CAKE LACE MOULDS comparing Stamperia and Viva art mediums

I've been fascinated with the various YouTube videos on how to make lace using caulk and silicon molds - and wondered if this could be done using art mediums. Yes it can! Below, I've listed the four products I'm trying.

Here's the results of my experiments - I used 4 products, of which two were wildly successful, and two a complete failure. So 50% success rate ain't bad...

Prepping

You do need to prep the moulds so they will release easily. I used cornflour (US: cornstarch). Baby powder would also work. Apply with a fluffy brush and dust on a fine layer, especially in any detailed bits, and brush away the excess (or turn the mold upside down and tap on the back). As you can see in the pic - very little powder residue.

The good

Use a palette knife to spread a thin layer, like buttering bread. The Stamperia Cream Paste has a texture like single cream, spreads nicely.

The Viva Modellier Paste was a lot thicker, more like a thick double cream. Again, very easy to apply smoothly.

Results

 This piece was very easy to remove from the mould.

I did two pieces with the Modellier Paste - a thicker coat, and a really fine one. Both peeled straight off the mould with no trouble at all.

The bad

Applied in the same way, and on first glance they looked fine. Re consistency of application, everything felt very similar.

But once the Relief Paper Paste started to dry, it had sunk right into the mould and was showing signs of crumbling.

I added a second layer (right hand side) to see if this would make any difference.  

The ugly

 

Close-ups...

Both products left messy residue in the mould - the Kreativ Creme was the worst.

 

I did the only sensible thing re the cleanup of all this nasty bits stuck in the mould - I applied another coat of medium. I used the Stamperia Cream Paste as this has the thinnest consistency and I didn't want too heavy a layer. I am very happy to report it lifted cleanly out the mould and also removed the nasties left behind from the failures.

Conclusion

Stamperia Cream Paste and Viva Modellier Paste:

As you can see, these lifted easily and cleanly out of the moulds, with no trouble at all. No tearing, no nasty crumbly residue. The Stamperia Cream Paste is thinner and feels more delicate.

I did two samples with the Viva Modellier Paste - the first was a fairly thick coat (thin enough to still see the detail of the mould through the product) and the one on the right was a much thinner coating, scraped back to the surface of the mold in places, to see if the product would hold together.

The Modellier Paste is a little heavier in consistency than the Stamperia product, and feels a lot more robust.

The Stamperia Cream Paste is the lightest weight, the most pliable and flexible, but felt a little more fragile, although it will be as strong as anything once glued down and gesso-ed or painted over.

The heavier application of Modellier Paste - flexible and also feels pretty robust.

The thinnest layer, again with Modellier Paste. Very light, very flexible, and you can see where I scraped the paste right down to the surface of the mould. The lace is completely transparent in sections, yet still holds together nicely. I was really pleased with this one!

Cleanup

Warm water, a little washing up liquid and a nailbrush finished the cleanup, then a rinse in clean water, patting dry with a cloth, and the moulds were good as new.

Suppliers (no affil. etc)
You can buy these cake lace moulds from any cake decorating specialist.
Viva products from Anna Marie Designs (in the UK)
Stamperia procuts from Dali Art (in the UK)

The main difference I found was that the Viva pot was less expensive, and a larger quantity, than the Stamperia. Other than that, I was extremely happy with both. The two 'failures' I'll keep for stencilling - nothing's ever wasted!

In the next post - Imagination Crafts Structure Paste