending on the angle you look at it from :)

cool effect, would look good in silver too

It would be interesting to see what the clear one would look like with a light under it.

I love the painted one better. I do have to ask you a question though. Have you ever done a resin project using the films that come on cigarette lighters. I have a lot of them that I have kept over the years that I absolutely adore the designs on. I was thinking of doing a keepsake coaster but not sure if the resin would ruin them.

Love them both even though I’m not a gold lover

There is a lot of ways you can change this up. I would try dusting the gems with an iridescent pearl mica.

Okay, my favorite artistic crafter - since you love to experiment - can you “take one for team” 😂 and show us what the gems would like in silver instead of gold in the skull mold? I’ve yet to purchase a skull and now I’m curious…..

Hi Steve,, Put the clear crystal skull under a colored light

Works best with crushed crystals. Stuff with color and not completely transparent. I tried a sky blue resin with realistic diamonds and it just didn’t look as cool as you think it would.

Well well! I am learning something new over here! I was wandering what the hell those things are selling so much in dollar stores? From Quebec in Canada 🇨🇦 ❤😊

Really cool! Alcohol ink-stained ones would look cool, I bet!

That was really cool. I guess tinting the clear resin still wouldn’t make the gems stand out? Laurie NZ.

I like the clear. Maybe add some mica power to the snake before pouring.

What about putting a little mica in the bag on crystals? A thin coating of mica on them would show up with the clear resin.

I loved watching this video, after binx is done, what is left of the gummy worm? I had a wolf spooder that was in my basement. I fed her until I could release them outside again. Would love to have one as a pet. Jumping spiders are next on my fav list. I love your videos, learn so very much😄🕷️🕸️

A light underneath would look cool

I like the first one

you should try different colors o the gems in the resin and mi them with the clear ones

Cool!

I would try a petri dish drop method so you can see the colors drop between the crystals.