Crystals, geodes and the geometric shapes they form are fascinating. For resin crafters and jewellery makers with an interest in these shapes, there's a great selection of silicone moulds now available to create your own resin crystals in whatever colour you desire. Those pretty geometric wand-shaped healing crystals are no longer the domain of those who embrace the healing powers of crystals; they have become a mainstream staple in both jewellery and home decor. It's a natural progression from the druzy stones that have been all the rage in recent times. There is a selection of slender  hexagonal, square and round cylinder moulds available to make your own crystals now. Their long, slender shapes making them very appealing as pendants, particularly with whispy colour or delicate florals suspended in them. But this elegant, column shape presents a problem. It is extremely difficult to get the casting out of the mould once it's cured. So what do you do when the resin is stu......

When the resin bug strikes, you just want to get right into the casting. But if your moulds are grubby, you'll have to clean them first. So here's a really smart tip for keeping your silicone moulds in tip-top shape and always ready to go. When you're working with resin, it's important that all your equipment is clean so that you don't risk ruining your casts with contaminants. Clean cups, clean stir sticks and a clean workspace are all important. But what about your moulds? How do you clean glitter, mica powders and general specks of fluff and dust from silicone? Resin is like glue and anything that is in the mould when you pour the resin in will become part of the resin when you demould it. But cleaning moulds is EASY when you know this trick, even if your moulds looks as dirty as this! The front of this mould is just as bad. Just take a piece of sticky tape and place it on the surface. Rub your finger across the tape..... And then remove it. And voilà! All the sp......

Putting your craft skills to work is a great way to add one-of-a-kind personal touches to any special occasion. In our household, we're busy preparing for a wedding and being a crafty pair, my daughter and I decided to incorporate some handmade details to add that extra pizazz to her special day. One of the projects we're tackling is the bonbonnieres. Hers will feature a handmade polymer clay tag with a sentiment on it. It's a big undertaking to make 100 so to speed things up, we made a mould from silicone rubber. But before we get into making the mould, we created a master tag by following Marie Segal's tutorial from Art from my Heart. Marie suggests looking in the Mexican aisle for the alphabet noodles she uses to create her sentiments. In Australia, I found them in the Italian aisle. But no matter where you are in the world, look for something like San Remo's Soup Pasta . Begin by conditioning the clay and then place it between the wooden stir sticks and roll......

My son has put in a special order for some personalised gifts to give to his friends for Christmas. They are all in their early 20s and enjoy having a quiet drink together so we decided that resin drink coasters would make a great gift. No problems, I thought. But before that can happen, I need a mould so today I finally had reason to do something I've wanted to do for a long time: create a silicone coaster mould.   To make the mould making process easier, I invested in a mould box and I've got to say that this is simply the best investment I've made in quite a while. All you have to do is clamp the four walls together, putty the gaps so the silicone can't leak out and your mould box is ready to use. After securing my master to the bottom of the mould, I mixed and poured the silicone around it and then waited for it to cure..... too easy! The plan is to make several of these moulds so that I can cast a whole set of coasters at a time but unfortunately, to get the mo......