Waiting...

Although I have been caught up in the busy Christmas season, I haven't forgotten little Imp. I am anxiously awaiting the delivery - hopefully any day now - of a fresh batch of rubber. I know the UPS man is ready to stop seeing my hopeful face peek out the door each time he has to make a delivery on our road, but maybe that's because I'm always holding on to my psycho, brown-truck-hating dog when I do it!

I am reminding myself to be patient. Even if it arrived today it would still need to sit for a day or two. The components have to be at room temperature, or they don't cure properly. I found that out the hard way last year! Uncurable rubber never really comes off, either, so it's a good way to lose whatever it was poured over.


This mold has already lost one dried-out red band and is about to lose the other.

I am also waiting for a shipment of more mold bands. Some moldmakers use mold straps, but since most of my molds are quite small I use the rubber bands. They have the advantage of being cheap to buy in quantity and they are quick to take on and off. The downside is that the environment in the studio eventually dries them out. (The air in the studio dries everything out. After ten years I am now a connoisseur of hand lotions.) Usually they all give out around the same time, so one day I open the cabinet and find them all curled up around the molds.

That's usually when I got hunting in my son's things, because there are always a few up there. Long, fat rubber bands are really tempting to small boys. And it is only fair; I do filch his Legos. I didn't find enough, though, so that's one more shipment I'm hoping will arrive.

To bad Emma isn't more welcoming of the delivery guy, so that he actually wants to bring the boxes here!