Furniture Renovation Bathroom Mirror Face Towel Hanger With a Small Shelf

Furnishings renovation... Here's an after picture, though it's not complete just yet...it's missing a couple of pegs to hang little face towels from. You can see the two holes on each side of the heart.....

And here's the before picture...

Ta-da!

Shout out to my awesome boyfriend for hanging it up for me, thanks love!

Abstract Painting and Sleep

     Something happened and I started thinking with my brain instead of my gut, and what was a promising abstract painting, I have given up on, for now. I saw a seahorse in my painting and then my brain kicked in and decided to expand upon it and that's ultimately where it and I went wrong. 

     I lost my flow when I began to think instead of intuit and it was emotionally, physically, psychologically, and psychically draining. I fell asleep when I did not intend to do so. 

....

New Etsy item

New today

https://www.etsy.com/listing/233335163/clear-dark-blue-galaxy-crescent-moon

Abstract Painting

My latest abstract painting:

100% Silicone ii and Cornstarch Mold Making - Fail...?

     I tested my mold today, after a almost 72 hour wait time, which should be ample time for this type of mold to fully cure. It did not bend, but broke :(

So I probably got the wrong silicone this time. Next time I go to the Home Depot, I'll pick up some GE 100% Silicone i, which is clearly what I have used in the past. 

For now, since I still have an entire large tube of GE 100% Silicone ii, I will use the rest of it in another attempt(s) to make a functional mold. If anything works, I'll blog about what I believe is the how and why it worked out. For now, if you're planning on using this mold making technique, stick with 100% Silicone I. 

     Here's a link to one of the first and the most useful YouTube video tutorials I saw when I decided to start making my own molds. In this video tutorial the lady doesn't specify what kind of Silicone Caulk she is using, and makes her molds with only two ingredients: silicone and a powder such as cornstarch. 

http://youtu.be/-OB8zLKdp_Y

     I guess my next attempt will be with only cornstarch and the silicone ii. Maybe the baby oil wasn't necessary because the silicone itself didn't need any lubricant to cure and it is possible this may have prevented it from curing. Also, the acrylic paint is an optional step according to every tutorial I've seen or read. It's basically just an option if you want your molds to have color. However, acrylic paint is water based and since silicone ii is a different beast, this too may also have prevented the curing of my mold. I'll be sure to let you know if this works out. 

     One last thing is I want to mention some changes to the layout of my blog. If you are viewing the web version, on the right hand side of my blog I have added my Amazon Wishlist amongst my links. Below this, I have added a PayPal Donate button. If you are interested in donating in any way towards my small business (DeniseDoesCouture), which is still in the fetus stage, you have those options.  

     Thanks, and until next time,

Silicone Mold Making, Paper Mâché, an Abstract Painting

    I made this mold last night of a flower from one of my hair barrettes. I wanted only the flower in the center, and so far it looks pretty good, but the mold itself is still curing. I'm not sure how long it will take to cure. I used GE 100% Silicone ii*, cornstarch, a little baby oil, and a few drops of red acrylic paint. As I was researching online last night to refresh my memory and find useful tips prior to creating my mold, I kept reading "don't use silicone ii, it won't work, etc" I'm not sure if I used silicone i or ii on previous molds, but no matter, I decided to forge ahead with the silicone ii. I did skim across something that made me hopeful: using silicone ii will still work, but it will take longer to cure, and the mold will be more flexible (which is good). 

    Here is the original, and the mold I made from it:

After mixing my ingredients to create a putty that was no longer sticky, I rolled it into a ball and pressed the flower face down into my mold putty. A few hours later I removed the item, and you can see the detail of the rose in the silicone mold. It looks nice, but it's still not ready. I should be able to bend it without breaking it once it is ready. I'm gently handling it every now and then to see how it's coming along, but I made the mold at around 11 last night so it hasn't even been 24 hours yet. Hopefully it will cure like it should and I can start casting my resin. I will be making more molds throughout the day with the remainder of the tube because it's either going to work with the silicone ii, or it's not. 

    I'm also working on some paper mâché wall decor projects today...

The blue bird is almost done, the bow is barely just begun, and everything else needs a few more layers of paper mâché. 

    Here's my most recent painting. It's an abstract. I started a new one last night, but I'm not sharing it until I'm done or ready to share my progress. Here's the one you can see:

 

Silicone Caulk & Cornstarch Mold Making

This is the first mold I made using 100% silicone, corn starch, and a few drops of baby oil. I pretty much used a 1:1 ratio of silicone caulk and cornstarch to begin with, and then added more cornstarch as needed so that I could get a nice putty. 

Then I pressed the item I wanted to make a mold of into my putty, and after about 15 or 30 minutes, I removed it.

I let the mold cure for 24 hours, and then I poured my resin in. I let the resin cure in the silicone mold for 72 hours. I then removed my resin piece from the mold. 

Here's the item I wanted to replicate:

Here's my silicone mold of the item:

Here's my first resin cast from this mold after I removed it. I used lavender acrylic paint and gold glitter in my resin for the coloring:

I was able to reuse this mold several times until it cracked. I think it's because I used a non "epoxy resin" a couple of times, which may have been too harsh. Or maybe I didn't care for it properly, neglected to use mold release, etc. In any case it's so cheap, I can just make another mold. Generally I only use epoxy resin because everything else (other resins) smells like ass. 

Seeing that this technique worked out, I've gone ahead and purchased the larger silicone caulk:

And the caulking gun to use it:

Hopefully I can learn how to preserve my molds because I don't want to make the same mold twice again. I'll be trying to figure that out this time around. 

Sharpie + Mug Experiment

    I did the Sharpie + Dollar Store Mug experiment. Turned out nice. I just drew on it, and baked it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. It was fun! The mug is no longer dishwasher safe, and it can hardly be hand washed, even very gently. Needs professional markers, otherwise the design won't last. I washed it once very gently and lost a lot of my sharpie ink. There's a professional sharpie-like marker that supposedly will prevent this, but I'm poor and I forget what it's called, anyway.

DIY chalkboard paint

1 TBL Unsanded grout + 1/2 cup acrylic paint = chalkboard paint. I was able to write on this with chalk once it dried, and the chalk wiped off with tissue paper again and again. I learned about this DIY chalkboard paint technique on various tutorials the web. This is definitely my go to chalkboard paint recipe. Pretty cool huh?

 

A new mixed media art project is in progress 😃

Abstract Photography

Some old photos from when I was young and carried my Nikon camera around all the time, like a tourist...

 

  

This is the technique I use to make my silicone molds. 

100% Clear Silicone 

Cornstarch 

A few drops of baby oil

And a few drops of acrylic paint (optional)

Here's a short tutorial video I found on YouTube. I found out about this technique via YouTube from another user, and it's a great way to save money on mold making materials. Also, the trial and error is half of the fun. These molds have been great for my resin casting.

http://youtu.be/a-wQm4bKST4

Crushed Flowers... I don't know what I will use them for yet, but I felt like crushing some flowers, so I did.

A new handmade fabric hair flower barrette...made by yours truly, of course.

A picture of me modeling my personal pair of blue glitter button earrings. There are more available in my Etsy shop, and matching blue glitter button rings, too. 

My precious jewels 💕

Business Cards in progress...

A personal throw pillow for my living space. I'm super happy I got my sewing machine up and running, though I do have a lot of trouble shooting to do like, every single effing time I use it. Hopefully soon I can afford a better quality machine. I enjoy deconstructing, problem solving, and finding atypical solutions to things, but playing MacGuyver consumes time I could be using towards things I love even more. I love this pillow. Really happy with how it turned out. I'm always on a mission to make my living space a creative and inspiring place. The little things can make a huge difference. 

Remember this acrylic painting of my cat Luka I was working on?

It turned into this, and I love it..! Cthulhu Cat FTW

There's another painting I did of Luka...I can't download it right now, (Thanks a lot CLOUD - I don't even know how that works entirely and I don't think anyone else really does either) but I'll post a pic of the painting as soon as I can. I can't wait to share it! 

.....

Paper mâché wings which will be the base of my Halloween costume this year, unless I decide on another costume idea. 

I've also considered making a paper mâché decorative dress form, and attaching the wings to it. I need a dress form to photograph my scarves and cowls for my Etsy shop, because otherwise it looks kind of ghetto. Also, a paper mâché sculpture with faery wings would be pretty awesome in my living space.

This is a paper mâché wall hanging I learned how to do from a YouTube video. I adore it! I'm currently making one for my mother and my boyfriend's mother for Mother's Day. 

I'm also in the process of making other paper mâché wall decor...a cat, a bird, a bow ribbon, a large decorative bowl (not to be hung on the wall) and a star. These are all drying from their latest paper mâché layer, and I look forward to showing them all off once their finished. But here's my first effort at a paper mâché wall hanging, and I dare say I'm getting so much better at working with my hands and at figuring out cool techniques to get different results.

One final thing. I found this magnetic paint in the clearance section of Michael's Arts and Crafts. Yay!! Time to play, and paper mâché!

Fashion iPhone 6s Plus Phone Cases!

I just made this fashion iPhone 6s Plus case today. I love it better than the first! 

I will be adding this to my Etsy page, DeniseDoesCouture, soon. 

I've already added the phone case from my previous post, also for the iPhone 6s Plus, and you can buy it here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/231973139/purple-and-green-jewels-flower-design