Successful attempt!

[savvyliterate]

Cookie anyone?

The books I mentioned in my last post that I bought in addition to the Japanese UK guide was two felt replica craft books. These showcased techniques I've been wanting to learn for the past two years, but never got my hands on the right books. I recognized the titles from Etsy browsing, but I hate buying a book -- especially a craft one -- without flipping through it. So, I was very happy that Kinokuniya had these two volumes that specifically described how to do realistic felt replicas without sewing using felt, glue and molds. See? Not a stitch in this cookie.

This was my third attempt at making a simple cookie. One of the books, the one with the really good instructions on the basics, uses tissue as a backing to make the felt a bit sturdier. I finally got it right after I translated out a good bit of the instructions. The key was to make sure the base was very, very dry. You actually need a hair dryer for this, otherwise you're waiting awhile. I had to go buy one because my old one disappeared somewhere in my double moves last year.

The next thing I'm going to do is use the molds to craft some 3D objects, but I have to wait for an Etsy delivery first. The Japanese have a molding compound called oyumaru that you melt in hot water, then shape it around a clay mold to produce the mold used for the felt. You shape your object from there. Oyumaru is great because it's extremely forgiving, and if you mess up, you can just remelt it.

These are my molds for two cookies for when the oyumaru arrives:



The book suggests you use paper clay to make the molds, but I'm using polymer clay since that's what I have on hand. I'm just using my little clay oven to harden the molds.