A new style of stencil

Hello

This week I was delighted to  receive my parcel from GiogioCraft in Sardinia in a record time of four days. Her packaging is always beautiful with handmade tags and wrappings.

I was even more delighted to have been sent a sample of one of her new stencils. Unlike usual stencils there is fine detail etched into the Mylar which is fantastic for gel printing. I haven't seen this before and would be interested if you have seen anything similar.

I tried with ink but found I had most success with acrylic paint. I like Golden Open paints for gel printing. They are expensive but a little goes a long way and I find I get fewer mishaps. There's nothing worse than doing several layers of printing to spoil it all with the last layer. 

I started fairly simply using just the mask.

 

I tend to use three or four colours, working from light to dark, and I love using Payne's grey for the final layer. I also just like using the ghost prints.

 

Then I added in a little background texture using a Stamperia mould as a texture plate.

 

I think this one is my favourite.

The stencil was comparable to using a real leaf with the advantage of being able to use it several times and rigid enough to line it up for over layering.

I'm looking forward to seeing developments with etched stencils. Do let me know if you have come across stencils like these before. I am already imagining the possibilities.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

A case in question

Hello

I'm sharing something a bit different today and done just for fun and a little experimentation. In the summer my mother-in-law and I visited The Craft House, home of DaliART, and had a lovely time being looked after by Dali and Paul while we browsed the shelves. We were treated to a preview of the amazing journals which aired on Create and Craft this week.

Dali recommended some Stamperia moulds and Pentart light modelling paste and I'm always up for something I haven't tried before. The big selling point for the paste is how light and flexible it is when it dries so I wanted to test it out.

It's important to make sure that the paste is pressed right down into the mould and that there is a thick layer over the back. As it dries it gets thinner and the sections will break apart if it's not thick enough. I left mine for two days to really make sure it was dry before peeling it away. The detail achieved is very impressive.

To test its strength and flexibility I decided to revamp an old phone case. I gessoed it first before gluing the moulded pieces on and then gessoed over them again. It was easy to cut holes with a sharp craft knife.

I painted it with Viva Decor Maya Gold paint in lilac and magenta, which is flexible and quite plasticky when it dries. The depth of relief and detail in the moulds meant that it didn't really need much more embellishment other than a little highlighting with gilding wax.

 

One pot of modelling paste is enough for about four sheets so I still have some left to play with. The result is strong and flexible and I'm unlikely to lose it in my handbag! 

 

Thank you for stopping by. Have a lovely day xx

Butterfly

Hello

I'm sharing a quick make today and one that is great for using up those patterned papers from magazines which seem to multiply behind your back.

The inspiration, stamps and die are from Indigoblu's Mixed Media Magazine Box Kit 3. I'm afraid I can't remember where the papers came from.

I covered the front and inside of the card blank first, before die cutting a circular aperture and scoring the front and back down the centre. I inked the edges to help it blend together. The leaves were also stamped and die cut from patterned paper.

Always good to have a quick make up your sleeve.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a lovely week xx

Whiter than white

Hello

Something a little bit different today for this mid week post. I am always on the lookout for a good white pen. I tend to find the ones that flow freely are not very opaque and the ones that are really white clog up quickly.

In the summer I found myself in the marvellous Jarrold's art shop in Norwich, where a casual enquiry about white pens, coupled with a very helpful assistant resulted in this...

Well they were crying out for a side by side test. I also added in my trusty Posca.

Faber-Castell Pitt Artist £2.95 (water-based India ink)

Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip 8mm £2.40 (pigment gel)

Pilot G2 Gel Retractable Rollerball £2.98 (pigment gel)

Pentel Paint Marker Super Fine £3.50 (paint)

Pebeo 4Artist Oil Marker £3.35 (oil-based paint)

Uni Posca PC-1M £2.60 (water-based pigment)

Chinagraph £1.60 (pigment and wax)

1. glossy card

2. matt black card

3. alcohol ink on yupo

4. Cosmic Shimmer pixie powder on matt white card

5. acrylic paint on white card

6. Ranger Distress Oxide ink on matt white card

Faber-Castell Pitt Artist (water-based India ink) performed well on the black matt card and the acrylic paint, only semi-opaque, quite thick nib, wrote smoothly.

Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip 8mm (pigment gel) performed well on all substrates, took longer to try on non-porous surfaces with the risk of smudging, fine nib and flowed very smoothly.

Pilot G2 Gel Retractable Rollerball (pigment gel) not very opaque on any of the substrates and virtually disappeared into the alcohol ink, fine nib, wrote smoothly.

Pentel Paint Marker Super Fine (paint) performed best on non-porous substrate and virtually disappeared on the distress ink and pixie powder, thick nib, too thick for small writing, flowed fairly smoothly.

Pebeo 4Artist Oil Marker (oil-based paint) performed best on non-porous substrate and virtually disappeared on the distress ink and pixie powder, thick nib, flowed fairly smoothly.

Uni Posca PC-1M (water-based pigment)performed well on all surfaces except the pixie powder which bled through the paint, the most opaque of all the pens, thick nib even at 7mm but fine for lettering, flowed smoothly.

Chinagraph (pigment and wax) most visible on matt black, did not want to 'grip' on the very smooth surfaces, best used for creating a wax resist where you don't really want it to be visible later.

The real surprise was the Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip 8mm, which I very nearly didn't pick up because it felt light and cheap. For fine detail this has become my preferred pen, although I don't think I will be giving up my trusty Posca paint pens any time soon.

I hope you have found this useful. Of course I'm not giving up the search for the perfect white pen. I'd love to hear your recommendations.

Thank you for stopping by xx

Another fine mess

Hello

Holidays over and back to some kind of routine this week. I'm sharing a quick one today using the Aall and Create Stan and Ollie stamp set, with Giogiocraft stencils and some Kaisercraft borders. The background was done with masking so that it is actually flat, but the sentiment and Stan and Ollie are decoupaged.

Laurel and Hardy were real favourites as children. We had a film projector and the only film we had for it was Two Tars from 1928. Happy days sat in the dark watching it over and over. I've no idea what happened to it.

Hope you have a lovely day with plenty of smiles xxx

Fun with fusing

Hello again

Back today to share a little more of what I have been up to over the summer. There has been a strong glass theme running over the last few weeks.

For my birthday I was given vouchers for a glass fusing workshop at Fired Works in Chalfont St Peter. I went with my sister at the end of July for an evening workshop. Marie Cavanagh is the owner and artist and some of her works are in the shop for sale. On the introductory workshop you get to make a couple of small sun catchers (I swapped mine for an additional coaster) and four coasters. Some people paid a little extra to make panels for a lantern. We used frit or glass granules to form the designs. I used stencils to draw my shapes on paper and then put the paper under the glass so I could sprinkle the frit on top. It takes a few days for the pieces to be fired before you can collect them.

I got a little muddled with some of my whites on the polar bears and some of them seemed to react together.

My sister went for the lantern option (I only have a little snap).

It was a lovely evening, so much so that when my mother-in-law expressed an interest in going for her birthday present I was all too happy to have another go. Marie was absolutely fantastic and accommodated us at short notice in a workshop on our own and she also fired the glass really quickly so that it was ready for pick up before my mother-in-law had to go home. We both opted for lanterns this time...

...my handiwork, inspired by the northern lights and summer sunsets...

...and my mother-in-law's...inspired by the seasons.

 

Coincidentally a friend (friend's husband) has got into fused glass and now has his own kiln. Being a bit cheeky I asked if he'd think about letting my sister and I have a go at his home. He was so generous with his time and taught me how to cut glass. His style is more geometric and so I wanted to try something a bit different.

We made a couple of cocktail sticks each.

 I took inspiration from a recent trip to Southend, with a little poetic licence!

 

I did a rough sketch on paper which I used as a template to cut the pieces.

 

We made an arch which is formed by first fusing the glass on a flat piece of clear glass and then firing it a second time over a form. As the glass melts it slumps over the form to take the shape. And the finished result is one of the best things I think I have ever made. Love it!

My sister went with an Icelandic theme.

I'm hugely grateful to my friend and her husband for being such generous, wonderful hosts. This summer may not have been the travelling adventures we would have liked but the creative adventures have more than made up for it.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by xxx

Bowled Over

Hello

I can't believe August is all but over. It's been a very busy month with family birthdays, trips away and visitors. There hasn't been much time for the usual mixed media and papercrafting but I have had a very creative time.

First I'm sharing some bowls made with air dry clay following a tutorial by Giovanna Zara. You can follow the link on her blog Giogiocraft.

My mother-in-law was staying for a while and we had fun having a go at this technique. The clay was easy to roll out like pastry. Unlike pastry, we found when we combined the left over edges it didn't join up again smoothly, but had air bubbles in it. We still managed 5 pieces from one packet. We used Giogiocraft stencils.

Once dry we sanded off the edges for a smoother finish. Here are mine painted...

Then gilded and varnished...

We chose to use a gloss varnish on the top and a matt varnish on the bottom. 

Here are my mother-in-law's...

...the yellow bowl came out especially well.

If you give it a try, do leave enough time for the clay to dry completely before painting, and again enough time for the paint to dry before glazing.

I visited the Museum of Royal Worcester in August and was completely blown away by this piece by George Owen in the collection. The photograph is taken from the website. Having spent a week on and off making our crude, wobbly air dry clay bowls I am in awe of the craftsmanship involved. I would highly recommend the museum if you're in the area.

Thank you for stopping by xxx