Welcome back! Wow! If you've made it this far, you must really be interested in how I make each Pocket Promise. Well, I can tell you that it is not a quick process, but I genuinely enjoy crafting each of these beautifully unique pieces.
As I mentioned previously, my husband first prints our heart and cross design in multiple sizes. The tiny hearts are also printed for each. Some Pocket Promises will have a red heart and some may have the outline. It really depends on where I feel the design is leading me with the color combinations.
Next, I hand paint each of the crosses to make give them a little extra shimmer in the light. They look fine in silver after being printed, but there's just something about a nice glossy coat with slight sparkles that really makes them pop.
Once the crosses and hearts are complete, I secure them into each mold with a tiny bit of resin. This ensures that they stay in place during the actual pouring of the resin into the molds. Once in place, these have to cure for six to eight hours before the first pour can be done.
When the crosses have fully cured, I do the first pour of clear resin. I don't fill the mold completely, though. I need to leave a little bit of room at the top for the interactive QR code to be added. Once I've got this clear resin poured, I then carefully drop the inks into each mold along with some pearlized additives to give things even more shimmer. I've created 10 beautiful color combinations for each of the three types of Pocket Promise.
After the colors have been added to the resin, I hand draw an attractive swirl design into each. I'm not kidding when I say that Pocket Promises are unique! No two are ever the same.
Once I've finished creating the designs, it's time for more waiting. It usually takes around four hours for the first pour to set up enough to add the interactive QR code. I carefully place each code onto the back of the Pocket Promises and then have to wait another six to eight hours before I can add the final top coat to seal in the QR code. Once that final coat is complete, it take about another 24 hours for the finished Pocket Promises to finally be able to be removed from the molds.
After I remove them from the molds, I finish the edges and drill the tiny holes for the additional hardware used for the Key Chain and Bag Charm versions. I affix this hardware securely and do one final quality inspection of each item to make sure they're perfect.
In the final step, I affix each Pocket Promise to an attractive, glossy product card or attach a smaller folded card to the rings of the Key Chains and Bag Charms. Then they're finally ready to be sent to you!
Thank you for joining me for a peek behind my creative curtain. I really do love making these inspiring and encouraging pieces and I truly hope that they will act as a reminder that we are never apart from the love of our Heavenly Father.
Jennifer Aborn
Jennifer's Joy Resin Crafts