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| Becka's Library Shelf |
| Becka's Games Shelf |
that's right. back again this year, it's the third annual "halloween-costume-a-day". quick and easy costume ideas for all ages! bad puns, just plain cute and seriously silly. minimal artistic ability necessary. i have added more this year so we should have one for every day in october! brought to you by The Queen of Halloween (who hasn't figured out her own costume yet!) starting sunday october 1.
becka on 09.28.06 @ 08:04 PM CST [link]
a little detour in the enameling 101 series to talk about studio space and safety. i had my enameling setup in a corner of the workbench in the basement. it was working fine, but andy and i have been on a mission to reclaim portions of our house that have been surrendered to the chaos for the past few years. last weekend we targeted the canning cupboard, a quaint little room full of shelves that was used by the previous owners to store multitudes of canned goods. (we can tell this by the presence of a thermometer to make sure the room stayed at an appropriate temperature, the potato drawer complete with newspaper clipping of "how to store potatoes" etc) the canning cupboard has been storing junk since we moved in. so we cleaned it out. and then we remodeled. we removed all but one of the shelves on one side. that shelf is now a great countertop for glass central. on the other side, we pulled out the front board from each shelf to make them a little narrower and give a little more space in the room to move around. the room even has a tiny little window that opens and thanks to andy a nice new outlet for my lamp and kiln.
and then we moved all of the glass in. enamels, stained glass, mosaic supplies. we are great dabblers and this stuff has been scattered all over the basement. now it has a home! the other advantage of this is that the glass is now contained. since enamel is powdered glass, you really don't want it making its way all over the house. i always wear a dust mask while i am working. it is a pain and i don't like it, but the thought of breathing glass just makes my skin crawl. i also wear an apron and keep an old towel in my lap. glass dust ground in to your clothing is yucky too. my nice linoleum countertop is easy to wash down and so stylish, no?
becka on 09.22.06 @ 09:09 AM CST [link]
first, if i haven't mentioned it lately, i think everyone should go and read this book:
and then read the ones that follow it. i love them. and so does peter jackson...
then there's my book of the week...
i haven't read it yet, but i met the author, Anne Ursu at an art-in-the-park type event last weekend. she was a delight and we had a great chat about felting. note to self for future: demonstrating something that requires your hands to be wet and soapy for 5 hours is not fun.
a few honorable mentions...
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King. my friend Danielle passed this along to me. a good read. i wasn't sure for the first few chapters, but eventually it sucked me in.
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale Loved this one. Looking forward to reading more by this author.
becka on 09.18.06 @ 07:16 PM CST [link]
a brainstorm in the car this morning while i was driving to work. i couldn't wait to get home and try it out. this is a reusable cute fabric cd/dvd case. pocket on one side for your disc and clear vinyl pocket on the other side for a label, photo, birthday greeting etc. i think on version two i might put a button flap to help keep the disc in the pocket. the idea is that if you take cds back and forth to work (which i do) you could have a cute case for them. OR you could give one as a gift filled with a music mix cd, photo cd (kid birthdays, wedding, special vacation) or a dvd of kid videos for grandma. i love it!
becka on 09.14.06 @ 05:57 PM CST [link]
two of three omiyage bags that i worked on with some other etsy artists. omiyage are japanese gifts, sometimes it refers to souvenirs from a trip that you bring back for friends and sometimes the fancy bag that these little gifts are placed in. two other artists and i did a "round robin" kind of thing with these bags. sockdiva (Diana) made the bags from fabrics we had chosen, lunarium (Rebecca) created polymer clay beads to coordinate and i put them altogether with the beadwork. then we each got one back to post in our shops or keep for ourselves. you can see mine here in my etsy shop.
becka on 09.11.06 @ 09:03 AM CST [link]
the next step for making an enameled piece - the counter enamel. first is to do a layer of something on the back side of the copper piece. for this one i chose a nice pale blue. the tools are set. 
i use the sifter to make nice even layer of powdered glass on the copper shape. you can paint on a layer of "clear-fire" first. that is a clear sticky substance that helps everything stay put for the first round. i have used it sometimes and forgotten other times. i think it does help keep the edges from pulling back.
then finally transfer it to the trivet. your piece sits on this little pointy trivet, which only touches it in a few tiny spots, while it fires in the kiln. this piece is ready to go in to the kiln. the first firing takes about 3 minutes with my kiln.
becka on 09.05.06 @ 02:43 PM CST [link]
when i was shopping for my enameling gear and before that when i was trying to decide whether or not to take the class, i did a lot of searching around on the web for anything i could read up about enameling. there is not much out there. so in the interest of helping out the next person who does a little searching on the subject, i present enameling 101. here is a bit about my tools, process, what i have learned so far and some finished projects.
this is my little baby kiln. yes, it is tiny. it works great. all i do is plug it in, wait about 45 min for it to heat up and we are ready to go. the kiln heats up to about 1450 degrees. this makes it the perfect temperature for glass and precious metal clay (which i know next to nothing about, that will have to wait for another class).
so, step one is plugging it in. step two is what you do while you are waiting for it to heat up - clean and prep. i do enameling on copper. so, i start with a punched copper shape of some variety. it is about the thickness of a penny and i have all kinds of different shapes.
first i punch a hole with my nifty little hole punch. with the punch i can put multiple holes or put them anywhere i want. much better than pre-punched shapes.
next, file sharp corners, rough spots etc so it is nice and smooth.
and finally clean it. copper shapes come coated in a bit of oil and the glass doesn't stick well if that is there.
at my class we cleaned the pieces with soft scrub, which i don't like because of the bleach and i have to wear gloves to do it. figuring that if the goal was to cut oil and dish detergent is perfect for that, i tried washing with a scrubby sponge and dish soap last night. worked great. End of Part One.
becka on 09.01.06 @ 08:11 AM CST [link]
