Need Help with Floating Flowers and Swirls

Hi friends, So, I am pretty new to resin. I am using the Amazing Clear (A & B) epoxy resin, and I am trying to make little terrarium pendants with flowers and streaks in the sky. I am using silicone molds.

I am struggling to keep the wood from floating, flowers from floating, and the pigments from mixing into the sky when I try to swirl them with a toothpick.

Here’s what I have tried…

1. Set wood piece into mold, pour a little clear resin to “glue” it down to the bottom of the mold. Let set for an hour.

2. Put in a few dried (sealed with spray) flowers. They stick! yay.

3. Mix mica powder with more resin and pour in light blue color. Oh no, flowers are floating! Wood comes up and starts floating! Oh no!!!!

4. Push down with tweezers, try to pop bubbles, ugh. Floating everything! Use heat gun to kill bubbles. Meh. Toothpick… meh. Still some bubbles, but most are gone.

5. Come back in an hour, it’s tacky! Ok, I mix a new resin batch, add white mica powder, and use a toothpick to swirl it in. It doesn’t swirl very well. It mixes in! 🙁 I can barely see it. Should I use acrylic paint instead? Should I use something other than a toothpick? Did I wait too long? Not enough?

So, everything floated out of position, and I couldn’t get any pretty swirls in the “sky”. Am I using the wrong products?

What are your thoughts? My goal is to do something like a northern lights or fairy necklace with wood!

Something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeUJS5moVdg but with flowers added!

I will then need to research sandpaper and wood oil and polish. So much to learn!

Most tutorials on YouTube are not really tutorials. They are just a fast-speed run through without instruction.

Is anyone able to help guide me?