Friday 29 January 2016

Hochanda TV Shows

Well I had a fab time with Ben, Charlie and Hayley at the Hochanda studios! 

Ben's fabulous keyring

Charlie's great dog tag

Hayley's wonderful pendant

Didn't they do well?! And they weren't the only ones to get excited about Efcolor...

This is the lovely Anne (our producer for a couple of the shows) who was desperate to have a go at Enamelling! She and Clare were like kids in a sweetie store in between shows.

It's sad I know but I still never tire of watching the Efcolor powders, especially the glitters, melt... they look like nothing in the tubes but positively come alive as they melt on the tea light stove. For the first time (I think) I tried stamping into hot glitter Efcolor and was surprised with how effective it was!...


Sadly the picture doesn't really do it justice but hopefully you can see that you can get a really good impression even though it's packed full of glitter!

Here are a few other samples I prepared for the shows...


I created this pendant to go with my top for the Monday shows.


This one was also done to match a top. :)


I created this pendant using one of my favourite stencils and a couple of Pantone's Spring 2016 colours.


Efco's 80x80 Efcolor Collage blanks make great card toppers once enamelled or you can use them to decorate scrapbook covers too...


Both of these were made using brass stencils to create the pattern.

I'm busy preparing projects for next week's Stampbord One Day Special now so hopefully will have some new and exciting ideas for you soon!

Happy Crafting!



Friday 22 January 2016

Addicted to Efcolor!

A short post this week I'm afraid as I'm nursing a very achy throat and a splitting headache. I'm thinking positive for Sunday/ Monday's Hochanda TV shows as at the moment I've lost my voice... always knew I should have learnt how to use sign language! lol! 

I've continued to play with Efcolor this week :) and here's another pendant...


This time I've used a ball peen hammer to shape a small butterfly blank which I've then enamelled with orange and black texture powder. Then I powdered up the oval pendant and placed the butterfly in it before heating.



Happy Enamelling!






Saturday 16 January 2016

Sgraffito Pendant

Well I missed my Friday deadline (not a great start to the new year but hey ho!), better late than never though... I hope!

I've been playing with Efcolor this week in view of the Hochanda TV shows (24-25th Jan) and seeing what new techniques I can show everyone. One I rather like is the Sgraffito (also known as Scraffito or Sgraffiti) and here's a new sample of this fab technique...




Materials needed:
Efco Oval Copper Blank (99 185 29)
Efco Bright Pink Efcolor Powder (93 700 35)
Efco Turquoise Efcolor Powder (93 700 45)
Efco Tea Light Stove Set (93 717 06)
Fine Sandpaper
Versamark Ink Pad
Embossing Tool
Efco 3mm Swarovski Crystal (21 080 01)
Bright Pink Nymo Beading Thread
Efco Beading Needle (21 249 07)
Efco Turquoise Seed Beads
Efco Transparent AB Round Glass Beads 6mm (21 275 00)
Efco Light Pink Luster Matt Wax Beads 6mm (21 337 32)
Efco Silver Crimp Beads 1mm (21 872 91)
Efco Silver Blossom Chain (97 606 91)
Silver Jump Ring
Efco Silver Necklace Hook Finding (97 425 06)
Jewellery Glue
Tweezers, Pliers & Wire Cutters



Step 1. Lightly sand an oval blank. Cover it with a good layer of bright pink Efcolor and heat it on the tea light stove until the powder is melted.


Step 2. Leave the blank to cool before inking up the surface with a Versamark ink pad.


Step 3. Cover the pink Efcolor with a thin layer of turquoise Efcolor powder.


Step 4. Create your design by drawing an embossing tool through the powder.


Step 5. Before heating the blank to melt the turquoise Efcolor, use tweezers to position a flat-backed Swarovski crystal in the powder.


Step 6. When cool, clean the back of the enamelled blank with fine sandpaper to remove any stray enamel.


Step 7. Attach a jump ring to the enamelled blank. 
Take 4 strands of bright pink nymo beading thread. Thread on a silver crimp bead, 3 seed beads, 1 pink bead, 5 seed beads, 2 crimp beads, 3 seed beads, 1 crystal bead and 5 seed beads. Then separate the threads, threading 2 of them through the jump ring, before joining them again and threading on 5 seed beads, 1 crystal bead, 3 seed beads, 2 crimp beads, 5 seed beads, 1 pink bead, 3 seed beads and another crimp bead.


Top Tip. As the nymo thread is so fine, add a touch of jewellery glue over the join in the jump ring to stop it becoming detached from the beaded necklace chain.


Step 8. Use pliers to flatten the first crimp beads either side of the pendant, making sure there is no slack in the thread or beads.


Step 9. Flatten the second crimp beads approximately 1 cm from the first, leaving the pink nymo thread visible.


Step 10. Use wire cutters to cut the fourth link from the end of the blossom chain to release 3 links. 
Thread 2 nymo strands through the middle link and back through the last crimp bead and some of the beads. 
Take the other 2 nymo strands and thread them through the middle link in the opposite direction and again back through the crimp bead and some other beads.


Step 11. Pull the threads tight before flattening the last crimp bead. You can tie a knot around the core threads with the ends for extra security if necessary before trimming the excess threads.

Then repeat steps 10-11 for the other side.


Step 12. Take 2 long lengths of bright pink nymph thread. Thread on 1 crystal bead, 5 seed beads, 2 crimp beads, 5 seed beads and a crimp bead on one end. Then thread the nymo strands through the middle link of the blossom chain and back through all the beads. Flatten the crimp bead next to the blossom chain. Slide the 5 seed beads down to the blossom chain before flattening the second crimp bead. Leave approximately 1 cm of exposed thread before flattening the third crimp bead. 


Step 13. Take the other longer ends and thread on 3 seed beads, 1 pink bead, 3 seed beads, 1 crystal bead, and then enough seed beads until you reach the length of necklace chain that you want. Add on a crimp bead before attaching the threads to one end of the clasp. Then thread the ends back through the crimp bead and several seed beads. Flatten the crimp bead next to the clasp. Make sure the threads are secure before trimming the excess.

Repeat Steps 12-13 for the other side.


Top Tip. Add dabs of glue to the threads attached to either side of the jewellery finding for added security.


And you are done! :)

You will be able to see this necklace amongst others as well as watch me demonstrate this technique on the Hochanda Efcolor One Day Special (24-25th January). Hope to 'see' you there ;)

Happy crafting!



 

Friday 8 January 2016

New Efcolor One Day Special on Hochanda

Hi everyone

I'm pleased to announce that I've just agreed to demonstrate on Hochanda TV for another one day special of Efco's Efcolor range. The launch show will take place at 8pm on Sunday 24th January with the follow up shows at 9am, 12 noon, 4pm and 7pm on Monday 25th. :)

So it looks like I'm going to be busy next week cooking up some new ideas for the shows so hopefully I'll have some teasers for you in next Friday's blog post.

Here's some reminders of past projects for you in the meantime - don't forget you can download free project sheets for these from the website.









Happy Crafting everyone!







Friday 1 January 2016

Happy New Year!

I want to wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year full of crafting fun!

(Sorry I've not got a new project to post this week but I ended up spending most of the festive season off sick with a nasty bug.) I should have a new project ready for next Friday though so watch this space...