More Resin Cups - Smoke & X-ray Flowers and a Pennywise cup

So I painted a nice couple of cups white - no drips - yeah !    (so I ended up with a few white based cups ) 

The first one I wanted to try was a "smoke" cup  where you use a little tea light and a piece of metal (knife) over the flame to cause it to smoke  and voila - you get a nice looking background to work with

I then sealed it with a clear  spray so it would not  move from holding it in my hands 

then I printed what are called x-ray flowers  and a phrase and butterflies and applied the waterslide decals to the cup sealed it again with a clear spray - so it wont lift while applying epoxy 

 image of x-ray flowers 

this pic is before resin 

Next I took another  white cup and applied Pennywise decal I printed and saying - sealed it and then epoxied it 

these pics are before resin 

after resin 

Here they are finished with lids 

Fusing Decal Paper- going to be working with it shortly

I've have a few requests to have my Zentangle patterns on Decal Fusing Paper to be sold on Etsy

I just placed my order with Fusion Headquarters
http://www.fusionheadquarters.com/product_p/decpap.htm

and behold I opened up the product tab and it took me a moment to realize - its my decal being applied
woo hoo - more free advertising ! Gotta Love it

Here is the link to the step by step putting the decal on and firing from my blog
http://deborahreadcom.blogspot.ca/2011/10/fused-glass-blanks-step-3-adding-decal.html

I print a full page and then cut them out to fit the pieces I want to make


Of course I had to order because I cant find my package  so I can make any  - I needed some anyway as I need to make up some of the other ones I like - Faces etc..


I also like to use them on ceramics as well



Once I get them in I'll go over again step by step

New Zentangle Full Sheet Stamp - ordered today

Here is the new full sheet pattern I have sent in today to have a new stamp created - its about 3 weeks away from being put on Etsy.   Its all about Hearts - will be the same price 23.00 plus shipping  and will be on Etsy as soon as they arrive.
I do have others I'll be ordering  but I'll break them up weekly over the next three weeks  or more and post them as I order
Hope you enjoy the image - I'll be printing off some PNP blue to etch from this weekend  and possibly some decal paper as well for fusing -  I wonder if people would buy the PNP /decal per sheet ? I'll have to think about that.

I wish the weather was warmer I want to go to the studio to work - so much more room.  But even with the heaters its still too cold to stay up there and work.  I'll have to make sure I install that wood stove for next year.  I look at it that only another 2 months and I should be back in the studio (with heaters) and I cant wait - I have so much stuff all over my kitchen counters and table  and I have to put things away to ensure I have room.

Anyway - I'll make some etched pieces this weekend with the new heart pattern and wait with anticipation for my new rubber stamps.

I may use my my stamps to show you how to stamp dicroic glass with the pattern and use etch-all to etch the dicro off and then fuse this weekend so keep on blogging.

OOOPS !

Not sure where my brain was when working this out - but I know that morretti glass melts at about 1200 F a lot lower than my fusing bullseye glass - so not sure why I thought I could go to 1538 to fuse the decal on

From                                          

To puddles......

Although the two on the left might turn out to be nice cabs -  there is a technique called pot melting that creates disks from left over glass -  this may allow me to create on the smaller scale controlled  now I wish the seperation was further and I could have ended up with some really interesting  cab melts - especially that red with black and white one

Its all about the experimentation - I'll take this as an accidental discovery . cant wait for them to cool - I'll cut them up and refuse in my kiln

Applied zentangle to bead blanks

Here are the applied sepia decals to my bead blanks (remember they go on black and come out sepia)

I'll fire them today and see how they turn out
I have to ensure that they rise slowly to fire the decal at about 1538 (I will use the paragon home kiln - I can use my little kiln but the home kiln will rise automatically and shut off when done) I wil also put the glass on rods that are prepped so they dont stick while firing  - Again - dont they look great in black - sooooooonnnn....

Glass Blanks for sepia decals

 I made some glass bead blanks so I can put some of the sepia decals on and fire today

I'll wrap the decal around the whitish part of the bead - the ones with a little striation will give some shading to the images.
Ill apply today, then fire later today so should have results tomorrow

Total Success - The Sepia Decal on Ceramic glazed worked

Yes very pleased that the overcoat worked on the ceramic pieces
Quick fire (again at the cone 013)
What can I say - cant wait till I screen the images in black on white .

Now to affix them onto my cards for the show and onto the next items.

I sat and made some glass bead blanks - they are annealing now  then  I'll put decals on tomorrow and fire
I'll need to make some new bezels with a large centre so that I can put the transparencies inside with my resin.

I bought some low fire red clay that I want to try as well.

Then there are the pnp blue zentangles for etching - hmm maybe will do that too

Just realized I just used up all my ceramic blanks - so I need to make even more this time

and I have to create some leather hard stuff for my class next Saturday - probably some tiles - easy and flat that will make putting the screened images on easier -

So much to do before Nov 5th show.  ( I procrastinated too long during the summer to make things - although I have been testing and making new items so I should be good)


And I start my clay classes with Barbara Kimbell on Tuesday night.

SUCCESS ! Ceramic Sepia Decal works- Zentangle Pendant

The experiment with the sepia decal on ceramic worked - typically I had purchased the sheets for my glass work but now I can use with the ceramic - Not that I doubted it - just that I was not sure what to set my kiln to. I knew that at about 1540-50 the sepia fires on the glass and should be no different on the clay. So I set my trusty Paragon Home Kiln to cone 013 - 1538 and let it go last night.
Viola !

Now what you need to know about the sepia decal is that if you do not cap it it smears - as much as it is fired on I find that it still some comes off.  So like my glass I want just something thin - the Spectrum 700 glaze fires at cone 04/06 which I think is much too high and may burn it off the sepia - but then again the glaze is covering  -  I need to experiment .  So I put the same cover coat I did with my glass - since the clay has been fired and I use such a small surface amount it should be ok - but again - I've coated and am currently firing so later today I should see if it worked.
pics - without covercoat

Sepia Decal on Ceramic Blanks

I am very excited - I am going to Pine Tree Potters Guild in Aurora Ontario  next weekend for an image transfer class with Chris Snedden - -  I so cant wait ! My mind is working overtime on what I want to do with image transfers - as part of the class and to speed it up  we had to send in a black and white image and he makes up a screen of the artwork we want to use in class and I sent my zentangle - Did I say I so cant wait ! I can use it for both glass and for ceramics -  did I say I cant wait !

So  tonight I finished gluing bales onto the the black and white pendants and put everything onto cards and packed for the show - now onto the next batch of goodies.

 I decided I was going to experiment with my ceramic blanks I made last week to  see what happens when I use the sepia decals on ceramics   - the blanks are glazed - so that they float on easily.
















Here they are (I applied a decal to both sides )  dont they look great in black and white - soon I'll get them black and white - but hopefully they will be the sepia color in the morning .It will be different - I hope

I am not sure till I see what I have in the morning - either over fire the decal and have a bunch of brownish blanks or they will be ok - fingers crossed 

Putting Bales on Glass Blanks

My Black and Vanilla were done so I did the overcoat and re fired them tonight (wont see them till tomorrow morning)

I have my carmel and vanilla (sounds like pudding or maybe its because I just like food everything sounds like it )

Tonight I wanted to put bales on them so I can get them carded up and into the pile of goodies for my upcoming Toronto Bead Society Show in November (5th &6th) at the CNIB building on Bayview Ave in Toronto

1. I just clean them for now with a damp papertowel if any kiln wash is on them
2. I take diamond head drill bits and scuff up the backs using a dremel - very quick (just the area you will put the bale not the whole back.)

3. I then have them sitting with the backs facing up and give them another swipe with the damp cloth.
4. I choose the bale - in this case a sort of brassy bronze I got from Panda Hall (I love Panda Hall)

5. I cut up little squares of  wax paper to mix my two part epoxy - I use toothpicks for mixing
6 Mix up some two part epoxy - I like the UHU two part epoxy - can be found at Micheals or Canadian Tire. Equal parts - I like the little tubes - the syringe type drives me crazy and I waste so much of it .

7 I use the toothpick as an applicator and put a dab on each square where I scuffed it up. (Don't do all at once just in case it starts to set fast (heat is a factor)
8 Place a bale on the dab of glue, push down and dont worry if a bit squishes out - you want adhesion below and around the bale. Just be sure its centered. Let dry

Typically they start to set within 20 minutes but I like to leave for 24 hours to cure - and even longer .
When dry I'll put onto my cards for the show

I found one of my flood lights , the base and the pop up photo tent but I need the side floods so I can take better pics.
But you can see how shiny the image is with the cover coat over the decal.  If you put a glass cap it does give a magnifying effect but I find it distorts the lines when you have details.

I watched my screen printing dvd tonight to refresh my mind - now I have to find my tools in the basement and bring them up to the studio (where they should be ) and give screen printing a try again. Hopefully my  emulsion sheets are not too old - but I definitely am  going to get it done so I can screen the black onto the glass - Once I know I have everything I'll do a step by step

Black and Vanilla Blanks- sepia decal out of the kiln

The Black and vanilla blanks out of the kiln this morning
fired nicely and will coat with overcoat tonight and re fire

Epiphany

I have been thinking what can I do to make them black and white on glass - and OMG- DUH ! I used to screen images on glass using my black reusche trace (which I also use for my painting)  Sometimes I wonder about myself - I forget about things I did years ago.  So I can still make the same silk screens I planned for making ceramic decals but I bet I could use the same materials for glass as for ceramic - I see some testing coming up this weekend (if my photo emulsion sheets for the silk screens  are  still good) I bet I could screen onto the clay and then cut it but not sure that will work - again play play play . But I know for sure my black on glass will work. 

Fusing Glass Blanks - applying cover coat to fired decals

The decals are out of the kiln  ( I may have over fired a tad and are not as dark as I like, but they still look good ) That is why its good to have a timer around your neck - I couldn't find any last night. And I was engrossed in doing another Zentangle page.

Once they are out I use a product called Fusemaster Super Spray - its an overcoat that helps prevent Detrification on glass - but I dont use it for that purpose - I use as an overcoat to seal my decal and put a glossy protective finish over the decal that leaves the images clean and clear. I find capping with a piece of glass distorts your image - this gives you crisp lines and the overcoat protects the image.

It can be sprayed or applied with a brush - using a liberal amount I applied with a brush

Its hard to see but it must contain an alcohol as it dries after application to a white surface finish

Then its into the kiln where I fire to about 1425 or until the surface becomes clear. Again watch your temps and time .

Results tomorrow night

Fused Glass Blanks - Step 3 Adding Decal to Glass Blank

Now that I have my blanks I can add my decal
I have a full sheet so I can cut strips and cut the sizes I need to put onto the blanks. I did some that were just on the vanilla and some that ran over onto the Carmel to see what they would look like.  I cut then I trimmed the corners so they were rounded

Once I had the size I wanted I put into warm water - they say face down but for me it did not matter

You leave in until it starts to pull away from backing - just touch and slide a bit - pick up at put the starter edge on the glass blank (dont worry you can move it around once all on the blank)

slide the paper out from under the decal till it is all on the blank.

Once all on the blank - I use paper towel and dab the water and work from centre to edge pushing the water out. As it comes out the paper-towel soaks it up.  Dab a few more times.

Once dabbed dry just put to side as it needs to dry before firing.

Once dry then they can be put into the kiln.  This is a slightly larger kiln I have that allows me to put 16 of them all at once.  Fire to decal spec - Keep your eye on them so you dont over-fire as it will burn off the sepia toner.

Some people put glass caps on but I find they distort the nice clean line of the artwork.

In our next step I put a thin layer of liquid glass frit. and it seals my image onto the piece and leaves a nice crisp clear image.

I plan on putting decals onto my beads as well - hopefully in the next week I'll make some bead blanks and start working on those as well - same process except I'll make the beads on mandrels and then add the decal and refire in the fusing kilns.

Fused Glass Blanks - Step 2- Firing

I prepared my blanks (I decided for a larger area to put my zentangle so I cut larger more square type canvas)

Once cut I put into my kiln - I have an AIM Kiln that I love - the smaller kilns fire up fast and I can do smaller controlled runs - which allow me to make and work faster.

I like working on a kiln shelf with just primer - although I do use fusing paper at times - but for most flat work like this I like the kiln shelf - the shelf is primed with shelf primer 4-5 coats and lasts for quite a few firings before I have to clean and re-prime.  I have spaced them sufficiently so that when they fuse (melt) they will not touch each other.

This kiln has a digital pyrometer and I fire to the 1650 - not all kilns fire at the same rate so I am a peeper - I always check my kiln when getting close to 1600 just to be sure its not overfiring.

When finished the vanilla layer has fused into the Carmel layer giving me a blank that I can now put my zentangle on .  If you over fire and get sharp edges - now is the time to grind the edges down as we will fire to the fire polish stage when firing the decal.

Fused Glass Blanks - Step 1 - cutting the glass

Step 1 cutting the glass

I take Bullseye glass (COE 90) - usually comes in 10 x 10 sheets. (other types out there - Spectrum, Morretti etc.)

In this case I chose a vanilla white color as opposed to a pure white and a caramel colour because the decal when fired will be a sepia color -  I'll probably use the vanilla with a black frame and other colours to test the zentangle pattern sheets just to see make an assortment.

In fusing you must use the same COE if using two layers of glass.

I cut the background sheet (carmel) - this gives me the frame around the vanilla 1-1/2" x 2"
I use a beetlebits cutter or Morton System - or I'll use a hand cutter (with no oil- easy cleaning ) and a ruler
The background sheet is cut larger than the vanilla top piece.

I cut the vanilla piece 1-1/4 x 1-3/4 (or a little more but less than 2")

Place the vanilla  on top of the background Carmel - note the vanilla is smaller than the carmel background
this ensures when melted I have a carmel frame around the vanilla

Clean Pieces

Next Step - Fire (to follow)