Reinstating Workbench Wednesday...What is new this week....Silicone Molds... A Tutorial too...

For me, it is officially summer now.  

That means more time to create.

YAY!

I decided to reinstate Workbench Wednesday.

This week on the workbench... Silicone molds.

I have long been amazed with Rebekah Payne's beautiful flower beads.

You can see some of them as well as her other amazing designs here.

 I have been dying to try to make my own silicone molds.

So I did some R & D by reading her blog post several times.

 

And then I got started.

I gathered 2 acrylic blocks, the silicone, a couple pens and some flowers and weeds from the yard.

Rebekah recommended pressing the flowers gently between the blocks so you can see how it will look.

I used the pens to press the leaves and stems into the silicone.

I love that weeds work so well for this, because, well, I have a lot of weeds....

This mystery plant fills half my front flower bed.  

Its leaves have beautiful texture.

I mixed enough silicone to do about 3 molds at a time.

The hard part is waiting the 20 minutes for the molds to cure.

Once they have cured, I gently removed the leaves and flowers.

They LOOK good.

I hope they work well too...

Wow!

I am in love.

I am always amazed at the detail the silicone captures.

I love this one...

Yup, check out the detail from those mystery plant leaves...

So, that first batch worked.

It was the test run.

Back out to the yard for some more plants and flowers.

They are all pressed in...

Waiting....

Waiting....

The pen helps to push the very thin leaves into the silicone.

 Let's try a grape leaf and tendril...

The one below was a lesson learned. 

 I was mixing enough silicone to do about 3 molds at a time. 

 Then I decided to mix a little more.

The fourth mold started to cure before I could press the plants in fully.

I think it will still work, but there is not the same level of definition.

I love lavender!

Some leaves and a bonus dog hair....

Sorry about that.

Time to remove the plants.

Yay!

I cannot wait to try these out with clay...

Who knew weeds could be so sweet?

I hope this lavender one works.

I love this one.

The tendril is quite pronounced on the grape leaf.

I am definitely in love with this process.

Out to the yard again.

I will say, I prefer going out and only picking a few at a time. 

 The flowers and leaves begin to wilt quickly so I would rather work with them while they are fresh.

More weeds and flowers.

I am going to try to do this process several times this summer to harvest various flowers as they bloom.

I am trying all sorts of flowers to see which kinds work best.

I pressed some blades of grass in too.

I love the texture.

I hope these turn out.

Grass and weeds are beautiful too.

Waiting is done...

Here is the last batch finished...

 A pretty collection.

The more complex blossoms need to be picked out of the silicone.

Leaves...

And a dog hair.

The flowers with thinner petals did not leave as much of an impression even though I pressed them a little with the pens.

I am so excited to try the clay in these.

So much detail and texture in there.

I wish I had pressed these in a little more.

Love the grass texture.

Not a bad haul on the workbench for a couple hours work.

I am in love with this process...

Like I said, I will be bringing in flowers and goodies several times this summer to expand the collection.

What is on your workbench this week?  

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs.