U RESIN 2024 Wrapped

U RESIN 2024 Wrapped –  We love looking at our Spotify Wrapped each year, so why not look at our very own! In this short and fun blog article, we’ll be sharing U RESIN Wrapped for 2024. So lets see what happened this year at U RESIN…

Website Updates – This was the first year in some time that we didn’t have too much of a change on the U RESIN website. We had a few minor updates like changing our “Footer” page to be more accessible and added 1 new FAQ’s page. The FAQ’s are now split into General Questions (i.e. website related, ordering, in store, workshops, etc.) and our Resin Questions; this is where you will find everything you need to know about Coating Resins, Casting Resins and Jesmonite.

Similarly to last year, we achieved another record of Blog Posts, where we shared 2-3 posts per month. We also uploaded at least 1 YouTube video per week which now includes voice over tutorials. We also changed our workshops page, which we will get into more later on.

One of the main reasons why U RESIN didn’t go through massive changes this year online, was due to the introduction of our (third) website, which you may know of as Aussie Moulds….

Aussie Moulds – For anyone that missed this exciting news, we acquired one of our competitors in early April this year. Vicki was in the resin industry for some time, using products herself and teaching workshops before branching out during COVID to sell some of her favourite products online. Unfortunately due to personal circumstances, Vicki was no longer in a position to continue Aussie Moulds, which is where we came in! We weren’t planning to expand as yet, but an opportunity fell into our lap that we couldn’t refuse.

For nearly 2 months, we spent updating inventory, categorising items, updating product images and giving the Aussie Moulds website a complete make over. So we are super pleased to share the Aussie Moulds website is up and running and full of new and favourite products.

In Store Shop – If you’re a frequent visitor, you’d know that in December last year (2023) we began trialling Square POS system in store. So this year we made it official and got Square up and running full time. This allowed us to easily navigate customer purchase history, as well as automatic invoices via Text or Email. Square also allows us to continue accepting Zippay and Afterpay as well as our usual Credit Card, Debit Card, AMEX, Eftpos Card, Gift Vouchers and Cash.

With the introduction of Square, from August we also introduced a Loyalty Program. This program is only valid for in store customers where you can earn 1 point for every $1 spent. For every 1,000 points earned you receive a $10 voucher to use in store.

Our shop fit out was changed in late September 2023, so since the expansion we have not made any major changes to the layout, but we have introduced a wide range of new products.

Staff – We had a few staff changes this year, which you may have noticed! In December 2023 we said farewell to Jo as she moved onto new ventures in Tasmania. BUT we were excited to introduce Anna to the U RESIN Family. Anna is the lady you’ll find daily in our shop and will be happy to help with any enquiries you have. In August we also introduced Mia to the fam. Mia is our social media guru. It was finally time for me to let go and get some help with our ever growing accounts, and making sure we could upload more content more often.

Workshops – As mentioned briefly before, our workshops page on our website changed. This is because we said goodbye to workshops from July 2024. Well we didn’t say goodbye entirely, but we have massively shifted how things are run now. We are no longer running “Scheduled” workshops, BUT we do still over our Open Days and are available for Private Workshops. If you are looking for a private workshop of 3 or more participants, please email our team at: info@uresin.com.au with your desired workshop style, dates and number of participants and we can tailor a class for you.

Products – With the Arts Industry, products and project styles are ever changing, which is why we are always looking for new and different products to introduce! This year we introduced: New Jesmonite Pigments, Jesmonite AC730 Kits, Jesmonite Flex Metals, Jesmonite AC Retarder, Jesmonite Super Plasticiser, another 30+ Silicone Moulds (to bring our total over 100 moulds), more Camphor Board styles, Smooth-On Silicone and more!

Like always, to make room for these product we say goodbye to some older products: Hevea Cheeseboards, Wine Tables, Yupo Paper, Sculpey Clay, Copic Inks and some Camphor Boards. We still have a small amount of stock of Sculpey and Copics that have now been reduced to clear. So if you want to grab a bargain on these items, visit our shop (online or in store).

Stockists & Ambassadors – This year we said goodbye to only 1 stockist, Shannon Whitby Art but were over the moon to introduce our newest Stockists’ Steve’s Woodcraft, The Barn MR and Aussie Moulds and welcome back Pink Sugar Crafts.

Alongside our Stockists’ we also introduced a few new Ambassadors, including: Boards by Mac and Wesmar Creations

Highlights – This year welcomed a lot of change for our business and family. It was time we stepped away and spent a little more time enjoying life outside U RESIN. Our team split up and took a few holidays throughout the year which included visiting: Japan, Singapore, Bali, Queensland, Sydney, Margaret River, Adelaide and Melbourne.

During a few of these trips we also had the opportunity to visit a few of our stockists’ including Anarchy Wood Concepts, Shattered Shapes and Art Tree Creations.

We hope that 2025 will allow us to spend more time travelling again and hopefully bring back the opportunity for Travelling Workshops. We will continue to work closely with our Stockists’ to hopefully introduce these classes once again so we can combine two of our favourite things in one (travel and creating art!)

Anyway, we promised to keep this short and sweet but this trip down memory lane was a little longer than we realised. We are so thankful for the continued support we receive that allows us to continue to bring joy and creativity to so many people around Australia. We know how touch things are getting, or may even already be for some, so even if you support us with a like or sharing any of our posts, just know we are eternally grateful. Without the support of our Stockists, Ambassadors, Customers and Followers, we wouldn’t be able to do what we love every single day!

So whats next – Well we still have a couple more weeks to go of 2024, so you will see a couple more blog posts and social media posts before we sign off for our annual break. We will then be closing for Christmas from the 20th of December 2024 until the 13th of January 2025. (In 2025, expect some big changes!)

We hope you all have a lovely Christmas Break and have a Happy New Year!