Greetings! I've been browsing the net for tips on just this subject and your thread has answered a lot of questions - thank you! I just have one more inquiry - do you know of a way to make the end product of one-part self curing silicones (after curing) softer and stretchier (lets say more like human skin, goal hardness is 10-30 shore A)? The reason I'm asking: I am a resident in heart surgery and I'm trying to make practice models of parts of the human heart and tissue to use for training outside the operating room. As you said the platinum cure silicones are used for this purpose but the price difference is tenfold and they're a bit too expensive for us.

It's often the fragrance added to soap that is the problem, as well as synthetic detergents. Formulas for "soap" get changed all the time. DOVE sensitive skin, unscented, hypo-allergenic, and fragrance free - list of ingredients: sodium lauroyl isethionate, stearic acid, sodium tallowate or sodium palmitate, lauric acid, sodium isethionate, water, sodium stearate, cocamindo-propyl betaine or sodium C14-C16 olefin sulfonate, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, sodium chloride, tetrasodium EDTA, tetrasodium etidronate, maltol, titanium dioxide Compare that to a bar of Kirk's Castile Soap: Coconut Soap, Water, Vegetable Glycerin, Coconut Oil, Natural Fragrance - which is also hypoallergenic, all natural with no animal by-products or synthetic detergents. [Unfortunately, I can only use it in the shower, not the tub, with our hard water.] I make foaming soap for the hand dispensers by mixing 3 tablespoons Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap or Kirk's Castile Liquid (or other liquid soap) with 1 c. water. If you want to make it disinfecting hand soap, add 8 drops of Thieves Oil - especially during cold and flu season. Thieves oil is a natural disinfectant with an interesting story, but the oils are clove bud, lemon, cinnamon bark, eucalyptus and rosemary. You can make it with the individual oils (there are recipes available on-line), or purchase them already mixed - 5 Thieves Oil, 4 Thieves Oil (check Amazon.com). I just recently purchased a bottle of Mirai body cleanser. This liquid soap was designed for "older" people. I read recently "beginning around age 40, a personâÂÂs body odor contains a higher concentration of 2-Nonenal, a compound that has an unpleasant, greasy, grassy odor that we affectionately call âÂÂold-people smell.â So for every problem look for a solution, and for this condition it is persimmon extract, which lead me to information about Mirai. It really does make your skin feel great. I'm still in the testing stage. -Grainlady

Well, you cannot imagine how wonderful it was to read all your postings and with such good ideas......getting a "craft" book at Michaels is a wonderful idea, in that like you said, all the materials will be there, and will help in zone in on something or things I really would like to do. You girls are the greatest. AND I mean that so much. AND Oddie, again thank you for such a wise decision.....post it. And then reading how you got so many good things, cheaply, like a sewing machine for minimal needs, a toaster oven for crafting and such. I have two appointments at the hospital tomorrow.....that's what it is when you are a cancer survivor, and then off to the craft store.....so exciting...I can't wait. THEN, the next thing is to get my courage up and post. I owe it to you guys to at least let you see what I make. Special girls...that's what you are! *** Maddya

Taunia Please thank Barbieboop and thank you for posting it.Ithink you can save it to your files and then add a column. This is sure going to help me in my craft room The only thing I added was the freezer paper. There are a couple of things I'm not familiar with but will ask about them later on. ABCs and rubber stampingon Sat, Jan 18, 03 at 23:46 I thought this was cute; the list was made by barbieboop: (edited by Minnie-Tx) ABCs & rubber stamping Lets have some fun! ABC's and rubberstamping: how many stamping products are there? can we make a list of them from a-z? A adhesive, adventerous (I mean you've got to try some new things!), acetate, artistic wire, aluminum foil, amazing glaze, appliques, art markers, acrylic blocks, Anti-Static bag, Angel Dust- a stamping powder, B brayer, buying, blending, blender, book making, books, beedz, beads, baby wipes bleach, buttons background papers bone folder boxes C chalk collozzle creating crafting cutting circle cutters crystal laquer chocolate charms corrugator compressed sponges cardstock color wheel confetti cold laminate collage cutting board Carving tools and erasers COOL FINGERS Corner Pro Corner rounder Corner punches D die cuts dream weaver stencils dry embossing/de bossing diamond glaze, Dr. Martin's of course dried flowers in paper double-sided adhesive tape Duplo CS daubers (finger and mini) decorator papers decorative scisors dimension deckle scissors DOTS--the stamps and the POP kind E embossing powders embossing pens Envelopes, EVOS templates exacto knife erasers, F fun foam fairy dust fabric ink FINGERS french fry box (makes a wonderful pattern) fibers foam board Fit-It Custom Template Printing cd-rom foils flock fabric Faerie Dust Faerie Myst Paints Faerie Glass Fiskars paper edgers freeform emboss Freezer Paper Flesh color pencils by Lyra Fuschia ink & pads funtustic??? funky film??? G glue glitter glitter glue gel pens gold leaf glossy paper glue stick garanimals tags( makes a neat image on a card) gem stones glimmer glow spray glycerin, H heat gun hand made paper HALOS hole punches heart templates, I ink ink pads interference IRON, J juicy ink pads and pens junk- for embellishing jewelry (good for collage) jump rings jelly rollers (pens) Jute Joss Paper (you can find it at oriental markets) Judikins K kat trax tool-(A kat trax tool is something the radiant pearls people put out to stipple the radiant pearls with. Kind of like a wiry brush- holly.) Knives KAI's scissors kid fingers kaleidacolors Kreate a lopes, L liquid Applique loop lace liquid crystal light box, M marvey markers metallic rub ons metallic markers Memories ink pads mulberry paper Mica milwaukee heat gun marbled stone marbles mulberry paper MaGill Punches magic Melt Embossable Pearls N new techniques new stamps nail polish (for background tech.) needlenoise nylon ribbon Nesting Templates Neopaque paints??? O oval templates oval cutters orginal works of art organizers O- rings for dangly things ORGANZA RIBBON Orgami papers Oil pastels! P puff paint pearl ex pigment ink perm. Ink powdered pearls pens pencils paint brushes paper paint(tulip paint for fabric, embellishments) PolyShrink Positioner paper punches PATTERNS-COOL SHAPPED CARD postage stamps cancelled paper towels polymer clay PAPERMAKING KITS PAPERCASTING KITS PAPERPUNCHES FOR PUNCH ART penscore paper clay Q q tips for blending and chalks QUOTES FOR INSPIRATION Quick drying glue Quilt cards Quilling toolsuestions R rubber stamps rubber radiant pearls ranger ink pads rice in a balloon for a background stamp ruler rubber bands ribbon raffi re-inkers Rollagraphs, S stenciling stippling sponges sayings stamps salad spinner shelf liner sticker paper Stickles- (acid-free glitter glue by Ranger) scoring tools scissors salt!-(for watercolor resist technique) spackle Scotch tape shrink art SWAPS scraps STAPLES shaker cards and supplies scrubber-used to scrub the ink off your stamps stylus seed beeds and sugar beeds String self healing mat T tidy tray tea bag folding tranparancybeing toilet paper- (faux paper casting with tp, starch, water and bold stamps) tria tags Tape templates TOMBOW markers tack it over and over U UTEE umounteds Ultimate Embossing Powder unry paper(like mulberry) UHU glue sticks, V vivid ink pads velvet paper vellum paper velvet to stamp on Velcro vacuum (from the mess of the embossing powder) Versa Mark vinyl- for attaching ums to acrylic blocks VIDEOS FOR TEACHING, W wax seals water colors (crayons, paint, or pencils) wire water wonder under wonder tape weaving wire cutters Window card washi paper X xyron machine Xtreme Gel Pens (The BEST gel pens! They color beautifully on laminate! X-acto Knife xerox paper Xray film for templates, Y YES glue yarn yards of ribbon yard stick Y&G gel pens Z zebra pens Zenas stamps Zip lock baggies... Can YOU add to the list?