Mokume Gane Technique by Marilyn Knopic (Along With A Few Other Techniques)

I got inspired by a post on my polymer clay Facebook group about a Mokume Gane technique by Marilyn Knopic. I had to go search out her blog to learn it....here is the link!

I haven't been so happy to learn a technique for PC in a long time! Here are the pictures that explain why :D There are many more, but these were my favorites! I used one block each of black, white and transparent...and a whole lot of other clay to layer the Mokume Gane on! Probably 6 additional blocks! Whew....lots of sanding! And after doing all that sanding...I will just stick to Magic Glos!

A word about the first picture...the bezel is not attached yet, but you get the general idea. I have been doing so much sanding and buffing I didn't get that far yet but I will soon! But the colors...!

This is my first wire wrapped one. Been so busy with the Magic Glos I haven't had time to do more than this one so far!

These may seem a little large but I wanted them to be statement pieces. 

This one reminds me of the pictures of the Painted Desert I've seen. I also get a zebra vibe, some how! :)

Aren't the colors luscious? I love alcohol inks! Gotta work on this bezel, too...

This is one of my favorites. The back is as nice as the front. The "front" is not Magic Glos, btw. It is Liquid Kato Polyclay. I love the gloss that liquid PC has! But I do like the MG better...it just doesn't do well on curved surfaces! I sanded this side, all the grits I had!

This is the reverse side. Since it was flat, I used the MG...love that glossy shine! No sanding needed, either!

They are all so different, and yet come from the same MG batch...

This one reminds me of modern art...pop art? This is a smaller cab.

These three were done with a different technique. I cut them with a larger circle cutter. Then I draped them over the back of a smaller cutter and made sure it was securely stuck to the cutter. Then I flipped it over onto another piece of clay and cut them both out, capturing air in between, so it is hollow. Kept their shapes nicely! AND bonus...for some reason, when I did my sanding and sanding and sanding (grits 220-400-600-800-1000-1500-2000-2500), and then buffing with the Dremel - these came out SO GLOSSY. Didn't need a finish at all. I have several others that had the exact same treatment and weren't nearly as shiny! But dang, my hands are so sore today...it stinks having arthritis and making clay some days!

And one last technique I tried with these beads...I used a slice of copper pipe as a bezel.  I saw someone else use it and thought it was genius! Perfectly round and sturdy as heck! I can even solder connections to it....Great idea, no? To use the Magic Glos on it, I had to seal the edge or it would have just run out between the clay and the pipe slice.. I tried to keep it tight but I believe it must shrink a bit while baking...anyways. I decided to use the Liquid Kato Polyclay on it to seal the edge, because these were rounded and we all know you can't use Magic Glos on a curved surface! And it sealed the bead inside the pipe so then it was just a matter of using MG on the other side. Came out just as I wanted! 

Thanks for looking - make sure to stop by my Pinterest page to see a lot more of my creations, and like my Facebook page, Karmic Confetti! 

And now, for something completely different....(Pebeo Prisme & Moon)

Playing with my Pebeo Moon and Prisme paints again! I really never stopped, I have just been waiting for them to cure completely before trying to put Lisa Pavelka's Magic Glos on them to protect the paint. I redid a few of them, too so double the wait...But I finally took a break from the glass fusing to do this now that a few weeks have gone by. I have so much mica and glitter floating around my house that I don't think I can use my ICE Resin anytime soon! And someone just told me the stuff has a shelf life...and I've had mine for at least a year! Sigh...Anyways, on to the creations! :) 

These are several different colors. I'm afraid I couldn't tell you what they are, though! I am sure it is the English red, the Onyx, Eggshell White, Violine and probably the Moon  Gold.

I like the way the cross came out. Same colors, probably Carmine and Vermillion in addition.

On this one and the one below, I added some Super Copper mica powder to it. It came out very metallic looking.

Then I started playing around with some Formica samples I had. Love the way the colors combined! You just never know what you're going to get, with this paint! These are not sealed yet.

Then I thought to add a fairy charm I had on hand. I ran out of Magic Glos on this one! I'll have to get more and figure out how to finish it. I had been trying to get a flame effect in the paint.

 The Magic Glos is so clear you can't even see it in these photos. :)

This is the first side...I see a flower.

And the reverse side. Kind of like a Phoenix in the flames, eh?

 First side....Volcano? :)

Reverse,,,View inside the volcano? Hehe. 

Then I bought a couple of paper mache boxes to experiment with. I love the way they came out! I was trying to do flames again, on most of the sides....

These still haven't been sealed. Maybe that's when I'll try the ICE resin...

This one was interesting, the way it came out. I put a couple of tiny droplets of paint and it must have had a lot of the stuff in it that makes them move and it spread out like crazy!

Similar thing happened to this box, as well. Stir, stir stir! I thought I did....

And then, a different project. This is a piece of chainsaw art my husband and I bought in St. Augustine about a decade ago. It's been hanging outside for ages and we discovered the back of it was very rotted. It has some sentimental value to us, so I found a product to reinforce the wood and it did a great job! It's a liquid that soaks into the wood fibers and makes them strong again. I then filled all the cracks with wood filler and repainted it. What a mess it was!

 Ta da! I was very happy to see it back almost better than new! I decided to try my Pebeo paints on  the turtle...

Pictures don't really do it justice! Very happy with the way it came out. I'm still waiting for it to cure completely and then I'll give it a clear coat...

Closeup of the shell. Aren't the effects lovely! Love this paint...!

Thanks for looking - make sure to stop by my Pinterest page to see a lot more of my creations, and like my Facebook page, Karmic Confetti! 

I Ain't Lion (Glass Engraving)

Been having fun with my newfound hobby - glass engraving. I decided to fuse a glass blank and use my rotary tool to engrave it. It didn't show up well so I used some black paint and rubbed it into the engraving.. It's okayyyy....but meh. 

Then I found some clear stained glass I had put away and went to town! This lion is freehand, and my very first attempt. I actually drew it on paper first and then used it as a guide beneath the glass. I wanted to make sure his eyes were straight and the face wasn't lopsided, as in some of my sgraffito attempts!  There's a lady named Lesley Pyke who has a video on Youtube of her engraving a lion on a Tudor leaded glass mug...It is AMAZING. So that video was my inspiration, and  I really liked the way it came out...at first....for a first attempt, at least! I have some rubber polishing inserts for my rotary tool that allowed me to do some basic shading around his mouth and in his mane. I must get more! :)

I started looking around on the internet at tiger pictures and got a bright idea...why not use a better picture underneath the glass to work from? I don't know whose work this is, but it's really lovely...

This is the result. I finally got it through my head to only engrave the light areas of the picture...:)  It probably needs a little bit of tweaking, yet but - I am very happy with the way this one came out!

Thanks for looking - make sure to stop by my Pinterest page to see a lot more of my creations, and like my Facebook page, Karmic Confetti! 

Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright...(Glass Fusing & Mica Powders)

I have been on a tiger kick lately. No particular reason why.. I just like 'em and they aren't too difficult to sgraffito! :) Still doing my mica powders and fusing...just used up the last of my black scrap COE 96 tonight. The ones below are my first attempts, from left to right. 

This one didn't actually make it to the fusing stage...he was a little too crazy eyed! First attempt at drawing a snarling tiger. :D There are some amazing artists on Youtube sharing their techniques and I was attempting to copy an artist named Alphonso Dunn (see the tutorial here). The nice thing about doing the sgraffito before its fused is that you can wipe it off and start over...:)

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He also inspired me to try an eagle.  But this post is about tigers! :)

These two are much better. Practice makes perfect! I was happy that I didn't need to grind or firepolish the one on the right.

This guy did make it to getting fused, below. 

He hasn't been ground and firepolished yet but I'm happy with him!

Next, I decided to do a 3/4 view.  I'll probably repost his photo after I get him ground and firepolished.

Then a friend gave me some old bottles and I decided I needed a bigger canvas. :)

He sort of came out like a negative, so I took the photo into my graphics program and made it into a negative to see if it showed up better. 

I was worried about doing a rounded shape but I didn't slip. I wasn't using my rotary tool...I was using a much less powerful battery operated engraving tool. 

On the back, I tried to make one of those one stroke flowers with my engraving tool. Not too successful but it was my first try. :) With sgraffito, you are basically scratching the outlines of your picture into your glass. That's why I like using black glass...the scratched lines are black and outline your drawing nicely....like drawing with a dark pencil on white paper. But on the dark bottle, my tiger above looks like a negative. The parts I etched became lighter.  I watched this wonderful glass engraver named Lesley Pyke (see her amazing work here) and she talks about engraving the light. After trying to etch the flower, I understand that statement now. 

Then I tried a bottle that was sort of etched already. It wasn't shiny, in other words... The engraving didn't show up very well. I ended up using paint to rub into the etching to show it up more. It left a gold mica tint in the etching.

Then I bought a small red bottle with three flat sides. I really like the way this one came out! I think I see an improvement over my first few attempts, anyway! What do you think? 

Side two of the red bottle. Couldn't/didn't do the third side, mostly because there is a large seam running down the center of it. I may still do something with it, not sure yet. 

Thanks for looking and come back soon!