Epoxy resin + abalone shell geckos

Happy New Year everyone!
Last year I made some pendants/keyrings from epoxy resin and abalone shell fragments and I loved how they turned out. In this video I'm using the same technique but scaling it up using my gecko mould. As you'll hear in my intro, we've had a sad start to 2024 so I wanted to make something that was simple but would give really pretty results.
Materials used:
Silicone gecko mould
Funxim two-part epoxy resin
Nail art abalone shell pieces
Pastel coloured mica powders from a set I bought a few years ago
Vista white liquid resin pigment
Everything was bought from Amazon apart from the Vista pigment which I bought directly from Vista.
Music:
His Last Share of the Stars from Doctor Turtle from the Movie Maker built-in music library
Video filmed on a Fairphone 4

[@mattersofthehartbynat8815]

I have seen a lot of Geckos made before… but none as beautiful as these! Honestly, I absolutely love the entire technique and colour combinations you have used. I definitely want to try this myself… so thank you so much for sharing with us Mary! I am very sorry for your loss… we lost one of our puppies just after Christmas… Bella was almost 18 years old, so she’d had a good innings (not sure if that is just an Aussie term or not?), but it is still hard when we lose them. I have now subscribed to your channel. Much love from Nat. (Brisbane, Australia). ♥️♥️🇦🇺

[@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417]

Thank you so much, I'm really glad you like the geckos :) I'm not usually a pastel colours person but these somehow just needed pastels in my brain and I'm glad I listened! Thanks also for your kind words about Coco. We miss the little monkey so much. 3 weeks after we lost Coco his litter mate Slinky stopped breathing and we had to give him CPR - thankfully my husband is trained in how to give CPR to babies so that's what he did and we got Slinky breathing again! He had vision loss for a few hours but he's now absolutely fine with no sign anything happened. We on the other hand aged about 20 years, lol!

[@Petertronic]

These geckos came out well, so pretty. I visited the Guell Park when I was 16 with my parents and sister, I loved Gaudi's creations, very memorable. Tears in my eyes seeing lovely Coco's photos. 😿💜

[@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417]

Thank you so much Peter. I loved Park Guell when we went there. Gaudi was such an incredible artist and his work is so unique. My geckos ended up looking nothing like his work, but the inspiration was there! Thanks also for the kind words about Coco. We miss the little rascal so much and so do the other cats :(

[@michelle_resinrebel]

Hi Mary beautiful makes 😍, so sorry for your loss 💔, sending hugs 🫂 ❤❤ xxx

[@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417]

Thank you so much Michelle. We all miss Coco so much :(

[@Coyo-Tea]

Awwww Mary it was lovely to see sweet Coco again thank you for that. I went to Barcelona and to see all Gaudi’s work was breathtaking especially Park Güell and his rooftop chimney forest. If you haven’t been you really should if you can manage it. Oh wow I wasn’t sure about pale pink and blue but boy was I wrong. The pink is my favourite of all three but they are just all so pretty. ❤❤

[@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417]

Thank you so much. Our other cats are clearly missing Coco as much as we are but we're all hanging in there. I'm not normally somebody who gravitates to pastel colours but something in my brain was shouting pastels for these and I'm so glad I did. I love them! We've visiting Barcelona a couple of times together and Mark has been a few more times before we met. We didn't see everything we wanted to, but Park Guell was amazing (those hills certainly tested my mobility scooter battery!)

[@appleoneill5135]

They are so lovely and I love those colour choices, I've never seen that mould before. Love the outcome of each one. So sorry for your loss, I understand how heart breaking it is. x❤

[@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417]

Thanks so much for the kind comment and for understanding the loss of our furbaby. I've had this mould for a long time and I wish I had bought the one that has a more rounded body, but I do still love these guys. I've made so many off camera now!

[@mariverhagen8082]

😊 Very lovely. I never abalone has such vibrant colors Thanks for sharing

[@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417]

I'm so happy you like them, thank you so much :)

[@katheejacobs]

Love the pastels, they're gorgeous. 😊❤😊

[@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417]

Thanks so much. Pastels aren't usually my thing but I just knew this project would work with them :)

[@evemercier3460]

Hi Mary! Your cat is called Sausage ? 😂 that’s so cute! Those are very beautiful! By the way, I really love your style, you are very a pretty lady. Happy New Year !

[@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417]

Thanks Eve. This particular cat's name was Coco, but most of our cats get addressed as "sausage" at some point through the day. The little clip in the intro was shot a couple of days before lost him - he was "helping" me to film a video for my astronomy channel

[@evemercier3460]

@@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417 oh no 😥 I hope you find him!! Unless you really « lost » him….

[@evemercier3460]

I’m so sorry for your loss, a cat is such an amazing friend

[@marymcintyresfxartcraft7417]

Thank you@@evemercier3460 It's been a tough week but me and my husband are getting ALL of the snuggles with our other 4 cats, who are also missing our boy.