Experimentation in Mass Production!

I wanted to see if I could make a mold of my heart from my Clay Jewelry Project! That way I can make hearts aplenty to give and sell to friends and other interested parties. I tried two different mold making compounds with both good and bad results. The bad results ended up taking me days and days to complete (this is why I missed last week's newsletter), and ended up just being sucky. Why, oh, why did I waste my time? To learn? Oh yeah, ok. Here's what happened:

Ok, I really like my necklace and some friends said they wanted one. So! I'm going to experiment in mass production and see if I can make a mold for my heart. I've got two products here: Amazing Mold Puddy ($20) and Insta-Mold ($8.99). Let's see which one works better.
So let's start with the more expensive brand. I'm supposed to take two equal parts of the yellow and the white puddy and mix them together and it's supposed to harden, I guess.
Ok, I've mixed the two (you have to mix it until it's even in, like, a minute. Otherwise it will harden and it won't work!
The Products
Amazing Mold Puddy
Mixed evenly
Now I cover my little heart in the mold puddy and let it hard for oh, 20 minutes. That's what it says on the box!
Ok, I put it on parchment paper thinking that it wouldn't stick and I had the hardest time pulling this crap off. But! I got it off. They should mention these things in the instructions!
Hm... I don't like the look of that! My heart won't be smooth!
Cover heart
Uncover!
Imperfections!
More creases! More folds!
Ok, I'm not happy with the $20 Amazing Mold Puddy right now, so let's see how this Insta-Mold stuff works. I'm supposed to mix the powder with water, but this wasn't what I was expecting.
Ok, after whisking it, I smooth it out. It's very wet. But I followed the directions!
More imperfections!
Insta-Mold
Whisk
Ok, so I put my heart in and let's see how it turns out.
It's still very wet, so I'm going to let it dry... The packaging says it's ready to cast in 8-12 minutes. However, the heart shape looks nice and smooth, unlike that other stuff.
Um, it's been like a day, so I'm going to put it by the window.
Put in heart
Remove heart!
Dry already!
Since I've been waiting and waiting for this mold to dry, I'm going to see how that Amazing Mold Puddy looks after all. It's not sooo bad.
In fact, after some reworking, it looks pretty good!
Ok, I think this is as dry as it's going to get. This is day two and it's still a little spongy.
Test Mold
Not so bad!
Done drying
Ok, so I press in my clay and this is not a good sign. Bah.
Yeah, I would say that didn't work.
Um, I guess the more expensive stuff was worth it after all. Also, I suppose Insta-mold would work better with plaster or something liquidy. Wrong product.
Testing Insta-Mold
Test failure
Side by side comparison
Yay! Well, each heart takes a little retouching to make the hearts look nice, but it's not as bad as making a fresh heart from scratch each time.
Look at all my heart necklaces! Do you want one? They're for sale, $10 each! Whatever color you want!
Heart making Frenzy
So pretty! Buy one!



Comments

Posted by Rouz on Monday, July 16, 2007 @ 7:25PM
Trishtastic!
Name:   Comment: 
  

Supplies

  • Insta-Mold
  • Small bowl for mixing
  • Amazing Mold Puddy
  • Black Heart Materials

Tools

  • Wire whisk

Budget

$25







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