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Tuesday, July 31

A Mask Mold made with Amazing Mold Putty!

 

I’m always looking for new things whenever I go into Hobby Lobby or Michaels and sometime ago I found a plastic mask that could be decorated.2004-01-09 10.56.02 Well this was definitely something that I didn’t want to lose the first time I decorated it! So I thought it would be the perfect thing to make a mold out of. So with my trusty Amazing Mold Putty Part A and Part B (equal parts of each) I molded the mask:       2004-01-09 10.55.32            

 2004-01-09 11.02.55                   2004-01-09 11.03.16

Once I had the mold made I filled it with Creative Paperclay® and let it dry. It took a couple of days for the clay to dry completely but it was worth the wait.2004-01-09 11.10.22  It may be hard to tell but the Paperclay mask is the one on the left. (I think lol) Once dry I used Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer and Tanzanite Shimmer Terri Sproul Mixer to paint the outside of the mask. I did put more than one coat on and here’s what it looked like: 2004-01-09 13.06.25  You wouldn’t believe how shiny and shimmery it looked! I then added some embellishments and voila’! 2004-01-09 13.37.31 Aren’t those feathers just to die for? Here’s another look:2004-01-09 13.38.04 I’ve got to tell you I was extremely happy with the way this looked and now that I’ve added a hanger to the back it will look very pretty hung on a wall. Yay for Amazing Mold Putty! Now I can make another and another and another………….Don’t forget that you can purchase the Amazing Mold Putty, Amazing Casting Resin and Clear Cast Resin for 20% off until the end of September! Use AMP20 for your coupon code when you order and make sure you order! These products really are AMAZING!

Barbara

Saturday, July 28

Have your Coffee and a Cookie Cup Too!
FOODIE projects using Amazing Mold Putty...

It's Saturday - YAY!!! Susan here with another "AMAZING" adventure with Amazing Mold Putty. Today I am a little sticky and over caffeinated from the process of making this fun treat. I pre-empted a Fairy project because I am a self-proclaimed "FOODIE"! I will be sharing my "Fairy" project in a special bloghop on August 8th CLICK HERE to visit on that day. There's a special coupon for Amazing Crafting Products at the end of my post...enjoy!


DID YOU KNOW????
Amazing Mold Putty is FOOD SAFE!!! YES - I said food safe. You can use it for candy molds, jello, cupcakes...and more. JUST as long as you don't put any RESIN in it first. When you make an Amazing Mold Putty mold for food purposes...it can only be used for food/edible products. 

Have you seen this photo burning up the internet pages this week? Well I have and I just had to make it myself...because I can using my AMAZING MOLD PUTTY!


The Cookie Cup, of Venezuelan Enrique Luis Sardi’s design, lets eco-conscious coffee lovers drink from an edible cup. Sardi teamed up with socially responsible Italian coffee company, Lavazza, to bring the eco-friendly Cookie Cup prototype and packaging design to reality. To read article regarding this please CLICK HERE.


Today's project I am casting one of my espresso cups using Amazing Mold Putty. I filled the handle with a small piece of Creative Paperclay™ and let it dry overnight. To mix up 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.


After my mold has cured fully, I removed the cup from the mold and wash it gently with soap and warm water. I also made a mold of the inside of the cup so that the batter doesn't melt down into the center and hold the cup shape. To see more great food applications using Amazing Mold Putty CLICK HERE!


Detail of inside of mold where handle is.

Amazing Mold Putty will withstand temperatures up to 395 degrees. So this is perfect for cake batter and cookies which bake at 325-350 degrees. **TIP** I let the dough get to room temperature then pressed into the mold.


I pressed some ready made sugar cookie dough into the mold and pressed it up against the edges keeping an even thickness all around.


I placed the spacer insert inside then placed it into the oven to bake.


WHOOPSIE!!! I think I need to find a recipe for a denser, less melty cookie dough. The sugar cookie dough has expanded and oozed out of one side. Not a problem - this is the dough I happened to have on hand. If you don't try something...you can't learn about it. I will keep experimenting.


I let this cook for about a half hour at 325 degrees before removing. Extra time has to be compensated for thickness of mold for heat to penetrate. While still warm, I gently took a butter knife and trimmed away edge. Then I gently released the center mold. Awesome thing...it held the shape. It wasn't cooked all the way through, but the shape will hold for remainder of baking. So I put it back in the oven to let the center finish baking. I don't mind that it will probably be well-down after this since I do want it to hold liquid.


My cookie handle broke off when removing from mold, so I will cut a slice in the mold through the handle for ease of release next time.  I coated the center with a simple powdered sugar icing which is a very small amount of water and a lot of powdered sugar....Mmmmmm-mmmmmmm!!!! 


This took a couple of layers to give it a fully "ICED" coating.
I also reattached with a super gooey dollop of icing.


My in-house barista made me a fresh batch of espresso to fill my cup...it works!!!


It may look a bit messy - but I'm so happy because I made it.
It's the sweetest espresso I ever sipped.


Use coupon code AMP20 to receive 20% off your order.
Coupon expires - Sept 30, 2012


I hope you enjoyed today's 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.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and have fun making your own tasty treats! Sb : ) 

Tuesday, July 24

Creating Faux Amber


My last post I talked about how I love our local library because of all the amazing How-To books you can find.  The book I found was called "The Art of Resin Jewelry" by Sherri Haab, let me just state I need to add this book to my vast how-to collection.  The faux Amber technique was taken from the book and it worked amazingly.  The box was a wooden box that I painted to look like Birds Eye Maple, the flower I colored with Bic Mark-its before adding the resin.


1.  Materials:  
  • Amazing Clear Cast Resin
  • Alumilite Yellow, Brown and Caucasian Dye
  • Tooth Picks (adding dye)
  • Craft Stick (mixing resin)
  • Paper Cup
  • Foil or Gold Leaf (organic materials such as bark, leaves, etc can also be used)
  • Molds (I used a flower one)
  • Wooden Box

Inside or the box:
  • Felt
  • Dew Drops
  • Hot Glue
  • Clear Cast Resin
2.  Mix equal parts of Part A and Part B of the Clear Cast Resin.  Dip toothpick into yellow dye swirl around, dip another toothpick into brown swirl around and dip a toothpick into caucasian swirl around.  Since I own several pieces of amber jewelry I matched the color of the resin to my jewelry.  Cut small flakes of foil and add to part A before mixing the two parts together.  Once the foil has been added to part A, dump both Part A and Part B into a paper cup and mix completely.

3.  Pour resin into molds or cut out of the box.  Allow to cure for 24-48 hours before handling.

Inside of the box:  
Line bottom of the box with felt (I chose and amber color).  I added dew drops to the inside of the box and mixed more clear cast resin to cement the dew drops into place.  I allowed the inside to dry for 24-48 hours.








Sunday, July 22

Holding friends Mermaid

Have you ever created something and when it was finished you couldn't believe *YOU* were the person that created it? It just seems to go above and beyond what you thought your abilities were???

Have you ever done that?

This painting has been one of those experiences for me. It's like I can sense a subtle shift in my creative prowess. There is new understanding of my materials. There is more depth. There is growth. I am extremely proud of this piece and I feel like I am coming into my own as an artist.





Not only is this my Amazing Mold Putty® Design Team post, it is also my Sakura Design Team Submission piece. That’s right, I am applying for the Sakura Design Team and because the two companies products work so well together, I figured I would use one to showcase the other.

 

You can view both full video tutorials below. I used a TON of techniques and products on this painting so grab a cuppa, prop your feet up and snuggle in for this in depth tutorial.

The first thing I did was create my molds. My son collects fossils and he has a real starfish and a real seahorse in his collection, which I borrowed for this project. I decided to make two separate (half) molds for each item instead of fully encasing them because I needed my cast items to be able to face either direction and also have a flat bottom. I made a mold of both sides of the seahorse and two molds of each side of the starfish, because they are small.

 

Once my molds were set I used a small paint brush to paint the inside of the starfish molds with Terri Sproul’s Mixers - bronze. The mixers are mica powder and have a lot of shimmer! Next, I filled the molds with 3D Crystal Lacquer. Make sure, if you are using molds with small spaces, to spread the mold open a bit so your Lacquer can get down into all of the crevices.

While my starfish were drying, I worked on the seahorse. I mixed Alumilite dyes - blue, yellow and white to create the colors I wanted for my seahorse. I mixed the colors on a pallet then added 3D Crystal Lacquer to the dye and mixed it until there were no streaks. I then filled my seahorse mold with two different colors of dyed Crystal Lacquer. I made sure create one small streak of blended color in the middle so it looked more cohesive. I let my Crystal Lacquer molds set overnight, giving them a full 24 hours to dry. 3D Crystal Lacquer doesn’t stick to Amazing Mold Putty, so once my items were set I was able to pop them right out of the molds with no problem! Items cast with 3D Crystal Lacquer will remain flexible even after they are completely dry, which will allow you to bend and shape them as needed.

 

Next I began working on the background of my painting. I painted an 11 X 14 canvas with turquoise and ultramarine acrylic paint. While the paint was still wet I added some drops of water then blotted it with a paper towel. The next layer was drippage of Pearlescent Ink - silver moss, followed by some sponging of acrylic craft paint – mango, but only on the bottom 1/3 of the painting. I then applied white acrylic paint using large bubble wrap over the entire background.

 

 Once I had the first layers of my background down, I started incorporating my mermaid. I had a sweet, little, mermaid-esque face already drawn in my sketchbook, so I tore her out and applied her to the canvas using matte medium. I sketched the outline of her tail and body using graphite, and then I painted in her flesh tone with acrylic paint – titan buff, and shadows with Neocolor II watercolor crayons. For her tail I mixed mango and red metallic craft paint with iridescent medium to get the color I wanted. Her hair was a darker mixture of the mango and metallic red, and then I added straight mango and white for highlights.

 

I needed to incorporate my mermaid into the background more, so I added some strips of sheet music stained with distress inks – peeled paint and broken china. I then painted over the sheet music with a wash of white acrylic and water.

I used a glitter gel pen – orange, to draw lines and scales on her tail and body. I worked in sections and while the ink was still wet I sprinkled on embossing powder – carnelian. I embossed the powder using my heat gun which also gave me some amazing bubbly texture where it super heated the paint!

 

It was FINALLY time to add my 3D Crystal Lacquer seahorse and starfish! I rubbed just the ridges of each item with a bit of Sennelier oil pastel – iridescent red gold, to give them a bit more shimmer, then I glued them in place using more Crystal Lacquer.

I applied more white acrylic paint using punchanella to the background just to blend things together a little more. I printed out my text “Hold a true friend with both your hands,” tore the words out, stained them with Distress Ink – tea dye, peeled paint and broken china, then I inked the edges using faded jeans. I attached the words using matte medium then added little bubbles and a few highlights using gel pen – blue glitter and white.

 

For the finishing touches I glued on some real seashells using 3D Crystal Lacquer and then I glued on mica flakes using matte medium. The mica flakes are one of my FAVORITE bits!!!





The very last thing I did was add a few spritzes of homemade glimmer mist all over the painting.

My glimmer mist recipe - mix gum Arabic, Terri Sproul Mixers – blue pearl, and two drops of golden fluid acrylic – phthalo blue (red shade,) in a mini mister, fill the mister with water and SHAKE.

And there you have it! My AMAZING Mold Putty/Sakura mermaid painting. I am so very proud of this piece and I hope you enjoyed it as well.

You can always find fantastic projects and tips on both the Amazing Mold Putty® blog and Sakura blog!

Keep scrolling to see BOTH tutorials!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf2B4JxG_vI

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp4jbWG6sho

Thursday, July 19

Amazing Clear Cast Resin Pendant

This month I used the Clear Cast Resin. It takes 24-48 hours to dry (depending on the weather) But the things you can do are so endless because it dries clear. That means you can use different items in it and they show through. I had to stop myself because my mind was going crazy. So what I did this month was a jewelry piece. I am a jewelry maker and I thought I would make a pendant from this awesome stuff. I made a mold from my Amazing Mold Putty with a plastic container for as big as I wanted my piece to be. I then chose scrapbook paper and tore it to size and set it aside as I mixed my resin. Once I had stirred my resin for 2 minutes or so (it has about a ten minute working time) I poured a bottom layer in my putty piece, then I placed my paper, added a bit of glitter and then finished off with the resin to the amount I wanted and thickness for the pendant.
I let it dry for a day and a half just to make sure it was dry and popped it right out. I was upset as it wasn't clear, so i asked my group "what did I do wrong?" They told me to paint a thin coat of the resin over it and it would clear up and sure enough it did! What a great tip! I let that dry overnight and then my pendant was finished! I wrapped it with some foil tape from the jewelry section and a bit of alcohol ink on the tape. I added a jump ring to the back with Sakura 3d laquer and let it dry. I put it on a chain with a few small keys and it is ready to wear.



Use coupon code AMP20 to receive 20% off your order.
CLICK HERE TO SHOP!
Coupon expires - Sept 30, 2012

Monday, July 16

Window Art - Indoor Mobile

 Hi everyone!
     I hope you are having a wonderful summer!
The weather has been beautiful here in Southern California. :)
Every morning, the sun pours in through one very blank and lonely window.
So I decided to make a indoor mobile!
I started with equal amounts of Amazing Mold Putty, mixing the white and yellow until one uniform color of yellow. Then, working quickly, I pressed into the putty items that already had a hole of some sort.
Metal washers and plastic bracelets make great mobile molds!
 But I needed more of a variety. So I raided the vase cabinet and made some more molds.
Only these did not have a hole, so after the first initial set, (10-15 minutes), I mixed some more putty and formed a snake. Then I broke off 1/2" pieces and secured them to the mold with the tip and handle and of a plastic spoon, trying to make it stick as smoothly as possible.
 Another 10-15minutes and the molds were ready.
 I wanted to have some more variety to add to my mobile, so I dug up some fat plastic beads, one glass heart and maybe a button or two and pressed them into the mixed putty.
 Once set, I had the perfect itty bitty molds!
I mixed equal amounts of Amazing Clear Cast resin using the measuring cups provided. One drop is all you need of Red Alumilite Dye. Then I mixed it all in a paper Dixie cup. I use Dixie cups because they are inexpensive and by crimping the side, you have a perfect pour spout.

Using a mold this small works with this resin as you have work around time before its sets, 24-48 hours. Instead of pouring into the tiny molds and risk overfilling, I just filled them drop by drop.
 The other pieces were made with Blue Alumilite Dye.
When the pieces were set but not completely hard, I popped them out of their mold and trimmed off any rough spots with sharp Teflon scissors. Teflon scissors won't gum up like regular scissors might.Then I painted the mat side of the resin pieces with clear nail polish. The mat side is the part that had been sitting in the mold to cure.
If this were to be hung out side, I would have used clear fishing line to hang, but since I had a spot all ready indoors, I used generic white sewing thread. I knotted at each resin piece and hung from a white wire hanger which I bent to shape and wrapped with white chenille stems so the hung resin pieces would stay in place.

I hope you have enjoyed my creation!
Don't forget that you can save on your 20% on your next Alumilite order with coupon code AMP20!
Coupon expires September 30th, 2012.

Thanks for stopping by! See you next month!
- Michelle Frae Cummings