With D'anna and Andy's wedding coming up. Remember them? From here :Introducing the Bride and Groom! We are starting to play around with the decorations and with her paint samples in hand she says can we paint this and hands me this:
Yeah, you probably had the same reaction I did. What the hell is that? Luckily, I said "what is that?" D said "I have had this for a while and haven't done anything with it because it is not my style. She said can we paint it and put a single flower in each spot for one of the tables?" My response, "why not, if you don't like it the way it is, then lets change it." Now, have I ever painted porcelain (I think that's what it is made of!), No I haven't. Do I know how its going to coat, or stick or peel? No. But whatever, An experiment!
I used Valspar in Soft Coral and a sponge brush for this. I thought it would give less streaks in the paint.
So, First Coat...
I will say it was a little drippy, and I am glad I was using a sponge brush. It helped it stick.
Second Coat...
Don't you love the splattered pain, and the crayon in the back (I have kids, what do you want!)
It really did need the second coat. It made the blue under the paint completely disappear and smoothed out any drips. I just wish I had some flowers to see what it will look like for the wedding. Maybe I will add that later. Also, I am not sure I am done. I am thinking of putting polka dots all over it with her other color which is wasabi!!
If you have ever looked at my blog, you will see that recently we gave my Mom a 60th birthday party, luau style. My sister did it up great!! But because I couldn't post this until after the party, I am going to show you what I made mom. I gave her this silver necklace.
I am going to give a very basic tutorial just to show you that it is truly easy to make something like this without any training (I am completely self-taught!)
The main item you need, obviously need silver clay. You can get clay like this in gold, bronze and silver. But with the price of gold being what it is, start with silver! I use Art Clay Silver. Get the slow drying version or you will be rushed and it won't turn out well.
You will also need a olive oil, a stamp, a cookie cutter, a brayer, gloves, plastic guide/gauge strips, something to dome the piece ( I used the bottom of a soda can that I cut open, I will show that later), A self igniting butane torch, firing block, large tweezers, a stop watch, sand paper, nail file, stainless steel brush, thin pointed files. I know it seems like a lot, but I got all of this in a kit from Fire Mountain Gems. Here is a link to it.
First you need to put on the gloves and coat your hands and work surface (I use a floor tile) with olive oil. This will prevent the clay from sticking. Then you need to condition the clay (just like polymer clay)
Just mash it up, fold it over and repeat. Silver clay is so soft, you will only need to do it a few times. Plus, you need to remember, this stuff has to air dry when you are finished, so time is an issue.
Then roll it out using your plastic gauge strips and your brayer.
I made this picture bigger to see that after I rolled it out, I used a heart stamp and pressed well, but not hard into the surface. Make sure you oil the stamp first, or it will stick and you will never get it out of the stamp!
Cut it out using an exacto knife (Sorry no picture). Then carefully remove the outer pieces of clay till all that is there is the heart. Take a clay blade like this one and carefully lift up the piece. Then grab something to dome it with. I cut the bottom off of a soda can and use that.
Make sure you use an exacto knife to put a little whole some where on the silver, otherwise you have to have a bail and its easier to just use jump rings with the finished product.
Let it dry completely. You will notice the color change from grey to white, this is what you want. Generally speaking, I usually give it a day, to make extra sure it is dry, if it is wet in anyway when you fire it, it will have drastic effects to the silver.
Once it is dry, you need to file it. I had to learn the hard way to carefully file your clay. easy small strokes to get the edges smooth. Honestly, I have come to realize the less you have to file, the better. However, you need to know it is really hard to file it once it is fired, so make sure you did what ever filing you are going to do before the firing process.
Then you fire it. I will be honest. I didn't take any pictures of the firing process. Mainly for safety reasons. Its fire with a torch. I thought my focus needed to be on the project at hand and not the pictures. So, instead I found the perfect video on YouTube that demonstrates the process perfectly, enjoy!
Once it is fired, you will need to burnish it with your brass brush and a polishing cloth helps too! Once again, I did not take pictures of this part but I found a video telling you how to burnish, its pretty simple, just brush the piece till it's silver then polish it.
Then, once its silver and polished, use jump rings to connect it to your cording and add embellishments.
My mom really liked her necklace and I think it means more that I made it myself!!
OK, I hate bugs. They are disgusting and I want them gone! So I figured out how to trap flying bugs. With it being summer and the kids are in and out of the house, the flies and gnats are abundant. So here is my tutorial on a Bug trapper using nothing more than an empty two litter, sugar, vinegar and water. Scissors and tape should be included in that but they are secondary.
First, take an exacto knife and cut the top of the bottle about three inches below the spout.
Then measure 1/2 cup of vinegar. You can use just about any vinegar, I used white because that's what I had in the house, but to be honest, apple cider works sooooo much better.
Then measure 1/2 cup of sugar (regular sugar) and pour it in.
Shake it up.
Add enough water to fill it close to half full. Then take the top
that you cut off and flip it upside down in the bottle, like so....
Then using tape, seal the bottle top to the bottle, so nothing can escape. Even the tiniest hole in the seal can allow bugs out.
Not exactly pretty, but it works. Put it in an area that the bugs seem to collect around, I put it near the trash can. The bugs will be attracted to the liquid, go in the hole, but will not be smart enough to get out!
NO MORE BUGS!!
Hope you like this short tutorial. These have been a lifesaver during the summers of kid in and out of the house and leaving doors open. Please let me know if you try this at home and please share, pin, tweet!!!
