As I was strolling through
Dollar Tree one day, I happened to see a fun little package of Origami Safari Animals. I like Origami. The problem is, what do you do with all those flimsy little pieces of paper after you've folded them? And what if you really want to keep one forever. How do you protect it? I came up with a couple of ideas. One I'm sharing with you today, and the other will be for another day.
So where to go from here? Let's start with a mold!
I decided I wanted to mold an origami cat. I know the picture shows a tiger, and in fact that's what I folded. I followed the instructions in the packet (I found this
video that shows how it is done).
But, push come to shove, without the painted paper, it's an origami cat. Having molded it, I can now cast and paint a resin cat to use for journal pages, canvases and any item that would just look so much better with a cat on it.
Having folded the cat, the first step was to prepare the piece for molding. Normally, you don't cut or glue origami, but it's necessary for molding. You don't want any nooks or crannies where the mold putty might get caught or tear.
I also added glue in a few places to help hold the shape. Under the tiger's face and along his back. The dried glue kept the paper from being flattened out of shape during the molding process. I also cut away the brown section between the feet and the wedge under the chin, so my piece would have more cat shape.
Amazing Mold Putty comes in Part "A" and Part "B". You roll an equal sized ball of each one, working it to even out the putty...
... and then you moosh the two balls together, working quickly, until the whole thing is yellow and any streaks, lines or cracks are gone. You have about 5-10 minutes before it sets, depending on the humidity and temperature.
I lay the origami tiger face up, and flattened the mold putty around it. Once set I flipped it over and pulled the tiger out. You could also flatten the putty first and then push the tiger into it, but you are more likely to get an even molding doing it the way I did it.
Now Comes the Casting!
I decided to go with
Amazing Clear Cast Resin rather than the
Amazing Casting Resin, that cures white, for two important reasons. With the Clear Cast Resin you can see some of the background behind your piece. I had a vision of my cat on a journal page with text showing through.
My second reason was even more important. I couldn't find my bottles of Amazing Casting Resin. I did later, LOL (In my own defense, I've been doing some remodeling and moving things around).
Having decided that my tiger cat was going to become a leopard, I used a small brush to dust the mold with dots of Pewter Alumidust. Then I brushed
Orange Alumidust over the entire molding area. I did the Pewter first, because the first color down is the color that will show.
It takes a little work to make the colors blend, so I didn't need to worry about keeping them separate. I just brushed orange everywhere including over the dots.
I used the measuring cups that come with both kinds of resin. They are labeled with measurements in TBS, OZ, DRAMs, CCs and MLs. You need two cups, so whichever measurement you use, make sure both are turned where you are reading the same measurement. And see those gloves? You'll be much happier if you wear gloves during this part of the process.
Like the putty, the Amazing Clear Cast Resin comes in two parts, "A" and "B". Part "A" is thicker, and takes a few moments to settle. You'll want equal amounts, so pour Part "A" first, let it settle, and then pour the same amount of Part "B". Another tip -- only open the bottle from which you are pouring and recap it before you open the other bottle. The resin sets after you mix the two parts. If you accidentally put the wrong cap on the wrong bottle, it could mix and seal and then you'll never get the bottle open again.
Once you've poured the Amazing Clear Cast Resin, let it sit for a few minutes so bubbles can pop, then pour both parts together in a third container. Use the popsicle stick from the box to stir them together-slowly-until all the swirls are gone. You stir slowly to help prevent bubbles, but you'll get some anyway. Let the mix sit for another few minutes and then pour it into the mold.
The length of time for the resin to cure depends on the temperature and humidity. It took about 12 hours this time, but could take up to 24.
When it comes out the piece looks like this.
And Now to Complete the Transformation from Tiger to Leopard
I didn't like the chin whiskers so I trimmed them off. Then I used Indigo Acrylic paint to darken the dots. I colored over and slightly to the side of the pewter dots, so the pewter seems like a shadow, adding some depth that doesn't show in the photos. I used the same color for the facial features, outlining the eyes, nose and mouth.
The other colors were all for the eyes, making them yellow with gold shadows and white highlights.
About the time I started working on this project, my sister-in-law sent me this burl from a tree in her home in North Carolina.
I thought it was cool, and decided to turn my origami resin piece into a desk decoration instead of a journal embellishment. While the resin was still soft enough to twist the piece a little bit, I found a placement where the leopard's paws would fit into the folds of the burl, glued him in, and now he's standing beside my PC!
I hope you've enjoyed
my Origami Whammy!
For more complete instructions in molding or casting, please check out the
Amazing Crafting Products Video Library.
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