As a newbie to this, I thought I would share my experiences so that maybe they will help the next newbie.

1. If making a large itemÂ..USE reinforcements. Large items will not hold together without it.

2. If you have a basement that stays damp, it is a good place to cure your piece. Just enough moisture in the air to make it dry slow, yet it will dry.

3. If carvingÂ.donÂt try to remove big pieces. Remove small amounts until you reach the point you want. If you try to remove large amounts all at once, it will crumble.

4. Learn to be patient. Ohhhhhh this is a hard one for me! I want to see the finished product as soon as possible. I have found that if I make one thing per day, then the waiting is not so bad. You are too busy making things to worry about the one that is curing.

5. Colored sand is cool. I did figure out that you can make your item and while still wet, drop little pinches of colored sand on the surface and then dip your finger in water and then swirl the small clumps of sand to create a marble effect. The darker the sand, the more you see the color. I used purple and it turned a violet color.

6. Color your piece. We had used an acid stain on our patio a couple of years ago and had some left over. Can stain your piece to match!

More to add as I go! Hope this helps some!