By Seleoe Nonyane
In January 2022, Amohelang Mopasi and her partner Katleho Rantuba set up an arts and crafts business that that makes crafts and jewellery using resin. The name of the business is Galore.
According to Mopasi, resin is a liquid synthetic organic polymer used as a basis for plastics and adhesives. It contains curing materials that can form a highly durable plastic matter.
She told this publication when the business was first established, they made music plaques and photo frames before diversifying to make customised initial small keyholders.
They only recently ventured into jewellery production. They make rings and their intention is to make more jewellery products.
Mopasi said they were inspired to start the business when her partner struggled to find anyone who made resin keyholders after she had seen them online.
“My partner saw some keyholders online and liked them but couldn’t find anyone that made them in the country. So she started researching about the whole thing, finding suppliers, how to use it and all that. She came to me and suggested we start making them ourselves.
“We use epoxy craft resin to make our products. Epoxy resin can be used for the strong binding and production of tools such as moulds, master models, laminates, castings, and fixtures. Such plastic tooling is the ideal replacement for materials such as metal and wood. We buy the materials online and just take it from there,” she said.
Mopasi said they are self-taught, having acquired their skills from watching YouTube tutorials.
She, however, reckons creating these crafts is not as easy as it may have seemed while watching the tutorials.
“From finding the right epoxy to the measurements when mixing, the colouring, it’s all very tricky and requires a lot of practice. You should like it very much as it can get a little too messy. You’ve got to be willing to put in the time to learn,” she noted.
Mopasi said one of the challenges they encountered when they first started the business was balancing school work and business; they were both fourth year tertiary students at the time. Trying to balance school and business was really hard and often resulted in delays to deliver products to clients.
“Since we had introduced something different, our products were well received and in demand. We had orders from mainly students on campus but we would deliver late.
“It was a hassle for us to get anything done, from designing to printing, with both of us having four laboratory sessions a week,” she recalled.
“We learned just how hard it was to run a business, so we took a break from producing in May 2022. We had examinations coming up, and it was just a lot juggling between school and the business. This put our business in jeopardy as a lot of our clients lost faith in the venture, but we were able to bounce back after the exams and graduation. That’s when we introduced jewellery and bigger plaques to our collection.” Mopasi said she works from home and delivers in town. But people can find their page products on Facebook – Resin Galore – and instagram (Resin_Galore)
