Making a Snowman Ornament - Part One

Making a custom ornament using Amazing Mold Putty...

Hi my name is Susan and I'm bringing you my next "AMAZING" adventure with Amazing Mold Putty. Today I am going to share a custom ornament I am making for my Grandmother {actually 20}. I make ornaments each year for her to give as gifts to her painting students - an annual tradition we have. Last year I wanted to make a beachy snowman, but didn't have any way to go about creating it. But I do now and I am so excited to share it with you!!!

I started by making some simple paper forms using brown paper bag, then covering them with masking tape. I joined the three circles and base together with some wire for stability. I dug out some polymer clay and conditioned it to roll it out in thin layers and make more pliable...then I covered the entire snowman form in polymer clay. I added some shells for details and then baked in oven to cure polymer. Here is my resulting base beach snowman for casting in Amazing Mold Putty. I will add that I added some super glue to the shells before casting in mold putty so that they would stay in place during the casting process.

To cast my snowman in Amazing Mold Putty, I followed the simple illustrated instructions on the packaging. If you want a more in depth how-to of mixing Amazing Mold Putty please click here. For this project, I needed to make a lot of putty to cover the entire piece, making in smaller sections and overlapping due to the quick setting cure time. In the following photos I will show my results, including some imperfections as a result of adding on and not blending sections together quite enough.

NOW FOR THE CASTING with the Quick Set Amazing Casting Resin:

Please see accompanying image number to go along with written instruction/description.

Photo #1: Polymer Clay model is completely covered in Amazing Mold Putty, except for the bottom. This was achieved in a layering process. Photo #2. Base left open to pour resin or other media. Photo #3: Polymer snowman removed from mold after mold cured. Some of the shells came off my original during mold removal, as it was a very snug fit. Photo #4: Detail of inside of mold. You can see that there are inperfections from in the layers of mold putty. I could mix up some more mold putty and fill these inperfections, but I go ahead with casting resin the way it is for now. Photo #5: Since the mold was tricky to release, I cut apart mold for ease of release, cutting only about 2/3 of the way through. It's recommended to dust the mold with some type of release agent, especially if there is a lot of fine detail. This can be corn starch or shimmer powder. I am using Alumilite Iridescent Powder - this will add a pretty pearl shimmer to my resin snowman.

This next series of images are describing pouring of resin, curing and repairs.

Photo #6: After preparing mold with release agent, I placed mold on a level surface and secured halves with rubberbands and placed into a plastic cup upright prior to mixing parts A & B. Photo #7: Then I measured 3 ounces of both parts A & B together in a plastic cup and mixed for one to 2 minutes. It will look a little milky/cloudy at first, but then it will get clear. When completely clear, you feel it getting warm, then it's time to pour. Photo #8: Resin changes to a milky white color as it cures. This Quick Set Resin is opaque when completely cured and can be painted. Photo #9: Completed resin cast removed from mold. Curing time is 10 minutes, but with this quite large Amazing Mold Putty mold, the cure time took a little longer for the resin to cool down and harden completely. I left this to cure and cool for about 45 minutes to an hour. Photo #10: As you can see, the result of the imperfections of my mold casting in layering mold putty. This is not a problem - the Amazing Casting Resin can be painted, sanded and drilled. Photo #11: Using an emory board and small filing tools for paper and chipboard, I cleaned up the resin snowman. Photo #12: A detail of the shells, which have come out beautifully, and the pearlized sheen from the Alumilite Iridescent Powder is beautiful just like this.
 

The sanding and remaining imperfections add to the charm of the piece.

This is just the beginning of course. I will be painting, adding embellishments and some other finishing touches to my special ornament project...including making twenty more. I will also share some other media cast using this same mold. So please save the following date and...

Please come back on November 29th for part two

and the completion of my "Beachy Snowman Ornament" project.

I encourage you to stroll around through the many AMAZING projects from the other Amazing Mold Putty Design Team members for some great tips and ideas!

If you have any questions, please leave a comment, select receive e-mail follow ups on comments and I will respond. If you would like to see more of my creations, please visit my blog sbartist : painting in the dark by clicking here. See you next time for part two of this project and to see the finished ornament on November 29th. Happy Crafting : )