Weekend projects outdoors--cement and rock carving

I love to sand cast cement sometimes in the Summer. I use S type Masonry Cement from Lowe's. This is a picture of the cement. It comes in 80 lb. bags, so it is really heavy.  I used my old phone to take pictures,since I get really covered in dust and cement when I am working. 

 I use just Play Sand for the casting. This is a picture of my old wheel barrow 1/3rd full of the sand. I cast forms in the sand.

 `So far I got 3 very large bird bath shaped leaves out of one bag of cement. 

 This is one I just took out of the sand today. It has to cure about a week before I can move it. The stuff all over is the leaf that dried on it it while it is curing. I have some Empress trees that are nuisances but I love it some years when they get giant sized leaves. I make a bowl impression in the sand and lay a leaf in and start mixing and pouring the cement as quickly as possible. I shape the border of the cement to the edges of the leaves with my hands. I try to keep it thick so it won't get thin and break, but not too thick. I like the delicateness of the design. I put an equally large leaf over the top and pat it down to make impressions of the veins in the cement. At the end of the week, I pull it out of the sand and clean the leaves off of it. 

 This is one of my older ones which already has a hole in the middle where it was too thin. I still like to put a plant or seeds on top of it for birds or me. I made the post from concrete. 

 This is a top view of one of my leaves I cast.

 This is a Barbie chair I cast from the packaging. I put wet sand where I don't want cement. There was a little kitty cat in the chair when it was packaged. So I put wet sand in the kitty cat form and filled with cement. I use a Craftsman file and rasp combo to clean up rough edges. Now Barbie can have some patio furniture. I have some pink outdoor paint, but it is giving me a hard time in the humidity. 

 I use an old washing powder bucket and a gardening tool to mix my cement. 

I worked on planning and shaping a doll head for my next alabaster doll carving also.

I realized to string the doll I would have to either drill all the way through the head or make a head cap. 

 I really kept changing where the face would be.

 The head looks too large for the body. But once it is carved to shape, it will be much smaller. I always start out with a piece of rock bigger than what I need.