So I made a paper cast mold (as I described in the Baa Baa Black Sheep thread). It came out fine, but was pasty white, and I wanted it to be sunny yellow. So I tried using some crayons on it. A little better, but definitely not what I had in mind.

Then I thought about the Wilton Candy Colors I had somewhere... little 1/4 oz. plastic jars of very concentrated colors (got them at WalMart in the cake decorating area of the craft supplies). But I tried just tearing up the tissue paper into shreds, adding some boiling water, then some of the color, some glue, and then stirring/mooshing with a fork. Tamped the pulp into the mold and let it dry. UGH!!! Very yellow, but very LUMPY!

So on the third try, I used my old method of first laying a whole-sheet layer of paper in the mold first for a nice smooth surface finish, then spread on some of the yellow color with a paint brush, then filled up the mold with little pieces of torn paper, wet with a water/coloring/Elmer's glue mixture. I dabbed in some orange color, too, to intensify the yellow. I let that dry and it was just what I wanted! Great yellow color and smooth surface.

You can see the three attempts in this picture...

Here is the finished card. The words to the song are inside.

I hope this inspires you to see different crafting possibilities in YOUR supplies. Now I'm gonna have to look through all those other candy/lollipop molds and see what else I can make. But this time I will be certain to lay in a whole flat piece of tissue first before I add the filler pulp!

Go check out the Cotton Press site for ideas (they have beautiful molds too!)

I forgot that I had made a cinnamon mold once using the cinnamon applesauce clay. Smells great.

I am really a cheapskate and try to use or improvise with supplies I have on hand, so I've never bought the real linter stuff... I just use plain tissues (kleenex things). I'd probably have better luck if I used the real stuff.

If you have any of that outrageous '80s eyeshadow, that works well too, LOL. I use blush in a lot of my craft projects to make pink cheeks on things.

You can watercolor you paper casts too, just don't use too much water or it will turn to a sodden mess. You can use kids watercolors, or take a water based marker and "color" onto a plastic lid. Then dip your brush in water and run throught the marker residue - 'voila!

I've also used the shavings from my watercolor crayons sprinkled over paper, which makes an interesting confetti pattern.