[Preserving color for plant matter in resin]

Hello,
I have a question about incorporating plant matter into resin jewelry.

So far I’ve tried things like lichen and flowers in mini glass bottles to make little terrarium scenes but the flowers and plants have always become very faded or sucked free of color once the resin has begun to harden…even when I’ve preserved in fine powdered silica for weeks beforehand.

My question is:
Will using a resin coat spray (like the one in your tutorial above) alone prevent the fading of color, or should plant matter be preserved in silica as well as sprayed with the resin coat?

Thank you in advance for any advice!
Lea

[Katherine Swift]

Plants need to be completely dry before sealing them with the resin gloss sealer spray https://shop.resinobsession.com/collections/tools-and-supplies/products/castin-craft-gloss-resin-sealer-spray?variant=965319185

We have a few articles on how to dry flowers (including with silica beads) here: https://www.resinobsession.com/tag/drying-flowers

[Talliesen]

I have used dried flowers and leaves in much of my art including mixed media, encaustic and resin jewellery.I have found that certain coloured flowers and certain types are more prone to loosing their colour. Just as with hair dye, blues and purples do not hold their colour as well as pinks and reds. Having siad that, I have purple salvia that has held its colour well. It is also important to pick and dry the plants before they have started to deteriorate. Once they have begun dying or losing their colour they will often continue to do so once you have started drying them. Generally I find that if the colour lasts through the drying process it will be fine once resined. I tend to leave my flowers and petals for several months before using in my art. It really is a matter of experimenting with different types of flowers and foliage. I dry my flowers the old fashioned way – between absorbent paper and stacks of plain paper squashed under a pile of books. I check the absorbent paper at the end of the first week and then every few weeks after that to ensure that there is not too much moisture, otherwise it can go mouldy. I do not coat my flowers in anything before putting them in resin and have found they hold thier colour fine. I hope this helps. Good luck, Talliesen.

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