Using Nail Foils in Epoxy Resin Pendants - this was harder than it looks! 

Thanks so much for watching. Adding gems is a fantastic idea for those tricky areas that didn't work so well - thank you for sharing that great tip :)

I can't wait to see what you create with them. I wish I'd known about pinch bails earlier but I discovered them 9 months ago. They're so useful!

Thank you so much Claire. I am looking forward to trying an abstract trinket tray or coaster with the foils. There are endless possibilities with all of those designs!

Thank you so much. I'm so happy that people like them :)

Thank you so much. I've since made another video trying the same thing but using a slightly different method and the results are much better

So happy the video helped. Good luck with your nail foil projects :)

Thank you so much for your kind words; I really appreciate it :) Hope you have a lovely weekend x

Thank you so much for those really helpful tips. I've never been somebody who has bothered having their nails done so everything I know about nail foils has come from just 3 You Tube videos! I've had some really helpful comments under this video so I'm sure next time I try this I'll get better results :)

same here. I have never had my nails done and now can make gel nails on my own thanks to youtube.@@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417

Thank you Peter. I probably could try it that way; that's how people attach foils to nails. I need to experiment more once I've stocked up on resin :D

That's such helpful advice - thank you so much :)

Thank you so much. I only knew about it because of Claire's Crafty Corner - she shares so many amazing techniques on her channel :)

Thanks for the tip. I struggled getting a thin enough layer of resin with the viscosity of the two brands of resin I have, I posted an updated video trying this again with the glue, but I took the pieces out of the mould and added the foils to the top. I got far better results that way

@@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417 Hi, if you like i can make a short video to see you how i do it. thank for answer. regardes ps: sorry for my english

Hiya, the cords are just ready made necklace cords from Amazon. The silver bits are called pinch-bails, and while some necklace cords do come with them included they're often too small. I had to buy some larger ones to use with this mould because the pieces are just a bit too thick to work with the tiny pinch bails. Hope that helps :)

Thanks a great tip, thank you

Thank you. The pendant moulds are from Amazon; I have a couple of them now

Thank you :)

Thank you; I'm so happy you like them. I had a play doing some more a couple of weeks ago and I'm getting better at gauging the right amount of UV glue and got really nice results :)

Thanks so much for that Lev, it makes me feel a whole lot better! I made some pendants with leftover resin so I have a blank canvas to try again

@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417 I like surreal and abstract art so I'm OK with them not doing full coverage and just having bits spread around

I think I said in the video that I wanted to keep them in the mould so it would make the clear top coat easier, so I left enough space for the clear to go over the foils. I've since made another nail foils video where I filled the mould then took them out before adding the foils. I got far better results that way but I really don't enjoy freehand top coating with UV resin.

Thanks so much for the helpful advice. When I did this a second time I actually took them out of the mould and put the foils on the very flat surface that becomes the top when you demould. I got significantly better results that way and as you say, the foils won't stick where there is no UV gel. I still struggle to get a decent top coat over the foils, but that I strongly suspect is because my UV lamp is rubbish!

Thanks Chris. When I used the UV resin I put a thin coat on, cured it for about 2 minutes then applied the foil in the same way, and cured it again for about a minute. I think the nail glue is essentially just UV resin but in a bottle with a brush, so they work the same way

Thank you! I would think it would be cured too much for the foil to stick, but I'll try it!

Thank you so much Adele :)

Yikes, that's really really hot :(

It is and some places are even hotter with high humidity.@@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417

Grazie mille x

Thanks so much Apple. I'm glad to hear that some foils behave better than others!

Thank you so much Rechelle. I think we all will always see the flaws, when I put something out on the internet, I find myself wanted to get in there first and point out the flaws because if I don't, I know it will get pointed out in the comments! The joys of being on You Tube!

@@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417 Yes, unfortunately that is true. Wouldn't it be lovely if all people were just kind. Not over the top, just kind. Either way, your artwork is gorgeous 😍.

That would certainly give a smoother result!

Thanks so much for the great tip Judie. It's such a fab idea doing it on polymer clay. I dabble a bit with polymer clay but the whole flower cane process feels a bit daunting to me, even though I love the results, but it had never occurred to me to try nail foils on them. There is something so satisfying about seeing miniatures isn't there? I don't do that myself, but I love watching other people make them :)

I actually like the control I get with the nail glue brush (it's essentially just UV resin but with a brush). I had another play over the weekend and realised the trick is to use exactly the right amount of the nail glue. Too much and it goes wrinkly as it cures, too little and it doesn't grab the foil properly. The other thing I did differently was to make the pendants then demould and paint the glue onto the front rather than the back. I think the results are much better.

Thank you. I never throw away anything because I either do another topcoat and try to add more nail foil on top, or I can use the chunks as filler pieces in deep moulds when I'm using black resin. I recently got some new bits for my Dremel so in theory I can also sand down and engrave resin pieces into other abstract shapes as well. I have a tub full of "seconds" just waiting for me to do something with them.

I actually made another video trying this again but taking the pendants out first and I got a much better result. I also found that adding the foil to the wet resin and curing it with the foil attached also gave me a cleaner result.

I think you're spot on; I definitely didn't use enough of the UV nail glue. I used it for another project over the weekend and it worked really well, so it was definitely user error in this video!

I haven't had any issues so far, but so many people on You Tube top coat epoxy resin with UV resin, so I always assumed it's ok. I will keep an eye on my early creations and see how they hold up.

Thank you, I'll try that next time :)

I haven't seen any yellowing as yet, but it's only been a few months

Thanks so much for watching. Yes, I do think that next time I will pour the pendants fully then demould and add foil to the tops rather than the back. The shape is slightly nicer when you use the bottom of the mould and I think it will be easier to get the foils on neatly doing it that way round. The top coat will need to be done carefully but I will see how I get on

I definitely need to revisit this technique. I keep getting distracted by other things!

That's great Sarah! Good luck :-) I will be having another go at it this week myself and hopefully that will be the video for around 17th February

I was using a UV nail gel. I find that easier to use because it can be brushed on in a very thin layer. When I did a second follow up video to this one, I found that filling the pendant mould first then taking the piece out and turning it over to give me a very flat surface gave much better results when attaching the foils. I applied a thin layer of UV gel, added the foil while it was still wet then put it under the lamp to cure. The foil attached cleanly with no ragged edges. I still struggle getting a good top coat over the top of everything, but that's a different issue to fix!

Sorry I forgot to mention that I put another layer of resin on top

Thanks for that. It's definitely going to give a smoother finish doing it that way

Thank you for watching. I have some ideas of what to try differently next time, and I think the main thing I'd do differently is that I will pour the pendant, demould and add the foils to the front of them rather than the back.

Thank you so much for the lovely comments. Next time I'm going to remove the pendants from the mould and try adding the foils on the bottom because that's the intended "right side" and the edges are slightly rounded so I shouldn't have the same issue. I do risk making a mess of top-coating them, but I'll worry about that part once I've mastered the foils :)

It's the foil that nail artists use. I bought mine from Amazon but if you search for "nail foils" you will find a supplier of them near you. They tend to come in packs that have loads of different colours and designs. It is a two layered foil, the bottom layer is what sticks to the UV resin / nail glue and when you peel it off the clear top layer comes away from the design. You can also just embed the entire foil into clear resin if you wanted to but there's a risk it will curl

Thank you so much :)

I'm glad you like them :) I've done this again in a second video but I used a slightly different method - I filled the mould and took the pendants out and added the foil to the flat side that was on the bottom of the mould. I got way better results that way

Thanks so much for commenting. I've had quite a few people tell me that they've struggled with getting these perfect, so it's been really helpful to hear that. I hope you can continue to improve yours. I'm definitely going to demould before adding foils next time because I think the mould was hindering this attempt

Thanks Dawn. I had another play over the weekend and realised the trick is to use exactly the right amount of the nail glue. Too much and it goes wrinkly as it cures, too little and it doesn't grab the foil properly. The other thing I did differently was to make the pendants then demould and paint the glue onto the front rather than the back. I think the results are much better.

Thanks so much Dale. I'm glad you enjoyed watching :)

No worries. It's been pointed out by others in the comments section that the nail foils won't actually stick to an area that doesn't have the UV gel but I just found it easier punching that hole when applying the foils while they were still in the mould. When I did this a second time I actually took them out of the mould and added foil to the very flat bottom edge, which becomes the top when you de-mould. I got far better results doing it that way but top-coating was a little bit harder. That's primarily because my UV lamp is rubbish - I think I'd do a far better job if I had a better one!

The heart is my favourite too :)

Thank you so much Hillary :)

You're very welcome. I've actually tried it again but filling the mould and taking the pendant out first, and that gave better results. The second video has been live on my channel for a while

Thank you :)

Hey, I got it from Amazon - it's this one: tinyurl.com/4bncf75m But there are many other similar pendant moulds on Amazon