California based Alexa of LullaBellecreation has a Youtube channel where she shows off her resin crafting.  She has a great tutorial on how to make your own silicone mold for resin casting

I've seen people use household silicone caulking to make molds.  Just be careful with that material as many give off fumes.  I think it's best to use silicone mold material.  These come in a variety of colors including "clear" as shown in her first tutorial here.

Alexa used laser cut acrylic pieces which she wanted to make molds from.  One of the best alternatives and easiest is to sculpt polymer clay into the shapes you want.  A harder route is to use a 3D printer which will require working with 3D software. 

I really like the use of a large metal or plastic cookie cutter (like this one) as the mold container. But as Alexa says, you can also use an open plastic container. Some people just cut a wide strip of plastic and tape it into a circle as the mold enclosure.

Just like open bezel resin casting, you do have to have a sticky back.  She uses a very wide piece of tape. I've previously used sticky shelf liners but these do result in a frosted look. I'm going to try waxed paper instead with a bit of tacky glue sprayed on. 

One of her best bubble removing tip is to put the completed mold in the fridge for 2 hours. The colder temperature slows down the curing time. Bubbles will have time to come to the surface and pop. A vacuum chamber and pump could also be used to clear bubbles from the silicone mold mix before pouring over the pieces in the container. However, that is a very expensive option and only for those who are committed to making a lot of silicone molds!

Alexa lists different brands of mold silicone in the description of both her videos.  The one I am thinking about is Mold Star 30 which is easy to use and creates flexible molds.  It has a low viscosity for liquid pouring and vacuum degassing is not required for most applications. It has a working time of 30 min with a cure time of 6 hours.    



In this charm mold demo, the instructor used a colored silicone mold material. 



You can try using Easy Mold for small projects. Mix the two parts together until the colors are blended.  I have tried it but as you can see with this attempt at making a mold from one of my acrylic laser cuts, bubbles can be an issue. It's also not cost effective if you want to make a number of molds.



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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM