Iron Orchid Designs Primitive Mould & Amazing Resin Casting - Leaping Hare Hanging Easter Ornaments

 

I have two new toys ..........

....... the "Primitive" mould from Iron Orchid Designs..........

....... and a pack of Amazing Casting Resin, so bear with me, this is a totally experimental post, where even I don't know where it's going.

I chose the Primitive mould because I thought it would work well with my other Ginger Spice one and because there were matching left and right impressions  that I thought might be interesting, which is why I chose to work with the leaping hare first.

The beauty of the Amazing Casting Resin is that it cures in about 10 minutes which is a game changer for me, no waiting for ages to see how anything turns out.  You mix 1 to 1 of each bottle, stir thoroughly for 30 seconds and then pour into your mould, and as it sets, the resin changes from transparent to white, then you know it's cured.

The impressions were brilliant, so detailed, that's when I decided to see if I could turn the hares into an Easter hanging ornament, by gluing both sides together with E6000, putting a tiny pendant bail on the inside to hang it from.

They turned out pretty OK and the bail was perfectly placed so the hare balanced pretty straight when hung, although that didn't really matter that much, as I thought they'd look good leaping at different angles when hung on some Easter branches.

With this success I proceeded to make another 5 hares, which didn't take that long with such a quick curing time, but what to do with them then? I didn't want to leave them white, but how would they paint?  After a little research I found that the best paint to use would be acrylic ..... so off I went again, with a lot of waiting for them to dry.

I gave them two rough coats, perhaps they were a bit patchy, but the colours were a bit too bright, so not really knowing where I was going with the idea I then dry bushed them, using my tattiest paint brush with white emulsion(?).

I was liking the effect, it sort of "aged" them .........

 

....then I wondered about adding some gold, as a reflection a past opulence ..........

And though subtle (top rabbit), I also thought it worked but that's when I left them to got charity shop shopping! When I got back, they looked a little pale and pasty, with out any real substance, if you know what I mean but wondered about waxing them, using a set of rubbing wax that I've had for a million years but never used, because I didn't know how to! 

This was the missing key, I simply rubbed over the hare with my finger, and that's when they took on a whole new "proper" aged look .......

I was thrilled, all through playing and referencing bits and pieces I'd picked up from Marley https://www.madebymarley.co.uk/.

The only thing I'm not sure of is the eye, I wanted to add a tiny flat back gem, but is it an unnecessary detail?

Anyway, they are all ready for Easter!