Hi everyone, my name is Mandie and I have been lucky enough to win the Craft Resin Talent Award not once, but four times this last year, which really has surprised, but also really excited me.
I only started working with resin a year ago, like many others did, I gave it a go during lockdown. It gave me something creative that distracted me from everything that was going on in the world around me.
I was browsing through Facebook, as you do, when an advertisement popped up. Someone was making a lamp with wood and resin and it got me really intrigued. I went straight onto YouTube, the fountain of knowledge, and researched this further.
Watching the YouTube videos got me really excited and I though if they can do it, maybe I could give it a go. So I purchased some resin!
I kept the first thing I made small to test it out, I made a keyring. I actually found it really straight forward and relatively easy to do and from that moment on I was hooked.
I do love making things, and I sometimes make items from scrap material too. I like experimenting with different things and seeing how they turn out, resin is great for this, it’s so versatile and you can make so many different things which allows your imagination to run wild. These are some of the projects that I won with:
Resin for me is currently just a hobby, it’s something I really enjoy, but you never know with resin where it’s going to take you, so one day maybe it will become a business for me, but at the moment I’m happy getting stuck in, playing around with it and creating whatever I feel like creating.
I am very short on time, so turning my hobby into a business isn’t for me right now. I also don’t want to try it as a business because I enjoy it so much, if/when it does become a business in the future, that might feel like too much pressure. You have to do what’s right for you, and if resin is just something you want to enjoy doing and have fun with then do that.
I’m currently a carer for my partner who has a wastage of the muscle disease (Charcot Marie Tooth Disease) and also my sister who has Downs Syndrome. Sometimes when you spend your life caring for others, which I do love doing, you do however need something just for you, something to escape to and switch off from caring duties. Resin gives me just that.
Resin is my pleasure, it’s my down time, it’s my switch off space from the realities and commitments of life. I am having a ball creating with resin!
This was my latest winning project, I created it to match my shower curtain because I couldn't find the design anywhere else:
Being a part of the Craft Resin Community Facebook Group gives me a space where I can be with like minded creative people, who aren’t afraid to get stuck in and learn from each other.
It’s amazing that I have won the award three times, not only for the free resin that has given me, so that I can create more. But also because it’s really nice to know that others appreciate and like the resin projects I’ve made and it’s also lovely to think my little projects are inspiring others in the group too.
Thats the best thing about the group, the support everyone gives, the inspiration that comes from being a part of that community and the feeling of being a part of something so friendly.
If you’re in the group, my advice would be to not be scared to share your projects, no matter how new to resin you are. You never know if others will really like what you create and therefore you could also win the award.
If you’re not in the group and you create with resin, my advice would be to join it! And then get posting your projects.
Good luck in your own resin journey’s, I hope creating brings you as much joy as it does for me.
Mandie Dite
Resin Enthusiast
