Flickr Favorites

1. napping, 2. Window (77/365), 3. ...

4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/suricata/4002494852/in/faves-artmind_etcetera/

Wouldn't you love to nap all day long like that baby? I kind of feel like I need a napping day. I've been working lots and lots lately so I think I deserve a day off sometime soon.
And I want to spend it quietly with a book, some scones with tea and perhaps even my crochet hook. I also found the picture of the mammatus clouds very intriguing. I've never seen such weird cloud formation but perhaps it's better that way as they are usually accompagnied by tornadic storms.

Mold on moulds

Fluffy mold on my moulds. Eeeek! Looks a bit weird.
They are having a bad hairday, just like me today.

How to color and use liquid porcelain clay?

After showing a few times how to make a mould, I thought it was time to show you how to use a mould with liquid porcelain clay. I will also let you know how to color the clay.

Here is what you need: liquid porcelain clay (I poored it in a washing liquid container so that is easier to use), a mould, a glas jar or two, a filler with a sieve, oxide or stains, a sponge and two flat wooden sticks.
First we will color a bit of liquid porcelain clay. Put a bit into a jar.
Add oxide to it.
Stir it a bit an put it through a filler with a sieve so there is no lumps in the clay left and that the oxide is solved well.
Poor it back into the jar so that it has been sieved twice.
When it's ready, poor a bit of the colored porcelain slib into the mould and twist it around a bit.
Then fill the mould with white porcelain clay.
Let is set for 10 minutes.
Poor the liquid clay back into the container.
Put the mould upside down on the flat wooden sticks.
Cut with a knife the edge of the cup away and turn the mould around on the wooden sticks.
After a while, you see that the edges of the clay will come loose from the mould.
Turn it around and the cup will fall out of the mould. Let it stay there for a while until it is a bit dry because it's still soft. Then take a wet sponge and rub it softly around the edges so to get the sharp edges away.
Now let it dry slowly & then fire it.

How to make a double mould?

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), plasterlocks, paintbrush, water, towel. Be sure to protect your surface with a plastic tablecloth and wear an appron if you're messy.The most important thing when you make a double mould is marking the exact middle of the object you want to mould.Make a little bed for the object to lay in. I do that by rolling out a piece of clay and draping it around the object.
Then you need to make sure that it closes tight to the marking line by adding clay and making sure that no plaster can go underneath.
It's a very precise task and it always takes me ages...
Done! I'm satisfied with how it looks.
Now there are two ways to make the locks for the moulds. These are plastic ones that you press into the sides. The advantage is that they make the mould more durable. So if you are going to use it often, I advise you to buy some of these.
The second way is to press a round object into the sides of the object. Plaster will go into those and will give you a bump.I will use the mould a lot so I chose to work with the plastic locks.
Build with plastic a tower around the clay and make sure that there is enough clay on the bottom so no plaster can escape.
Pour the plaster into the construction and let it set.
After about an hour, I open up the construction and you see this...
Take away the little clay bed you made around the object.
Then make sure that the object looks all nice and happy again. You can do that by smoothening it with a credit card or a slightly wet brush.
As I didn't do a very good job on the plastic slots, I decided to add some extra clay around it. It won't matter for the result of the mould.
Since you'll be pouring plaster onto plaster, you will need to add liquid beeswax onto the plaster.
Build the little construction again and fill it with plaster.
After about an hour, this is the result.
Oh, and the object is a full lump of clay - it's not hollow inside as the pressure from the plaster would make it go all wonky.
The mould will need to dry very well before you can use it. I put it on the radiator.
It will be great for much future fun! :)
Enjoy moulding if you start and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

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! :)

How to use a mould?

A quick how-to on how to work with a mould.
There are numerous ways, I'm just showing you mine... :)
My apologies for the bad quality of the pictures, I was too lazy to get the tripod out... :(
Put some clay between two liners and roll it flat.
Cut the piece in two and press it into the mould. Cut away the edges.Make the edges rough with a spiked spatula.Put some clay pulp on the rough edges and close the mould.After about 20 minutes open the mould and take the feeling out.Smoothen the surfaces and put an airhole in the bottom before firing.Tada: the feeling is now ready to become a REAL feeling.
What will this one be? To be continued...
Feel free to let me know how you feel, it might become one of the 99 feelings...