Casting Blunder...er BLUNDERS!?!

My mini casting project is progressing albeit minor set-backs. It all started out OK or so I thought (false hope!).

Here's the next 3 small 2"x2" clay positives that I molded out of porcelain clay. I put them all together in one container to a make a larger casting mold...I'm feeling good about this!

Here's the casting mold after it hardened to a "leather hard" firmness. This is the drying state where you still have time to clean-up the edges & image before pre-firing the mold.

Still looking good with less undercuts from last time but a few more bubbles in the mix ~ which results in holes in the mold. I mixed the Master Mold a bit thicker after researching on line that it should be like "thick pudding." Now in hindsight, this was a mistake because I had a hard time removing the bubbles.

OK ~ so I cleaned up the mold, fired it, & then started to pack it with glass. This time I thought I'd try more of the powdered frit instead of the more coarser grind. Stacked it high....hmmm...thinking I'd get thinner discs that would flow into the 2"x2" square. Wishful thinking!

Post-firing. Little, beady, eyes!! Yep, the powdered frit shrunk into small cubes. The mold cracked right down the center, however, everything popped out pretty well so I think I can cast two more eyes.

Here's the four castings so far ~ I think I had beginners luck on the first eye. The other three need coldwork clean-up but they'll look cool incorporated into another larger glass piece.