Porcelain keys

It's been a while since I posted creative stuff on my blog. This work above was done in between over the past few months and I only now get around making a finished product of it.
I just need to pimp the packaging a bit but hopefully I have time to do so later this week!
I haven't had much time to work on new things lately so I'm actually happy I managed to make at least one new thing...
Next weekend I'll be at the ceramic market in Maaseik (Belgium) and I'll be taking these along.
So if you're in the area, please pop by and say 'hello' to me! :)

How to make and use a positive mould?

When you make a positive mould, you press clay onto the mould instead of into the mould.
Usually you work with clay plaques and that's what I'm going to do too!
First I'll show you how to make the mould, which is a piece of cake, and then I'll make a little plate that you can use for fruit, chocolates, tealightholders,...
Here is what you need: a bowl, liquid bees wax, paintbrush, plaster, container to mix plaster. I usually use old ice cream containers because that allows me to eat icecream! :)
Take some liquid bees wax and brush it into the surface of the bowl. This will make sure that the plaster won't get stuck on the glass.
Make some plaster ready in the plastic container. Mostly it is made with 1 part of water and 3 parts of plaster but it depends on the kind of plaster you use.
I always go with the pyramid method: you poor the plaster into the water at the same place and a pyramid will form. When the pyramid doesn't suck any water anymore, it's enough plaster and you can start mixing it with the water.
If you like that the plaster will set quickly, you can use lukewarm water or add a pinch of salt.
Mix the plaster with the water. If you don't want rough hands, you better wear gloves.
Then poor the plaster in the bowl.
Shake a little bit with the bowl so that the airbubbles that are in the plaster can come out. Let it set for about an hour.
Then you can take the mould out of the bowl. It's a perfect round & very smooth. It's still damp and needs to dry a few days befor you can use it. I usually put it in the sun,on the radiator or on the lid of the kiln so that it dries quicker.
The mould is dry so now we can use it. Take a piece of clay.
Put it in between two wooden sticks.
Use the rolling pin to roll the clay flat.
When the clay is rolled out, make it a bit smooth with an old credit card. Then place a square piece of paper on top of it and cut away all the edges so that a nice square remains.
I usually put flat pieces on a flat plate of plaster and go over it with a credit card again so that there are no bumps.
Then you take the square and drape it over the mould.
The mould will suck the water out of the clay & the shape will remain.
After a few hours, you can take the dish away from the mould and it looks like this.
I'm too impatient to show it to you when it's fired & glazed, so I just put some chocolates on there so you can see how it will look when it's totally done! :)
You can also use the mould in a different way to make a bowl.
When the clay plaque is rolled out, you drape it onto the mould.
Then take a little wet sponge and press it gently against the mould.Take away some of the excess clay around the mould.Then with a soft rib you go over the clay plaque and press it gently against the mould and make it all smooth.Cut away the excess clay.
Finish the edges smoothly with the soft rib and let it dry slowly upside down.
This bowl holds even more chocolates I think! :)

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How to do plaster carving?

I love sharing things that I love doing myself, so I made another how-to.
This time about plaster carving. It's such a simple way to reach wonderful results. It's especially a very fun activity to do with kids.

Here is what you need: wine corks, nails, a piece of plaster, a piece of tracing paper, a pencil, a nice drawing and if you have 'em, all kinds of cutting tools like lino cutters, knife,...
I'm terrible at drawing, honestly, if I would draw a pig, you probably would think it's a monkey.
So, I often use other people's art to help making what I want. This time I'm using AnnaRubyKing's printable colour in pages. I chose to trace the branch with a pencil onto tracing paper.
Then I turn around the tracing paper and I rub with a pencil the drawing onto the piece of plaster.
This is the result:
There are several tools that you can buy especially for plaster carving but if you are only going to do this once in a while, why don't make your own tools?
You need some nails, wine corks and a hard surface for this. Put the nail with the sharp side into the cork and press firmly. Now you have a hole.
Then take out the nail and press the head of the nail into the hole. This is a bit hard but if you press it onto the hard surface it's easier. Now you have a handy grip to carve into the plaster.
It's much safer too if you work with children. You can also put a needle into it, this makes very fine lines.
These are some of the tools I use. The branch like tools are handmade too from nails and hazelnutbranches. They are very handy but a bit more tricky to make.
Outline the lines of the drawing with a sharp knif or needle. You will have to blow lightly to remove the excess plaster so you can still see your drawing.
Then create some depth into the plaster. I used a lino cutter to do this.
OK, my branch looks slighty different then Anna's drawing but I like it!
With a pencil, I added some lines into the plaster and with a handmade cork-tool, I'm going to carve the lines slightly deeper into the plaster.
Then I'm going to press a piece of clay into the carved plaster and see if I'm satisfied with what I just made.
I take the clay away...
Jip, I like it! If not, you do some more carving and repeat these last two steps.
I tear away the sides to get rough edges and make a hole into the pendant with the lino cutter.
Tada! Let it dry and fire it in the kiln. If you don't have a kiln, you can do this also with polymer clay, papier mache or air drying paperclay.
Have fun carving your own plaster!

How to make a single mould?

As I have been making moulds the last couple of days, I'd thought I'd share with you how to make them. Moulds are very useful for repetitive tasks for example if you work with polymer, paperclay, ceramic clay, papier maché,...
Making a mould is not difficult, it's just a bit messy so you better have everything you need prepared beforehand.

This is what you need: plaster, empty icecream containers, liquid beeswax, clay, scissors, knife, doublesided tape, tape, modelling materials (only if you mould claywork), paintbrush, water, towel. Be sure to protect your surface with a plastic tablecloth and wear an appron if you're messy.
I'm going to mould an existing bowl. A bowl is an easy thing to mould. That way I can make loads of bowls like this...
Put some doubleside tape on the edges.
Press the bowl onto the placemat so that it sits firmly. Now no plaster can go on the inside of the bowl.
Since you'll be putting plaster on the bowl, it will need to come loose afterwards. That's why you need to put some beeswax onto the entire bowl. If you use clay, you don't need to do that as clay is cellular and will come off easy.
I always safe empty ice cream containers as they come in very handy for moulding. Besides, it's a good excuse to eat icecream. :) Cut off the upper part of the container and place it over the bowl.
Take some clay and press the clay firmly around the container. This way, no plaster can escape.
Make the plaster ready to pour in the mould. The plaster is good if it has the same viscosity then yoghurt.
Place your hand above the bowl and pour the plaster via your hand into the container.
Let it set until it's hard.
Take away the clay and try to get the real bowl out of the mould. If this is hard, you can hold it underneath running water so that it's easier to get it out. Let the mould dry before using it.
If you have left over plaster, don't throw it away but poor it into a container and let it set. You can do fun mouldcarving like this.

Next time I'm going to show you how to make a double mould so stay tuned! :)