Hand Painted Cup with Gnomes and Mushrooms

Yesterday I finally got around to painting a coffee cup with gnomes, mushrooms and flowers. I had been thinking about doing this for quite a while, but have never sat down and actually done it. So here it is. I am planning on selling it as part of a shaving kit, along with my cold process shaving soap and a red shaving brush, which might have white polka dots. I still have to test the cup, respectively the durability of the paint before I list it in my etsy store, because I do not want to sell any inferior products. The paint I purchased said that once cured, it would be dishwasher safe, but I find that hard to believe. I think the best way to handle the cup is to handwash it.
I am currently obsessed with gnomes, so if this paint meets my expectations, there will be many more cups featuring gnomes and other fairy folk.

New Thrifting Find, A beautiful Noritake Tea Set

I am quite excited to have found this beautiful Noritake tea set. It was made in Japan and the pattern is just called #5455. This pattern was discontinued in 1955 and seems to be hard to find. I was almost tempted to keep it for myself, but the box in which I store the items I want to keep is getting quite full and I have made the resolution that once it is full and I want to keep something else, an item from the box has to go to make space for a new one. (I think I have been watching too many episodes of "Hoarders" and it has scared me. Plus I am really more of a coffee person anyway.
So if you are interested in the set, it is for sale in my Etsy store

Resin Shaving Brush Handles Part Two

I did another casting of the shaving brush handle and it did not turn out either. This time I added more catalyst. The casting turned out hard, but very bumpy and unveven. It could be the mold release I put on the mold. So now on to part III of adventures in resin casting. Maybe three really is a charm?!
It better, because I am getting quite frustrated and the entire house reeks from the resin.

Resin Shaving Brush Handles

After a few failures, I finally succeeded in making a flexible mold for my shaving brush handles. The mold turned out nicely, showing all the fine details. So yesterday, I went and purchased casting resin, and cast my very first shaving brush handle. I followed the instructions closely, making sure that I used the recommended ratio of resin and catalyst. unfortunately, when I unmolded it this morning, after 18 hours of curing, the surface of the cast was so sticky, that it pulled resin strings. I don't understand what happened, and I am quite discouraged by the results and not just a little disappointed, especially since I can see the details cast very nicely. I guess I could try and clean out the now sticky, coated with uncured resin, mold and cast another piece, this time with more than the recommended amount of catalyst. It would have been such a nice piece! On the more positive side, I tried to achieve the look of ivory and succeeded and all the details are beautiful, so all I need to figure out is how to cast it without it being sticky.
In the photo you can see how sticky it is. With a little imagination, one can see the similarity to ivory. I had planned on applying a patina with a dark brown glaze to highlight the flowers and give it a more authentic ivory look. Well, hopefully the second time around will work.