Yes, corn flour and corn starch are the same. I remember trying to figure that out when we lived in Africa. LOL

Have you tried the spray paints that look like granite or stone?

Oh MsPuppet, you were in Africa? Wow(what part?). No I have not tried granite or stone sprays. Do tell more.

We were on a short term missions assignment in Nairobi, Kenya.  Loved it!  Beautiful people, beautiful place.  The altitude is high (400+ feet higher than Denver).  I had to adapt all my recipes. 

We lived just a few miles from the Nairobi Game Park. We had a pass, often would drive to the park just before the animals started moving in the evening. Unbelievable to see so many animals so near the city. We did some travel to other parts of Kenya including one of the large game parks.  Did a lot of fishing (large mouth bass).

The climate is wonderful. We have a picture of us standing on the equator, wearing sweaters! LOL. We always thought we would go back for a longer term, but it never worked out.
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Here's a link for the stone spray. 

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=79

They have all different ones. We've used them for some stuff in Sunday school and have been pleased with the results.

Sorry to hear that, Africa sounds so great!

Yes, it is a kind of lichen. Ours does not grow as big- may be we have the wrong kind or we have too much industry over here...

Rika , I think it depends largely on climate, as to how well lichen grows.
yes Africa  sounds  interesting. We are only 10 degrees  north of the equator here, but  it  is  like  continual spring.. t-shirt weather, and  alight sweater on a cool day

Great vids...you are the man for all the detail work...keep them coming...I love learning from them.

StiqPuppets

HI Guys, another rock version... Remember those Russian dolls that stack one inside the other? Well these rocks are similar, so you can store a whole bunch of them in a small space in your attic or studio storage area. Good for impromtude video recordings with your puppets. Throw some vegetatin between them too...

http://youtu.be/rfb5xYm2Ucc

(Don't worry Shawn, I didn't pop my stitches.. the plastic surgeon says they are coming on fine!)

Wow Rock and Roll!    Really clever idea.  One quick question... why does the 50 - 50 pva glue to water not soak through your paper and end up gluing the different rocks together? Is it a matter of how much used or the paper you are using?

P.S. Glad you did not overdue it.

I think it is quantity. You don't need much,and it dries fairly quickly, and the first layer, you are trying not to let it stick to the one below. Then from there a piece of cake. If it does stick for you, you can get a plastic shopping bag, open it up and then cover the rock below that you are moulding onto. You definitely have to do that if you use the cornstarch paste and newspaper, and it is slower, as you have to wait for the newspaper to dry overnight for each rock, so a good stack of them in  newspaper takes a while to achieve.

I am impressed with your organization and fore thought to make your video concise while covering a lot of variations. I always learn something new, even if I don't make more rocks there are ideas there that I can take away and use to be more efficient in other projects. Bravo again.

You definitely Rock!!! Awesome tutorials, impressive paintings and beautiful puppets! 

Hi  everyone. One difficulty with paper Mache rocks is installing them in your set. You can make frames and  staple them, or tie them, but I have come up with a little clamp system that is even quicker and works in a number of situations by  clamping and  tying with  string. skip to half way through the vid to see how you can make them for almost free.

http://youtu.be/9VRKa_jQflI

Yet another brilliant cost saving DYI for tools!

Love the tension thingys and the wooden screw head so you don't have to use a screwdriver. It is so much fun watching your work. Thanks again.

A quick update on clamping your rocks together, even quicker than the previous wooden clamps, and are cheap and simple to make.

http://youtu.be/wSJUYvgPH4g