I think #1 would work if you don't mind dumping 5 or 6 inches of damp sand over the whole thing after you put the precast leaf into the wet concrete. This would give a sandy finish to the top of your stepping stone that surrounds the leaf so you might not want to do it; however, the weight of the sand would help keep the cast leaf down in the concrete rather than allowing it to sort of "float" up higher than you wanted it. I have not tried putting precast leaves into stepping stones so I am just guessing here. I have tried filling a form with concrete and laying a fresh leaf on it and using the sand on top to insure my leaf makes a good print... that works well.

# 2 sounds good to me. I think you need to try a couple and see which method you like best. It seems to me it all depends on how much of the natural 3-D quality of the leaf you want emerging from the top of the stepping stone.

I hope you will take photos or let us know what you decide to do - it sounds like a great project.
Laura

I tried method # 2. Although I used non hardening plasticine clay to stop the concrete from going under the leaf. It moved, slightly, from the pressure of the concrete being put on top. I always thought I would do it again and buy some of that caulk they have now for windows and doors that is removable in the spring? Let it set up nice, and then try adding the concrete. Good luck. BB

Here is a link that might be useful:

Hi BB
If the leaf is fully cured why worry if concrete get's on the face. Are they painted?
If not I find a nylon brush and vinegar removes new concrete from old without harming the fully cured stuff at all.
I use the technique for adding colors on top of colors.
Even filling grooves in cured white concrete with dark blue or black doesn't mark the white.
I did a 4 color chess board this way.:)
The new crete is easy to remove leaving the cured stuff unmarked.
Or is the material you are using for leaves too soft fo this to work?

A Dremel with a nylon or even soft brass brush should easily remove free crete from grooves in the leaves.

JMO because I don't cast leaves so I may be missing something. I do cast all sorts of other shapes that I embed in pots and a couple stepping stones.:)

You can use #2 pretty easily by placing your precast leaf into a bed of damp sand, face down so that just the edges of the leaf are touching the bottom of the form. then dampen with water your cast leaf and paint a little bonding agent on the back if it is an older cast leaf and place your new mix over the top to form you stepping stone.
I also have had no trouble forming the stepping stone either in a form or in the ground, waiting several minutes applying a paper towel to (yes) soak up the little bit of excess water press you leaf veiny side down into the mix, come back ten minutes later and spritz with water overall.

These tiles I did by placing the leaf veinyside up on a piece of contact paper with the sticky side up in the bottom of the form. Put in my mix, then turn them out a day later, peeled of the contact paper and the leaf, put a wash of water based acrylic and sealer over all.
There are several ways to do what you are wanting to do.
Happy casting,
Dena

Here is a link that might be useful: raised bed concrete tiles

ButterflyBush--What did you use to get the black color in your trough? Very nice contrast to the white leaf.
Paws

Thanks everyone for offering your pieces of advice--I really appreciate them all. It is also good to hear that Quickcrete is what you use to make up the bulk of the stepping stones, although I think Dena might have used leaf casting material in hers since she was essentially making her leaf castings directly in her stepping stones as opposed to incorporating already cast finished leaves into newly made stones. Hope I got that right Dena.

I have some leaves I have made previously that are already finished--painted and polyurethaned. I made some leaves this fall that have still got to be finished so yes I am using prefinished leaves in my stones so that is why I am concerned about getting the Quickcrete on the surface of the finished leaves. It might be next spring before I actually get around to making the stepping stones--the weather has gone from the 80s to the 50s in the span of one week. Perhaps it is just a temporary temp. change.

Dena, your leaf stepping stones are fantastic looking.

BB, I really like your tufa container also. I too want to know what you used in it to get the coloration in the container.

As I said previously, I have been making cast leaves for quite a while now and have probably made over 40 or so. Most were given as gifts, others were sold, and quite a few are in my yard/garden. I have also made a few tufa containers and bowls and want to try my hand at a few other things like grots when time permits. I have a few pictures of some of the leaves and troughs I have made linked below if you are interested. I am sure there are other pictures of them in my Photobucket account, but if you are interested, you can look through the yard pictures and scan for them. Once again, thanks for the help!

Here is a link that might be useful: Miguel's stuff

Miguel-

I like the color intensity you acheived on your leaves, but my favorite photos are those of the birdbath stand. Did you create that? If so, you could make a killing in the garden art market. Great stuff.

Jo

Miguel, your brug is beautiful. So are your other leaves. I am wondering, are the leaves you want to embed painted on both sides? This may cause a problem with it sticking to the concrete.

Thanks. My pot is 1 grey portland, 1 sand, 2 vermiculite and "charcoal" dry concrete color added. (I used a lot of colorant, don't know exactly how much. I had used less, and it was just grey) The leaf is just 1 white portland, 2 (whitest I could fine) sand.

Dena, hadn't seen your album in a while. I love your leaf tiles. Will have to try that method. Looks good on the raised bed. Also like your frog leaf pot!! (Of course the savoy cabbage....well... it is beyond words) BB

Jo, I can't take credit for the bird birdbath. That was a gift from a friend.

BB, thanks for the kind words. I am assuming you meant the brug leaf casting in my pictures. I painted it the reddish burgundy color and after it was dried used gold paint to coat the entire surface and then wiped off the excess. No, the leaves I want to embed are not painted on the back--just the fronts are painted. Thanks for the information as to your technique for the coloration on your tufa pot. I really like that dark color.

I finally painted my last batch of leaves. I went crazy with metallic finish acrylic paints. Now I just have to coat them with polyurethane.

{{gwi:55849}}

I love your leaves. wonderful colors!
I also love your ability to post a photo right here in your note. Could you direct me to a simple explanation of how to do it?
Laura

ButterflyBush

Love the idea of using the expanding spray foam to reinforce the POP molds. Lovely leaf castings. And I love the frog!!

Laura your leaves are beautiful. I made a few oak tree leaves and painted them red for fall. Made a green one but don't know how to display it.
claire

Hi Laura and all. Thanks for the compliments. Laura, today I begin my 3 twelve hour day shifts so I am not going to have enough time to outline how I direct image link my pictures from my Photobucket album. I used to have directions typed up but they got deleted somehow! However, below is a link to a thread on the Clematis Forum on how to do it using Photobucket. If you have any questions after reading it, let me know and I can clarify anything you don't understand. Once you do it a few times, there is nothing to it. The hardest part is just getting your photos uploaded to Photobucket. After that it is just a question of copying and pasting the URL link from your Photobucket account into your posting. The picture will show up in your posting once you hit the PREVIEW MESSAGE button. Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Posting pictures directly in thread

nckvilledudes, thank you for the great description of direct image linking!
Gracious, three 12 hour day shifts must be a killer.
Laura