Hi Crete Artisan, I am trying to make first a POP leaf casting, and then use it to make a re-useable silicone mold using Marlinska's Photobucket tutorial as a guide. (Thank you Marlinska). She uses the Murphy's as the release agent between the POP master and the silicone mold. I recently found this GW posting by Nofu which seems very thorough. "I personally like dry mold releases rather than greasy ones. For porous materials like plaster, I like to buff in several coats of Johnson's paste wax, leaving only a micro thin layer on the surface and then allowing it to completely haze over before making the mold. For non-pourous surfaces, like glass, I take Ivory dish soap and mix it 1:3 with distilled water. Use a soft artist's brush and swish the sudsy mix over the surface of the model while drying with a blow drier in the other hand. The result should be a thin soap film that is relatively dry to the touch. Petroleum jelly (Vasoline) will also work, but is messy to clean up. I don't like PAM or other cooking sprays. Silicone sprays make great mold releases for everything EXCEPT silicone. They tend to become part of the mold and may actually increase adhesion. Also avoid petroleum based lubricating sprays. They are messy and make it difficult to brush the silicone over the surface evenly.' From what he says, I would be better using a wax paste rather than a soap-based release? That will be the next thing I can't find here, sigh....

Peak the Tufa God---thank goodness you're back. After months of being forced to lie in bed and dream of the things I wanted to do, I attempted a two-layered grot and a casting of a hosta leaf. I did not do this directly on to the patio----remember...I'm the one whose new husband had to use a crowbar to get my first project off the cement. I'm also the (semi)fool who made bowls in the sand and allowed the tides of Puget Sound to set them. They are fine--probably because I did what Tufa God told me to do----used tons of rinse water after taking them off the beach. I've been trying to collect Dena's instructions on casting......Marly's general knowledge---all of which I have printed on scads of paper and stored in notebooks, which are now in a thousand different places. My wonderful husband's face looks pinched and worn as I stumble around and collect "shapes" for tufa production--and he just called from Home Depot, while I scrolled up this page to tell him which kind of tape to bring home. They're going to have to cut off my arms before I give up...but I feel much more secure now that Peak is back. By the way, Peak, would it not work to decorate the side of that gorgeous hunk with cement-soaked tulle? What might deter it from sticking?

Hi folks! I just wanted to re-post this tutorial directly into this thread. My MSN account has been deleted but I had saved all my tutorial pics on my own computer. I'm reposting them here for y'all. Each 'thumbnail' can be clicked on to see the large view. I decided to try this method of posting a tutorial instead of links. Hope you find it works suitably. Just a note to folks that have recently commented that they find POP too soft to work with... after the POP dries completely - as in no longer cool to the touch - it will be VERY hard. I just tried to break a mold I no longer wanted (it had the cheesecloth imbedded into it) ... and it was very hard to break! After a few attempts I gave up. I figure it wanted to live! lol Anyway, just thought you might like to know that it indeed becomes a very strong product once it fully dries. Marly Part One \- POP Click on 'thumbnails' to view larger picture Part Two \- Silicone Click on 'thumbnails' to view larger picture Part Three \- Troubleshooting Click on 'thumbnails' to view larger picture

Patti that is the kind I made I can't find the one I saved. I don't do much sewing anymore but it is around here somewhere. I also made pincushions out of the pull off plastic lids from spray cans. did them much like the little ones in the directions filled them with plaster of paris and used and covered the old style of styrofoam ball that you could stick pins into. I think gals also used tuna cans too . They were so much fun to do