Four big bins of fabrics became these tidy little bolts.
Monthly Archives: May 2012
Learning to Paint Ceramics
Last week I cashed in on my Christmas gift from Greta and Daniel and joined Greta at “Out of the Box”, where she works. As she taught a group of 8- to 10-year-olds, I sat in the corner and painted my bisqueware teapot. She gave me instructions to paint it in three layers, allowing it to dry between each coat. Then, when her class was over, she helped me dip some lace into a bucket of slip (liquid clay). I wrung it out, and the two of us carefully draped it around the teapot, spacing the points evenly, all the while being careful not to drag the lace across the surface which would mess up the paint job. It was a challenge, but we managed to do it. We pressed the lace into the pot firmly and re-slipped the spots that didn’t stick.
Then I waited patiently for the big reveal after it was fired. The danger was that the lace might slide or come loose during firing. This isn’t a typical process, so no one knew exactly how it would turn out.
Greta and I are both happy to report that it came out very well. Nothing slid or slipped, the color layer is uniform, and the details of the lace even show up.
When it was fired, the lace burned away, leaving only slip. What looks like applied lace is really just clay. Amazing, isn’t it?
Filed under Crafting
Pinterest Craft Day 5
Staining Glass
Today four of us met to do another craft from our joint Pinterest board. This week we tried staining glass with alcohol inks, using several colors of unsweetened Kool-Aid packets:
lemonade (yellow: no)
lemon-lime (green: yes)
mixed berry (blue: yes)
berry blue (blue: yes)
grape (purple: no)
strawberry-kiwi (pink: no)
pink lemonade (pink: no)
cherry (red-pink: no)
black cherry (red: yes)
The yes and no indications were the colors that worked well and not so well for us. For example, yellow came out looking clear.
We mixed a few of our colors with a dribble of hot water in baby food jars, stirring to dissolve completely, before we added a few tablespoons of rubbing alcohol.
We tried painting, dabbing, spraying, and pouring on various surfaces: glass vases and jars, flat glass raided from old picture frames, watercolor paper, and fabric.
When it seemed to take too long to dry, we tried mixing other Kool-Aid packets with only alcohol. But then we seemed to get granules that made streaks, so we decided it really needed to be dissolved with a tad bit of water after all.
Our faves from all the processes we tried? Painting with a brush on the outside of glass. It made a smoother color, it was easy to apply, and it dried faster than the other methods. Sometimes we applied two colors, one right on top of another, and that came out well too. Greens and blues are the prettiest; we made many shades of aquas and teals; so beautiful!
Beautiful blues and greens grouped on a tray sparkle in the late afternoon sun.
Edited to note: 48 hours later the alcohol ink was still sticky. The color started to separate and run on the glass; we voted it a failed project. Ultimately, we simply washed it all off and returned to clear glass. But they sure look pretty for the camera!
Filed under Crafting