Magic Prism Paints

I've been taking advantage of Michael's 50% off coupon this week, and purchased some of the fantastic Pebeo Moon and Prisme paints.If you haven't heard about these paints, they are so much fun! There is a solvent in them that makes the paint move and create these tiny craters/honeycombs in the surface after it's cured. It almost seems like a resin...it dries very hard and shiny. I heard about them on my clay FB groups and saw such awesome results I had to go try them! There are starter sets  of each type of paint that have six different colors to try, With Michael's coupon, it was around $13. I haven't gotten to play with them with my clay because I was so busy trying to play with them on other surfaces! I found some cool glass cabs that are made for Mod Podging that I started off with. I have also been playing with some sheet metal I found at Home Depot. It's very inexpensive, ten sheets for under $3. It is a perfect flat surface for this paint! I have another project I've been working on besides these, using the metal sheets, but it's not quite ready to unveil - stay tuned! If you look for these, btw, they are in the roofing department. 

This is the back of one of my aforementioned yet-to-be-unveiled project pieces. Just playing around. It's so amazing and serendipitous, this paint! You just don't know what you're going to get until you try! The thicker you put it on, the larger the cells that are created. The colors are luscious and have such depth! Especially on the metal... 

This is one of the glass cabs. I put the paint on the back, because it was flat. I love the way it turned out, just using two colors. Very organic. Too bad I did it on the back, because it does NOT look like this from the front! So, don't try applying your paint to the back of a clear cab because it won't look as nice as it would on the front! I wasn't sure how it would do on the curved surface, which is why I painted the back. I'll probably paint the front once this one is completely dry! (These seem to take a couple of days!)

And this is my favorite, on a piece of the sheet metal. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it...I had thought I would cut it into pieces but it's almost pretty enough to frame! All of these were done with the Prisme...I haven't broken into the Moon starter set yet! I'll keep you posted. :) 

Thanks for looking and come back soon!

Homemade Polymer Clay Slicing Gizmo for about $10!

Well, I am VERY excited. I've been thinking about making my own slicer for a few weeks now. I had seen a beautiful one made from lucite stamping blocks and a ruled lucite sheet, which I sort of based my idea on. I couldn't find the lucite blocks cheaply that were large enough and my basic idea was to make a U-shaped open ended box like shape that would hold the slicing blade perpendicular to the cutting surface and make it easy to slide the clay canes back and forth. 

We've got some home projects going on and so I was putzing around Home Depot the other day and saw these things called "tie plates" meant to tie wood planks and the like together. basically a large sturdy metal plate with holes to drill through to attach it to the project. I realize that could be a strong base so I bought a couple - they were inexpensive, under $2. I got two different sizes, too. Next, I need the uprights to hold the blade straight up and down. I decided shelf brackets would do the job. Sorry that I don't have a separate picture of them but I had already attached them by the time I decided this was going to work! I originally thought I would screw them down to the holes in the tie plate but then the screws would have gotten in the way, and the holes didn't line up right either. So duct tape to the rescue!

Below you can see the ingredients and the ugly base. I used my favorite Gorilla duct tape to attach the four shelf brackets to the bottom plate, but you could probably use silicone caulk or hot glue, too.  I think this is actually stronger, though! You can see that mess in the second picture. I taped the brackets to each other and then to the plate. It doesn't sit completely flat but it doesn't matter....

The bottom plate I chose because I was going to use a 4" tile to put the clay canes on and that was a good size, but I ended up going a different way. In the photo below you can see the pre-cut sheet metal I ended up using instead. Much lighter in weight, cuts with sturdy scissors and slides nicely over the metal tie plate. You also get ten sheets in the package so you can make more than one for your clay slicer. There is no reason you couldn't bake on these sheets, or use them to store clay on. I also included in the photo a couple other sizes of tie plates, so you can see you aren't limited by the size I got. The shelf brackets can be purchased in other sizes, too.  And you can buy a big roll of sheet metal, if you think you're going to use a lot of it! I love that stuff...:) I use these pre-cut ones a lot. They are a little thicker than a soda can and die cut, cut, and emboss nicely.

I began by taping the four brackets to the base. I overlapped the brackets so they'd fit tightly against the sides of the tie plate base and then taped them to it, leaving a thin gap between each of the side brackets so I could fit my clay blade in there. (Shown below on its side. It's really not pretty under there!) I was going to use my regular Sculpey blade but then I had an idea to use the sheet metal to make a NEW blade. This turned out to be a brilliant idea! :) It makes the blade taut, is actually a bit sharper than my old blade, and kind of holds everything tight while slicing.  I just used the slice I cut off to make the bottom fit the tie plate with some metal scissors I have, and used some round nosed pliers to make round ends to both hold it with and slide up and down in the contraption. (See the bottom picture.) You can adjust those rounded ends to make it hold tight in your own clay cutting gizmo.

So, to use this thing, you put the clay on the metal sheet, which I cut to fit tightly on top of the tie plate base and between the shelf brackets. It slides easily back and forth so you can slice the cane. I could've/should've gotten all the same size shelf brackets but I went this way instead. :) It's all tight enough that, as you can see in the photo, it holds the blade up until you press it down. I can also still use my Sculpey clay blade if I wish, or the rippled one, etc. No measurements, but you can eye it out, right? Or if you have ADD, you can use a scribe and a ruler to make markings of your own on the soft aluminum. And you can use a larger plate to make yours, if you need one (as seen in the picture at the top), since you are making your own blade with the sheet metal and it can be longer, if you wish! This one is good for me, though. :) I bet you could even make your own rippled blade if you have a decent metal paper crimper...:)

It's not even THAT ugly! Kind of industrial looking. You could even decorate it with clay if you want it prettier!  And of course, the best part is it was CHEAP. The package of 10 pre-cut sheets of sheet metal was under  $3. The metal tie plate was around $2. The brackets were the most expensive part and I am sure I could have gotten them cheaper! The two thinner ones were under two and the other bigger ones were a couple of dollars more because I got them in a different area and didn't realize how much more they were...Anywho, this thing cost about ten dollars! With lots of left over sheet metal...I have another project I'm going to share soon that will show you some other creative ideas to use those for! :)

In case I haven't explained it well...The picture above shows the rounded ends of the metal blade I made, slipped between the shelf brackets on the right and left. The shiny sheet metal on the bottom is where you put your clay, and it slides back and forth on the bottom tie plate. There is no way to cut a round cane, yet, but I'm working on it! I thought about using the Playdough again but it's not stiff enough to really support the cane so it will keep its shape. 

I hope this gives you some ideas, at least, and if you decide to make one or have any questions or tips about this one, let me know! Thanks for looking. and make sure to stop by my Pinterest page to see a lot more of my creations, and like my Facebook page, Karmic Confetti! 

Polymer Clay and Play Dough Reduction

I am a subscriber of Meg Newberg's tutorials. They are extremely well written and she keeps coming up with such novel and beautiful ideas! I wanted to try her latest, which looks like beveled glass....if you join this month you'll get the issue for $5...if you wait the price goes up for individual back issues. (As always, I do not receive any money from mentioning other artists. I am just informing you what I like!) Here is a link to her Etsy site.  You really should go visit and see her wonderful tutorials! They are unlike any I've seen! Very talented lady.

Anyway, the cane in the latest issue comes out shaped like a six pointed star, so I decided to try a technique I read about on the internet where you use Playdough to wrap your clay before reducing odd shaped canes. Supposedly it peels right off afterwards. I decided to give it a try so I wouldn't deform my hard work! This is not an easy cane to make or reduce!

I haven't used this stuff since I was six! It seems better than it was back then...it doesn't have that odor we all remember anymore! :) It always smelled toxic to me, although it was supposed to be safe. I guess it was okay since I'm still here! The formula they use now seems smoother, as well, rather slippery and better than it was when I was little.

This picture shows my cane covered in a thin layer of pink Playdough. It is very soft so it can't be used  alone. I rolled it out by hand and maybe I should have made it thinner. 

Then I filled in the low spots with triangles of red scrap polymer clay I had already open and conditioned. I believe all the polymer here is Primo.

Then I covered the whole thing in another sheet of the red scrap. The idea is that the Playdough peels off the cane cleanly and the extra red I added helps it keep its shape while reducing....Since your cane is now round, you can do a bit of rolling to reduce it. Much easier to reduce than a six pointed star!

Then, my usual technique is to attach the ends to either a lucite block for stamping (couldn't find it for the pic) or a piece of plastic....this one is one I cut off from the package eraser clay packs comes in. I have already started reducing it in this photo. As you can see, the soft Playdough squished out and made a big mess. If my beginning layer of it was thinner, it might not have gotten so icky. :) Another tip that works very well is to add some scrap clay to the end of your cane before reducing. Then you don't lose so much of your "good" cane. I didn't do it, in this case.

I did not take a photo of the results because I didn't want anyone to lose their lunch....It was ugly. The Playdough did NOT peel off easily, as I was told! I ended up peeling what I could of the scrap red off, then as much of the icky Playdough off both the cane and the scrap clay, and gently washing off the rest. It DID work, but it wasn't what I had hoped for....It was messy and nasty once it got wet....but it did all rinse off after a bit of soaking in warm water. If you try this, I suggest you make your cane as smooth as possible before putting on the layer of Playdough...it wants to get in any crevices and stick. A toothbrush got it out though. If you baked it with some on the outside, I am sure it would just dry out and fall off.. So, your mileage may vary. Will I do this again? Maybe. It DID work, and Playdough is cheap.

Not really sure about how this cane came out but it was my first attempt. We are our own worst critics, though...we see every mistake glaring like the sun!  I'll still probably make something out of it...hardly ever any waste in polymer clay! Hope you enjoyed my experiment and come back and see what else I'm up to soon! 

Non-Fused Fusing Glass

I got very familiar with my MWK over the last few weeks, especially after making all those flowers! But "real" glass fusing, with dichroic? My results have been sporadic. I do love the ones I've made but the very textured dichroic - I end up losing the beautiful texture and ruin the glass. It's still beautiful but loses a lot of what I loved about it.

The photos below show my recent experiments with some of the dichroic I've been saving up. I have a lot of beautiful tidbits from scrap packs I bought. Here  are just a few of the nicest pieces! Luscious, aren't they??

You can see how I laid out the green piece from above for the MWK. I used some scrap red as the base...don't ask me why. :D You can see in the texture that the green becomes a blue color at an angle. Dichroic is so beautiful!

This was the result. I screwed it up. I didn't let it fuse long enough and put it back in before it had cooled all the way down. The result was I got a crack and fired it just a tad too long the next time. And in my opinion, I am not crazy about dichroic without clear glass over top...it just doesn't pop! I should have waited until I was more familiar with the MWK before using the good stuff! (I made this before I did all those fused flowers! I might be able to know better when to stop the fusing process, now!)

So, I cut that piece in half and put a clear cap on them and refused. They are the ones pictured on the top right, below. Big difference with the clear on top, right??? They are even more beautiful in person.

While these are truly beautiful in how they turned out, I wasn't happy with the loss of texture. The blue green ones kept some of it by showing a different color where the streaks are, but the purple triangles basically lost the dots it started out with. (The red/clear dichro ones were made by fusing the clear textured piece (from the photo at the top) face down on the red scrap. I did like the texture these kept a lot more...)

So, I was a bit hesitant to melt some more of my favorite pieces and have them come out badly, so I decided to use my trick of making a bezel with the flat aluminum wire I've been using recently - and not fusing the glass at ALL. I found some gorgeous copper colored flat wire and made this. What do you think? This piece of glass was just like this in a scrap pack...didn't even grind the edges. You can see it in the photo at the top.  I just love that natural little rainbow gleam in the corner! It's even prettier in person!

These two below are made from a piece of glass pictured at the top of this page. I love the way the light reflects from this glass! It looks green if you look at it one angle, orange another! As you can see in the picture...they are from one piece of glass, just facing different directions....All I did was cut it in half. So maybe I'm a chicken for not fusing these pieces but I am VERY happy with the results! :)

Let me know what you think in the comments! Thanks again for visiting!

Fused Flower Windchimes

I went a little nuts with the fused glass nugget flowers! I made quite a few in the last few days! I made all types and all colors...I had quite a few nuggets leftover from when I was doing mosaics. The ones in the first picture are rather odd. They are the deep red nuggets that turn yellow after fusing. For some reason this particular method of putting them together rather reliably gave me the results below. The red stayed on the tips of the flower in the center, and some of it pooled in the low spots. And for some reason, the glass becomes cloudy in the center, while the petals remain clear. It gets a color almost like an egg yolk. You can see that in the flower to the right, too. They look beautiful in the sunlight, with the sun streaming through those red streaks! The little blue nugget on the left is rather funny. I was trying to make one of these red/yellow flowers with a blue nugget in the center. Apparently they didn't get along well! I picked the flower up from the kiln and all the petals fell off. Not broke off, fell off. Different COEs, apparently! :D Those little yellow chips still attached may come off, eventually, too! It just tickled me, and I thought it was cool how the blue melted into those points. Some of the flowers didn't fuse correctly but this was the only one that did that. I used green nuggets with the other colors with no apparent problems..

I like the way they look and thought they'd be cute as another windchime. This set sounds really pretty when they tinkle together...the glass has an entirely different sound from the stained glass ones I made recently.  Yes, I went overboard on the pictures! I wanted you to see the variations in this though. I didn't use fishing line this time, just the clear tubing, because these are much lighter than the stained glass was.

 I was thrilled to find those olive green nuggets (near the bottom) at the Dollar Tree! A color I didn't have! Some flowers are basic, some are kind of intricate. Some, I cut the beads in half and laid the cut side down, either in a circle or arranged around a center whole bead. Some of the halves I laid on their sides, as I did with the blue on near the center right on the above picture. Some got a little too melted and still came out looking pretty cool! I was calling them Blob flowers. :D Had to learn to drill a hole in those! Got to use my rotary tool to do it, and it was easier than I thought! 

The photo below shows another "yellow" one that kept some of it's red coloring. You can see the green "leaves" near the bottom of most of the flowers. 

As in the photo at the top, the red ones, besides turning yellow, also developed spots that were cloudy. This one developed it on one side, although the other style I made developed it in the center only. Odd idiosyncrasy of these red nuggets! This one is more melted on one side, meaning I had a hot spot in my microwave kiln. I learned to spin the top periodically while they are fusing. So I guess the cloudy area got more heated than the rest of it, hence the cloudiness. The ones with the center bead also got hotter in the center when they were fusing, and the center bead melted a bit more and acted like glue to fuse the less melted petals in place.  But it's weird that little streak of red remained. I have several that lost all the red and were pure yellow. 

I also wanted to point out this flower, below. This was actually the very first flower I fused! All I did was take five blue glass nuggets, lay them in a tight circle, and fuse them. After I started getting creative and making all the other types, this one looked a little boring to me! So I took a brush and did some brush embroidery on it with some white fabric paint...Should withstand the elements nicely. :) So you can jazz up any of your beads if you decide to try this technique! 

I have a couple of more interesting projects to show you soon. One is a non-fusing fusing project! The other is an idea I got from Beads, Baubles & Jewels...with a little twist. :) Come back soon and read about them! Thanks for looking. and make sure to stop by my Pinterest page to see a lot more of my creations, and like my Facebook page!