I just got done playing with the baked beads and coloring them with alcohol inks.
I started by using make-up sponges. I put a few drops of the ink on the sponge and then dabbed it on the bead. Then a light spray of rubbing alcohol and let that dry before adding more colors. It worked okay. I wear gloves while I work with the alcohol inks so that I don’t dye my hands as well!
I noticed that the gloves also left ink on the beads but with a textured looking pattern. I did the next set of beads by just use the gloves to put the ink on. I would put a drop of alcohol ink in the palm of my hand (while wearing the glove) and then added the bead and rolled. It worked great and was a lot easier then the make-up sponges!
I am not sure that I will use this in the demo because of the mess. I do like how the bead look and it is very easy to create different looks quickly, so I might.
I have come up with three techniques that I want to Demo. I am going to do “shaving cream beads”, “glitter beads” and a simple Mokume Gane.
The shaving cream beads are very fun to do and extremely easy. I am going to do different colors then the browns and reds that I used following the book, Bead Techniques by Linda Peterson. They are not in the color scheme that I like. I had great fun making the beads, in fact I learned the smash and rock method from the book and now can make a bunch more shapes easily. It is also fun to play in the shaving cream! (I had to but some of the foam type since all we have in the house in gel). I can’t wait to color more shaving cream with my alcohol inks! I have many things I want to try using this technique.
The glitter beads are from a book by Marie Segal. You simply make the beads and then shake them a bag of glitter. (You want to make sure that your glitter will be okay will the oven and not melt.) I really like the idea. I will be doing some with a mixture of glitter colors and maybe even some Pearl-Ex powders.
The Makume Gane technique is always fun and easy but with stunning results.
I finally got the time to try dipping beads in varathane again.
After some thought, I decided not to try using amoral or corn starch as a releasing agent. I has afraid that it make damage the varathane left in the jar.
I decided to try using metal pins. I formed the beads on a very small knitting needle, so I put them on that and then dipped the beads. I let the beads drips a few moments and then transfered the bead onto some quilting pins. I then stuck the pins into the styrofoam block to dry. I can move the beads freely and have no extra drips forming on the bottoms of the beads.
I am glad that I figured out a way to dip beads with out have to heat them off of the toothpicks!
Recently, I was lucky enough to be involved in a group buy on texture sheets that can be used with polymer clay. A member of one of the forums that I am active in found some larger sheets that are used for texturing chocolates. She offered to make the purchase and cut the sheets down to sizes that would be easier to work with.
One of the sheets has really shallow texturing, which makes it harder to work with. Running it through the PM (pasta machine) on the clay really helps. Just remember to use a releasing agent on the sheet. I have found that a light spray of water works well, as does cornstarch.
The sheets are really nice and I can’t wait to work with them all. I have many ideas. There is one that is wood grained. I have plans to use it with some faux wood to make barrettes. (I may even create Fairy Doors with it.)
Well, I figured it out! I got me beads freed from their toothpicks. A few minutes of heat from the heat gun did it!
I went to http://www.glassattic.com and read all that I could on varathane. I found that when you heat varathane that the bubbles that can form in it usually will disappear. I thought that I would try heating the beads and then pulling the toothpicks out. I really did not want to put the beads and styrofoam block into the clay oven so I tried the heat gun. At first I brunt some of the toothpicks and then pulled the beads off. It worked! I also had luck with using less time on the beads with equal success. (Just becareful of burning you fingers.)
Here are the beads.
I really like them and now have to figure out how to string them.