[Tools] Mod Podge Mod Melts and Molds

I am a fan of Plaid Crafts, particularly their Mod Podge line of products, decoupage art and all.  They have another product line called Mod Melts and Mod Molds that have been around for a couple of years but for some reason, I only took notice a couple of months ago.

I bought a bag of Mod Melts in milk glass white and the Ornamental mold from my craft buddy, Michaels.  The sticks resemble that of a glue gun stick but it is thinner and uses a hi-temp glue gun. If you're familiar to using a glue gun, it's basically the same so be careful not to burn yourself and keep your working area clean and free of dust and lint.

There are Youtube videos by Cathy and Steve demostrating how easy it is to use.  Yes, it looks nice but it takes practice to squeeze the right amount of glue in the mold and making sure that there are no air pockets.  The piece cools pretty quick and it pops out quite easily.  Then you can add color or paint and incorporate them in your projects.

I tried to use a cameo mold and compared using the Mod Melts vs using Premo Sculpey Accent Pearl Polymer Clay.  I wanted to compare the details and ease of use of the different mediums.

The photo on the left was done using Mod Melts in milk glass white and the cameo on the right was with Premo Sculpey Accent pearl polymer clay that was baked according to manufacturers specifications.  Which one do you like?

I had difficulty in squeezing the mod melt into the mold vs the polymer clay where I conditioned and rolled a ball of clay.  I also noticed that the details using the mod melt are not as distinct as when I used polymer clay.  Perhaps I used a "difficult" and too detailed mold for my mini experiment but I wanted to push its limit.  The mod melts harden faster and is ready in no time whereas polymer clay has to bake for about 20 mins.  The Mod Molds are very nice and detailed as well.  The quality is excellent!

Have you ever used Mod Melts or Mod Molds before?  How did it go?   Please share your experiences with me.

See  you soon!

♥ michelle

[Project] Hello, October!

Hello, October!  What?  Where did the time go?  It was this day last year when my parents and sister came to the US, yes, on the day of the government shutdown.  The memories are so fresh in my mind.

Well, I wanted to start the month making jewelry hence I made earrings!  I saw this article by one of my Bead soup blog party partners, Melissa Meman, in the April -May 2011 issue of Step by Step Wire Jewelry.  How cool is that?  I used peridot teardrop glass beads and copper wire.  It is not quite finished yet but it's a good start.

Melissa Meman's Article

I wanted to share with you this pair of Faux Stone Earrings that I made during my Integrated Earring Design Class with Ms. Kathleen Dustin.  These were made several months ago from polymer clay beads but I didn't know how to design and make use of them.  I added sterling silver wire that I oxidized and wow, I love how it turned out.  I'm planning to make more of these.

Faux Turquoise Stone made from Polymer Clay
Sterling silver earwire

I hope you enjoyed your first day of October.  Take care and see you soon!
♥ michelle  ♥