resin question

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I want to try my hand with resin, and online tutorials seem to say and rec different things. Im wondering of anyone here makes resin jewelry often, and what the very basic things I will need are? I was going to just pick up the resin at michaels, and use small trays as molds, for now. When the resin dries in plastic containers, maybe an icecube tray as I saw suggested, does it just pop out, or do you need to coat the tray with something beforehand? Im assuming the resion I buy will tell me how long it takes to dry, so Im not worried about that part. What about sanding? Is sanding absolutely neccessary, or is that just for blocky rings or bracelets? If I just inlay a small metal charm with resin (have a thick layer over a magazine image or something similiar, I wont need to sand it, will I?