Congratulations to Trish!

Hi Everyone

 

Just a quick note to say that Trish is our lucky winner from the Kent County Prize Draw! I hope you enjoy creating some fabulous enamelled pieces with your parcel of Efco Efcolor crafting goodies!

Happy Enamelling!

Fee x

Wow, What a Show & Efcolor Experimentations

Hi Everyone

I just got back from the Kent County Show and what a great show it was - despite the horrendous weather! I met lots of lovely people and introduced many to the wonders of enamelling with Efco's Efcolor powders. Check ou the Crafter's Gallery to see some of the creations of the visitors who made it to the Kent Pavilion. I think it's safe to say that fun was had by all inspite of the thunderstorms and downpours.

And for those of you who are based in the Rochester area, Francis Iles have asked me to teach an Efcolor Enamelling workshop later this year - I will let you know the date as soon as one has been arranged.

One very interesting development that came out of the show was when a lovely lady asked if you could combine mica powders with the Efcolor powders. It's something I'd not tried myself but didn't see why they shouldn't work - so, in between trying to catch up on emals etc. I just had to give it a go. And here are the results.

The octagonal pendant was coated with black Efcolor powder and baked. Then mica powders were dropped on. A cocktail stick was used to create a spirograph-like pattern before it was covered with a layer of clear transparent Efcolor powder and rebaked. Where there were small mounds of mica powder the clear transparent Efcolor seemed to have 'rolled' back and off the powder, leaving it exposed. Applying more transparent Efcolor powder didn't make much difference until the mica powder was spread around a little with a cocktail stick.

The butterfly pendant was coated with black Efcolor powder and baked. Then mica powders were brushed on making sure there were no lumps. A cocktail stick was used to create a pattern in the powder before a thin layer of clear transparent Efcolor powder was applied and it was rebaked.

The dragonfly pendant was coated with black Efcolor powder and baked. Mica powders were mixed with clear transparent Efcolor powder and then a spatula was used to pick up the mixes and drop them on the blank, covering the black layer. It was then rebaked.

As you can see you can create some spectacular results - so thank you lovely lady for your suggestion!

Having tried the mica powders I thought it would be worth just checking whether the Jo Sonja Iridescent Colours would work with the Efcolor powders as well as they do with polymer clay, and guess what....

Like the other samples this one was enamelled with black Efcolor powder. Then a thin coat of Jo Sonja Iridescent acrylics was applied to the surface and allowed to dry. It was covered with a thin layer of clear transparent Efcolor powder and rebaked.

The photos don't really do all the samples justice so if you have the JS Iridescents or mica powders then have a go at combining them with the Efcolor powders yourselves. If you send in photos of your creations I'll add them to the Crafter's Gallery.

Till the next time, Happy Crafting....

Fee x

July's Product of the Month

Hi Everyone

If you've never tried Pébéo's Vitrea 160 Glass Paints then it's worth checking them out. They are great for decorating a variety of surfaces including cards, ceramics and, of course, glass. You can use them in conjunction with the outliners to keep the colours separate and give a traditional stained glass effect or mix it up a little as in the Vitrea Fusion Card. If painting a heat-resistant surface you can bake the decorated item, once dry, to make it dishwasher proof.

Don't forget, if you've got photos of any glass painted project, do send them in to our Crafter's Gallery (gallery@projects4crafters.com) as I'm sure everyone would like to see them!

Happy Crafting

Fee x