To Make a Mold

Product Call:

And when I asked Ian:

as for casting/ molding dandelions.. jeezz.. you can make one time use plaster molds the facing half of a flower by laying the flower down and mixing plaster and putting it on quite thin when it goes creamy, not going past the center line of the half. when this sets carefully - tweezers - pull all the flower bits out and you can then dampen the plaster and put in hot wax, when it sets up cut away excess and you have wax of half the flower.. can then take this wax and use it for a lost wax casting technique..

in terms of using mold rubber, if you can stiffen the flower sufficiently, some sort of spray lacquer i guess - watch out for rubber compatability - once you get the mold - single block? then whatever material you use to cast has to be so thin to be forced in there, or you need vacuum forming or injection molding technology..

actually one of those hot plastic sheet plastic former things would give you a half mold ok.. dont think tyler has one of those though..


My friend, Faith, is good with making molds and she said that she'd help me.

I have an off assortment of things that I have to buy:
Pots (lots and lots)
Raspberries
Strawberries
Small paintbrushes
Paper
Acrylic spray
Puffy paint
Polyester dye
Cotton dye
Ammonia
Red food coloring
Carnations (both white and pink)
Pink flowers (assorted)
Floral spray
Paint
Vinegar
**things may still be added to this list**

Adam, on Saturday, said that his younger brother (who apparently is very into flowers) thinks that altering the pH of the soil isn't going to do anything. I, frankly, agree... but I figure that anything at this point is worth a shot.

I believe that I would rank today as a success.

I woke up early this morning to go pick dandelions. I always find that as stressful as the drive is up Broad Street (past both hospitals) but it's always worth it. I get out of my car and can just set my mind to searching for something and I know what it looks like and they're usually easy to spot. This morning was a nice morning and I found a lot quickly, which made me smile.

My parents have a way of always showing up early for any event. I should start telling them that things start a half an hour later than they do so that they show up fifteen minutes late... and then we'd be running on the same schedule. Mr. and Mrs. Clarke helped me with a lot of the preliminary planning and it was nice that they were able to come and finally see everything together and in the space. And it was really nice that friends were able to stop by and everyone could talk about the project together.

Tomorrow will be a planning day. I will be making a list of materials and supplies, tying up loose ends in my research so that Monday I can get down to business and really turn this studio into a makeshift laboratory/ workshop.

Studio Notes

Moving forward...

Yesterday I drove to Elkins Park looking for dandelions. I had a nice walk through the park looking for flowers... and, unfortunetly, there weren't too many in bloom. However, there were more than enough in bloom so that, today, I was able to make candied dandelions and dandelion cookies for tomorrow. I was also able to make some iced tea... and that should be delicious as well (actually, though, I know that it is because I tasted it). So for tomorrow (again it's from one to three), please bring ideas and an appetite! You will also have the pleasure of meeting my parents who will be driving down from New Jersey.





I have two recipes for dandelion cookies, one that Mrs. Clarke found for me and one that I found online. I suggest adding more flour to the one that Mrs. Clarke gave me (which is the first recipe) and the 1 3/4 cup of flour to the second recipe.

DANDELION FLOWER COOKIES

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup unbleached flour

1 cup dry oatmeal

1/2 cup dandelion flowers

Blend the oil and honey and beat in the 2 eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, oatmeal. Gently add the dandelion flowers. Using a teaspoon, drop the batter onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet.* Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

Yield: 2 dozen

From Pat Clarke via Press-Enterprise Newspaper

DANDELION COOKIES

INGREDIENTS
1/2 CUP shortening
1/4 CUP + 2 TBSP white sugar
1/4 CUP + 2 TBSP brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 TSP vanilla
1/2 TSP soda
1/4 TSP salt
1/4 CUP yellow dandelion petals (more or less to taste) - washed and patted dry
1 1/4 to 1 3/4 CUPS all purpose flour (less for drop cookies, more for shaped cookies)

DIRECTIONS
Cream together the shortening and sugars.

When light and fluffy, add the vanilla and egg. Beat well.

Mix in all the dry ingredients, including the dandelion petals.

Drop by spoonfuls or roll into balls about 1/2 inch round, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees F for about 7 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown.

From http://www.fairygardens.com/colorbook/cookiesdandilion.html

Mrs. Clarke also told me how to make these and it was pretty simple... brush on egg whites and sprinkle on superfine sugar. She showed me violets that she had candied and they were a lot neater than these guys that I did today. I'm a little clumsier than she is I guess, but I resorted to dunking the egg white covered dandelion flowers in the sugar. They are strangely delicious. I always thought that sour and sweet went well together... these are more like bitter and sweet, but it's a very interesting taste combination.

Update!

The other day when I was picking dandelion flowers I found these guys lingering around... they fooled me for about a half a second when I was a couple of yards away. They aren't dandelions, however their flowers look very similar.