APOXIE SCULPT REVIEW

We found this very nicely written review on Apoxie Sculpt by Craft Test Dummies

Have a read and find out how best to make Apoxie Sculpt work for you.

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As mixed media continues to pervade the craft arena, we see more and more products borrowed from other disciplines and industries. Such is the case withApoxie Sculpt, and 2-part epoxy clay that, when mixed in equal amounts, cures into a rock-solid foundation for sculpting, joining, and texturizing.

Here’s how it’s described on the website:

Apoxie® Sculpt offers economy as well as performance. This 2-part product has a putty-like, smooth consistency, and is easy to mix & use. It is safe and waterproof with 0% shrinkage/cracking! Working time is 2-3 hrs. Cures hard in 24 hrs., and has a semi-gloss finish. Adheres to plastic, resin kits, wood, metal, ceramic, glass, polymers, foam, fiberglass, & more! Can be seamlessly feathered before set-up, or sanded, tapped, drilled, carved, lathed, or otherwise tooled after set-up, without chipping, cracking or flaking! Save time & money on finishing jobs by using Apoxie® Sculpt colors. Simple water clean-up or use Aves® Safety Solvent. Endless uses for artists, crafters, restorers, modelers, students, and more! Great for creating 3-D graphics and outdoor projects! Available in 12 colors.

Now, I just got plain, old white Apoxie Sculpt and to try it out, I “gloved up” and mixed some up.

It has a putty consistancy with no odor.

Use equal parts. I used a mini-scoop.

Mix until it’s a uniform color.

Mixing the putty-like epoxy clay was relatively easy, but I notice that it was pretty sticky and wanted to stick to my disposable gloves. I decided to try the Apoxie Sculptin a silicone mold made from Amazing Molding Putty. It was a little challenging trying to get it to stay in the mold and not pull out by sticking to my gloves!

Now, while that was setting up, I pressed some of the Apoxie Sculpt into a bezel and started setting in some vintage chantons:

The chantons set easily into the putty and stayed put!

I tried to mold some beads, but got really frustrated with how sticky the Apoxie Sculpt. So I dug around on the site and found this timeline for working with the material:

Working Time Line Guide:

• 1/2 hour:  Sticky & most adhesive
• 1 to 2 hours: Easy to work with
• 2 to 3 hours:  Setting up, form-able detail
• 24 hours:  Hard, cured & waterproof

OH! So that means that I should mix it up and let it “rest” awhile before trying to make beads or stamp into it!

Now, in the meanwhile, I had some clay on my table when I was working with my fish pond pump and a piece broke off. The threads that keep pushing the water through in one direction snapped off. So I used some of that Apoxie Sculpt to seal the parts together!

HA! I feel pretty McGyver after that! ; )

Here is a photo of my cured jewelry piece. I used my fingers to try and work the stones loose, but they stayed put:

My son used some Apoxie Sculpt epoxy clay to make personalized game pieces for our “Earth-opoly” set:

The finished pieces are solid, but not super-heavy.

And, while I was going to take the piece of clay and stamp into it after an hour or so, my life interrupted…and when I got back to it, it was too hard to stamp into. So there you have it- the problem with a slow set-up time!

Here’s my cured molded pieces and bead that I made.

Now, I took one of those cast pieces and sprayed it with a water-based spray ink. Surprisingly, the Apoxie is just porous enough that the spray sunk in and stained the mold beautifully! Here it is in the finished piece.

This piece is part of my Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist review- coming soon!

Now, since I was so pleased with the spray ink, I thought maybe I’d try painting one of the molded pieces with some acrylic paints.

First, I drilled it with my Dremel. Very easy!

The paint adhered very well- no chance of it peeling off!

I also decided to try sanding the bead. The instructions recommend wearing a facemask, because the dust is very fine particulate- it reminded me somewhat of chalk.

It was very easy to sand.

Here’s how it looked after I drilled the hold, painted it with Precious Metals Paint, and wired it up with some lovely crystal beads. Next to it is the final leaf mold, too.

So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty here. It’s really an amazing product, and for mixed-media artists, it’s a win. You can mold and sculpt it, use it to create structures, and then you can sand, paint, and drill it. All good stuff. But it’s kinda pricey at around $25.00 USD (with shipping) for a 1 pound set. That will go a long way, but you might want to try the 1/4 pound size to try it before you commit to the bigger spend.

I’m glad I got to try it out- and there will be a “round two” as there is a book to review that features Apoxie Sculpt. But in the meanwhile, feel free to leave a comment and ask any questions you might have- I’ll try to answer them the best I can!

Read original article here.

AVES PRODUCTS COMPARISON CHART

We've received many enquiries about the differences between the products we carry under Aves. 

Curing time, working time, colours and texture are all different for each Aves product. 

So we've spent some time doing some research and came out with this chart to help you find the best product to suit your project. Hope it helps.

For cleaner and faster clean up, use Aves Safety Solvent. It's perfect for fine tuning your work, smoothening areas before it cures and for cleaning your tools and work surface. 

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APOXIE SCULPT by AVES - SCULPTING PUTTY

Recently, we brought in a new line of sculpting material called Apoxie by Aves. 

Correction, it's not a new line, in fact it's a range of products that is well sued and loved ny many sculptors worldwide. 

Here's what our range looks like in our store. 

We brought in the Apoxie Sculpt, Super White, Apoxie Clay, FIXIT Paste and FIXIT Sculpt. 

They come in a few sizes for different types of projects, mainly the standard packs of 46g, 113g and 454g.

In a nut shell, Apoxie Sculpt, Apoxie Clay and FIXIT are two part compounds that when mixed together becomes a very versatile and strong sculpting material.

Aves products are:

• Self hardening - no ovens or kilns needed. It air dries into rock hard form.
• Freeze-Thaw stable - You can freeze it to prolong shelf life and thaw it without any problems when you need it. 
• Non-hazardous, unlike many epoxy putties out there, Aves products are toxic free.
• 0% shrinkage - pretty awesome for precision parts and miniatures such as figurines and car parts.
• Electrically non-conductive
• Permanent and rock hard
• Waterproof
• Adheres to almost ANYTHING - plastic, resin kits, wood, metal, ceramic, glass, polymers, foam, fiberglass, & more!
• Can be tooled without chipping, cracking and flaking.
• Can be sanded, filed, drilled, tapped, turned on a lathe and more!
• Can be painted once cured.
• Easy clean up with Apoxie Safety Solvent or with soap and water
• Complies with ASTM D4236

There are more than 100 uses for Aves products, mainly:

• To create special decor and textures on wood, glass, plastic and more
• For sculpting and figure modelling
• For jewelry making and setting of gem stones and crystals
• For repairs or restoration of antiques, toys, ceramics, pottery, statues, outdoor displays and more
• Covers seams, cracks, bonds broken pieces together, fabricate parts, and more
• Creates dioramas and relief maps
• Creates eye sets, cover armatures, fabricates or extends parts

Here are some breathtaking works with Aves products. Click on the images to find out more.

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LIQUID SOAP BASE - MAKE YOUR OWN GENTLE SKIN WASH

Craftiviti Liquid Soap Base is a very concentrated form of liquid soap. This soap is the foundation of soap and therefore it contains no coloring, perfume, preservatives, c and most importantly, no harmlful chemicals. 

This soap base is so pure, it is like a clean slate for soap making. So it is totally left up to you to add anything you want to it.

And this is where the creativity begins...

All you need are 4 basic ingredients:
1) 50ml Water 
2) 15g Craftiviti Liquid Soap Base (30% weight of water) - you can get it here
3) 3 to 4 drops essential oil blend - you can get them here
4) 1 tablespoon carrier oil - you can get them here
*Makes 70ml of liquid soap

Mixing Method
It's easy. Just mix it all together. Give it a good shake and pour it into a liquid or foam dispenser.
DONE!

Here we used Virgin Coconut Oil for our carrier oil to give our soap a wonderful scent and also to give the liquid a richer bubbly effect. We also used a blend of pure Rosemary and Orange Essential Oils to give it a wonderful citrus herbal scent.

NOTE: Because this base is so pure and contains no preservatives and additives, any addition such as water, carrier oils, dyes or scrubs to the base will affect its shelf life.

So to keep the batch fresh, only take out what you need and keep the rest in the fridge.

Adding essential oils such as Rosemary, Tea Tree or Eucalyptus will also help naturally preserve the soap base due to the oils' antimicrobial properties. 

About Craftiviti Liquid Soap Base

This unique soap base is made up of coconut oil, olive oil, starch from potato and corn, and wheat protein.

It contains no Sulfate (SLS / SLES) which can irritate people suffering from sensitive or dry skin. It also contains no harmful chemicals, parabens or additives, and no alcohol. 

Liquid Soap Base is a gentle cleanser for those suffering from eczema, skin rashes, acne and more. Ideal as a base for medical soap. Contains no animal origin. 

Click here for more info

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HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN MOLD WITH MOLDMAKER RTV SILICONE RUBBER

Mold making is so easy. Imagine making molds for your craft and casting loads of duplicates forever and ever.

You can make clay molds, soap molds, candle molds, epoxy resin molds, gem molds, figurines, miniature parts, and much much more. 

Here, we are going to walk you through how we made a mold out of Craftiviti Moldmaker RTV Silicone Rubber. 

We have this mold jewelry mold that was so used and torn (it broke a few months after this project by the way) and we wanted to duplicate this mold. 

In short, we decided to make a mold OF a mold. 

Here's what the old mold looks like. It's for casting clays and epoxy jewelry pieces. From the pic above you can see how deformed the mold is. We needed a NEW mold. 

First we made a border for the mold out of Monster Clay. We used Monster Clay because it contains no sulphur and is easy to work with AND it can be reused indefinitely. 

When making molds with RTV Silicone Rubber, never use any ingredients that contains sulphur. If you do, the rubber will not set.

Craftiviti Moldmaker RTV Silicon Rubber. Here's what the set looks like. 

It comes with 1kg Silicone Rubber and 50ml hardener.

Mixing Ratio: 3% hardener (that's the green stuff) to the weight of the silicone rubber. 

So if you have 100g of  Moldmaker RTV Silicone Rubber, you only need approximately 3g hardener. A dripper or pipette is the best measuring tool for this and a very sensitive weighing scale too. Once you get more familiar our Moldmaker RTV Silicone Rubber, you can roughly gauge 3g as 3ml. 

4% gets the rubber to set very fast. You can give 4% a try if you want a shorter working time. 

Give the mixture a good stir. Try not too incorporate too much bubbles into this mix. Stirring in a figure 8 always helps. Once the two colours are completely mixed, you will get a uniform pastel green liquid rubber mix. Work quickly as the rubber will start to cure. The open time is around 3 minutes. 

Slowly pour the mixture into the prepared mold. To avoid the poured silicone rubber from sticking to the original piece, spray a thin layer of silicone release on the surface of the original piece. 

Let the liquid rubber set for 1 hour.

Demolding time is the fun part. Just remove the Monster Clay border and slowly peel the silicone rubber away from the original piece. See how wonderful the  Moldmaker RTV Silicone Rubber duplicates the details?

Let's call this new piece a MASTER. 

Remember, these steps are for creating a mold from an original mold. However, if you just need to make a mold out of something you already have like a pendant or a carton figurine, simple use the item as your MASTER and pour silicone over it. 

Now we need to make a mold out of this MASTER. Place the MASTER into a box/container or you can build another clay wall around it. Here we used a simple food container just because the size was right. 

For bigger pieces or odd sizes, you can make a box out of acrylic sheets.

Next, repeat the same steps of mixing hardener with Moldmaker RTV Silicone Rubber. 

Slowly pour the liquid rubber over the master. Start at the edge and allow the liquid rubber to flow in a thin stream over your MASTER. Do this very slowly. This reduces bubbles from being trapped during the process. 

To help release more bubbles, just give the box a gentle tap.

Once the mold hardens (this took 3 hours) we just pulled the entire chunk out of the food container.

To get to the final mold, we needed to slice the rubber along the edges until we could see the joining of the two pieces. We used a normal blade for this. 

Once you see the joining, simply pry it apart. The Moldmaker RTV Silicone Rubber is extremely durable, as long as the rubber is thick enough, you do not have to worry about any tears 

Once the pieces have been separated, continue trimming the mold until you are happy with the size or shape of it. 

And here we have it. The original, the master and the MOLD. 

This new mold can be used many times over. That's the beauty of Moldmaker RTV Silicone Rubber from Craftiviti. It is ultra-durable and very flexible. Great for casting small parts, fine details and items with multiple dimensions. 

 It's that simple!

Email us if you have any enquiries at enquiry@craftiviti.com or pop by our store at 10 Boulevard and meet with us :)

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MAKING SOAP WITH CLAY

Natural clays have a wonderful effect on the skin. After a hard day at work, nothing beats coming home, smacking on some soothing mud mask and hibernating on the couch with a glass of wine.

There are many types of clays that are popular in skincare products. Here's a short list:
- Fuller's Earth
- Bentonite
- White Clay
- Kaolin Clay
- French Green Clay or Pink Clay or Yellow Clay

Each clay has their own composition of minerals and benefits but essentially all clays help deep cleanse the skin, draw out impurities and tighten the surface.

How to use clay

There are many ways you can use clay with your skincare.

1) Mix raw clay powder with some purified water and slap it on your skin. Add a few drops of essential oils and some jojoba oil or rosehip oil for more therapeutic benefits.

2) OR you could do what we did and add it to Craftiviti's Melt & Pour soap base for an instant homemade clay soap that helps detox and cleanse skin.

The process is really easy and we'll walk you through it with some photos we took.

Here's everything you need for some homemade soap.

1) Melt & Pour Soap Base
You will need a good block of Melt&Pour Soap base. Make sure you know the ingredients for this product as some tend to contain alcohol and other addictives. Here we used an SLS free soap base made from Virgin Coconut Oil and Unrefined Palm Oil. That's why the colour you see is slightly opaque and yellowish. You can get the same soap base here

2) Pure Essential Oil
Pick some essential oils that you like. Here we used RAW Lemon, Peppermint and Grapefruit Essential Oil by Craftiviti. We decided to make two kinds of soaps here. Follow on and you'll see.

3) Soap Mold
You will need a mold that will make a good hand-size soap and is easy to demold. You can buy them here

4) Clay
And finally, your clay. Here we used Organic French Green Clay from Greece.

Here's what the Organic French Green Clay looks like up close

Step 1

Place soap base in a microwave safe glass bowl and heat that up at low temperature. Check the soap from time to time and give it a good stir. Do not overheat soap.

Step 2

Once the soap has melted, mix the clay with some water to form a wet paste. The amount to use depends on how much soap you plan to make. Here we used one teaspoon of clay to make one hand-size soap. You can sieve the clay before adding water to remove larger particles.

Step 3
Add some essential oil to the melted soap base. Here we used Peppermint Essential Oil from Craftiviti which went really well with the French Green Clay. Then mix the clay into the soap base. Stir gently.

Step 4

Pour the entire mixture into the mold. As you can see from the photo above there will be bubbles on the surface of the mold. Two things you can do to get rid of the bubbles. One, spray some isopropyl alcohol onto the surface and watch the bubbles POP. Two, just shave the surface off when the soap hardens. 

While we wait for the clay soap to set, we made another soap out of Grapefruit and Lemon Essential Oil. Just melt the soap base and drip the essential oils in. Here we used 5 drops each. You can also add a few drops of carrier oil such as Jojoba or Avocado Oil for more moisturizing effect.

And here we have two very different soaps that's great for the skin without the chemicals and artificial fragrances. 

Prep time: 10 minutes

Setting time: 30 minutes

Liquid Hand Soap - Step by Step How To Guide

Liquid hand soaps are such a charm to use.

Craftiviti Liquid Hand Soap is the very basic of all liquid soaps. There is no coloring, no perfume, no preservatives, no chemicals. It is so pure, it's like a clean slate for soap making. So it is totally left up to you to add anything you want to it.

And this is where the creativity begins...

All you need are 4 basic ingredients:
1) 50ml Water 50ml
2) 15g Craftiviti Liquid Soap Base (30% weight of water)
3) 3 to 4 drops essential oil blend
4) 1 tablespoon carrier oil
*Makes 70ml of liquid soap

Mixing Method
It's easy. Just mix it all together. Give it a good shake and pour it into a liquid dispenser.
DONE!

Here we used Virgin Coconut Oil for our carrier oil for that wonderful scent and also to give the liquid a richer bubbly effect. We also used a blend of pure Rosemary and Orange Essential Oils to give it a wonderful citrusie herbal scent.

Because this base is so pure and contains no preservatives and additives, any addition such as water, carrier oils, dyes or scrubs to the base will affect its shelf life.

So to keep the batch fresh, only take out what you need and keep the rest in the fridge.

Adding essential oils such as Rosemary, Tea Tree or Eucalyptus will also help naturally preserve the soap base due to the oils' antimicrobial properties. 

About Craftiviti Liquid Soap Base

This unique soap base is made up of Palm Oil, Coconut Oil and Olive Oil. 

It contains no Sulfate (SLS / SLES) which can be irritate people suffering from sensitive or dry skin. It also contains no harmful chemicals, parabens or additives, and no alcohol. 

Liquid Soap Base is a gentle cleanser for those suffering from eczema, skin rashes, acne and more. Ideal as a base for medical soap. Contains no animal origin. 

WOOD BURNING TOOL - PYROGRAPHY

Wood burning, also called pyrography, is the process of drawing a picture on a piece of wood with a hot brass tip. 

Wood Burning Basics

• Sand your wood before starting the project. Wipe the surface with damp cloth once done sanding.

• Do not do wood burning project on a varnished wood as the varnish with affect the burning process.

• Trace your design with a pencil before starting.

• Handle your woodburning pen with care. Pen will get hot quite fast, so attach the tip before turning on the machine. Give the pen two or so minutes to get hot. As it heats up, let your wood burning pen rest in a pen holder device to minimize the risk of accidental burning.

• MDF

• Pine

• Basswood

• Birch

• Ash

• Maple

At Craftiviti we have Livingart Wood Burning set which consists of 7 interchangeable brass tips with a holder suitable for pyrography, soldering, leather craft and stencilling. This light weight handtool includes a 40-watt with fast heating that develop maximum temperature 320 degrees C.
Included Brass Tips:

• Universal Point

• Shading point

• Flow point

• Cone point

• Fine point

• Dot point

Visit our website:
www.craftiviti.com

For wood burning, try using these types of wood for starters:

It is best to practice and experiment on a smaller wood surface to get a better feel on how to use your tools. And now on to the tools...

Here are some stunning pyrography pieces:

By jESSICA CZECK

by PAUL CARIDAD

Pinterest

Woodburner

More wood burning Technics and tricks that you can refer to here

For further enquiries on pyrography tools, write to us at enquiry@craftiviti.com
Or visit our outlet to have a look or purchase online here.

SCULPTING WITH SULFUR-FREE MONSTER CLAY®

Monster Clay® Premium Grade Modeling Clay is a re-useable sulfur free, professional oil/wax based sculpting medium. 

Composed entirely of non-toxic, food grade components, Monster Clay® has an ultra smooth formulation that features a low melt temperature and low tack feel that will not stick to tools or fingers. 

Monster Clay has high plasticity and has a unique elastic quality much like soft taffy when warm. 

Right out of the tub, Monster clay has a waxy firm texture great for carving. At average room temperature, Monster Clay is firm enough to capture even the finest details. 

However, some sculptors like heating up the clay a little more for a softer more pliable texture. 

Just roll a ball of the clay in your hand and you will notice the clay soften just from body heat making this clay extremely versatile for all types of work. 

But that's not all...

Monster Clay can easily be turned into liquid pourable clay. Just pop it into the microwave along with the container it comes in. This makes Monster Clay great for casting and for making copies of life casts where changes are needed. 

Monster Clay sulfur-free recipe is compatible with platinum silicone molding compounds (silicone rubber).

Another thing that is great about this clay is that it can be remelted and reused indefinitely which makes it great for cost effective projects and sculptures. Those learning to sculpt will also find this clay wonderful to work with. 

Enjoy this short video from Academy Award Winner, Rick Baker sculpting using Monster Clay.

Learn more about Monster Clay here.

Monster Clay is available in 5lb (2.28kg) block at Craftiviti retail craft store or you can buy online here.

HOW TO SOFTEN POLYMER CLAY

For those working on polymer clay, you'll find something in common. Polymer clay tends to harden over time. 

While polymer clay is an oven bake clay and not an air-dry clay, over time, it will harden. This happens when the plasticizer evaporates. But this is not the end for your clay. 

There are ways to slow this hardening process. 

Always keep your clay in an air-tight container away from heat. For extra protection, keep it in a zip lock bag first. 

But in case you already have a chunk of clay that is too hard to work on, don't give up on it just yet. 

Sculpey Clay Softener is a great product to help recondition your old, hardened or dried up clay. It can be used with SCULPEY, PREMO or FIMO clays. 

Just chop the clay up into small bits, place it all in a zip lock bag, add a few drops of the softener and shake it all up. After leaving it in the bag for a few days, work on the clay with a roller until all the bits are well mixed together. We find using a clay roller helps to recondition the clay even faster. 

Here's a video on how to use this product. 

For further enquiries, write to us at enquiry@craftiviti.com
Or visit our outlets to have a look. 


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www.craftiviti.com

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