Baking Parchment transfer…inkjet

There has been some discussion and some trials with baking parchment transfers after my recent posts. I have had stunning success with my lasers…Brother B&W and Samsung color.

Initially I had also tried inkjet and as I had reported the method does work with inkjet, just not as vividly.

Today at work I printed onto baking parchment with a common HP color inkjet. (Mine at home is an Epson with Claria inks—water proof. The HP inks are not water proof and I wanted to test!)

Here are my results:

These two are onto gray classic Fimo. That is a dime in the corner. So what you are seeing is detail you may not see without the camera. To the naked eye these appear smoother.

These next two are on white Kato. This was ONE print. With the inkjet not all of the ink releases from the paper. I was able to get TWO transfers from one print! (Remember the dime!)

These are on Premo Pearl. Very hard to photograph. Very good transfers. That second one is again a second transfer from a print.

This last one is on SculpeyIII the whitest of all clays and it shows!

Just like the laser transfers all I did was to make a copy onto BAKING PARCHMENT (brand of choice BAK-O-MATIC by Dixie).

Place print onto sheet of raw clay (no water, no medium, no liquid clay).

Burnish (no need to burnish vigorously, seems to transfer rather quickly)

Lift paper off.

Cure.

And that is it.

I leave to to play….

Valerie

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As requested!

BlGrCp,
originally uploaded by VAharoni.

I posted this picture to illustrate a current discussion on one of the forums. Seems to have generated some interest!
I received a request for a tutorial...so....here is a simple explanation of a simple process.

Roll a flat sheet of clay (any brand) around a dowel. Then roll it in salt. Press firmly. You want deep impressions. Cure. Rinse off salt and let dry. Using gold acrylic paint and your fingers, force the paint into all those crevessas. Immediately remove paint from surface of clay tube.
Now using various acrylic colors dab onto surface. Let dry. Slice.
Cut circles of clay to match the size of the end of your bead. Attach with liquid clay and smooth with fingers. Smoothing action will dome the cap.
Cure again.

For this look table salt must be used. It is square in shape and the gold paint gets in there and reflects nicely. Other salts do not all have the same cube shape. Kosher salt is flakes. Sea salts vary. Rock salt is too large.

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Polyvore?

Ever wondered how to present innovative color schemes, fashion ideas, original style? Try Polyvore.

Here is a fast try:
Fun. And easy. And free.
You can pull any image posted on the web and use it. Caveat: Be cognizant of copyright issues.
Flicker integrates perfectly!

Have fun.

Remember, during Chanukah (thru the 29th) a freebie with any purchase at Etsy or VAharoni.com

Enjoy the season,
Valerie

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During Chanukah make a purchase from my website or Etsy site and I will be gifting all customers with a hamsa I have just made for this purpose. The hamsa is believed by most to protect from harm.

...And that is my wish for you this season.

Stay well.

Valerie

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transfers redux

I am just so jazzed about these transfers. So incredibly easy!

Perfect every time. Look at this great detail.

Share your results if you give this a go!

Valerie

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thanks to my viewers

twice on Flicker EXPLORE!

Valerie

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those elusive transfers

For the last two days I have been transferring images onto clay. I have an Epson with Claria inks, a Samsung color laser, a Brother b&w laser, and an old (very old) Canon toner copier.
The Canon is great for plain paper black transfers that you rub on and leave sit for 15 min to 3 days depending on the effect you want and the brand of clay. No water, alcohol, etc.
The lasers are good for plain paper, apply to clay, spray with water, rub paper off. I find this tiresome. It does give an excellent and cheap transfer.
I read about transfers with freezer paper. I tried. Since the side you print onto (the waxed side) is so very slippery...the ink beads and the transfer is not clear. Not my choice!
Next...I thought what about the boxes of baking parchment I have squirreled away under the sofa? It is also coated, not quite as slippery as the freezer paper.
ummm...wow...works with both the Epson and the Samsung! Yes, that is right, both a laser and an inkjet!
I prefer the laser results. But, if you don't have a laser (and you can get one for about $70 today!) the inkjet will work! No rubbing, no alcohol, no water, no mess. The ink just sticks to the clay!
These first three are laser copies. The copies have been sitting around 8-10 months. Not fresh. Transferred fine. I coated them with several layers of liquid Kato to get rid of the fuzzies.













These last two are the copies printed onto baking parchment. Not coated. As a matter of fact, they are still warm from the oven!

• 
  
  Doing the happy dance. No more rubbing, peeling and hoping!
  
  easy
  
  fast
  
  clean
  
  materials readily available
  
  reliable
  
  fun
  no fuzzies
  
  cheap!
  
  
  

Valerie

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and the winner is . . .

c r a f t y L i n d a ! ! ! !

Congratulations Linda, please contact me! Everyone else the drawing at Etsy is continuing. So click on over for another chance at a wonderful win!

Stay tuned for another special beginning Sunday night, Chanukah!

Valerie

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Midnight Tonight

Have you left a comment? Signed your name? Given me a way to contact you?
If yes your name is in the proverbial, and in this case literal, hat for my drawing!

A copy if Kristal Wick’s fabulous fabric beads is the hot item! Why? It is fabulous! Just like the title says, full of info. I am looking forward to taking this class in March!

Bead Fest Santa Fe is March 12th to 15th. My first vacation since the ‘60s (which really was one long vacation, I’ll save that for another post). Kristal’s class is one of four for which I have registered.

Have any of you dear readers attended a bead show, gathering of this nature? If yes please educate me! Do attendees exchange tokens of any kind? (we polymer clay addicts sure do!!) I would like to shine, after all I am the BEAD STAR, and not fall flat on my inexperienced face.

Remember, you have until midnight to leave a comment to slip your name into my hat…

Valerie

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The Joy Of New Books!!!

As I have mentioned, I adore books. Interweave and Lark (to name only two prolific publishers) have been quite active lately.

I never could quite understand crocheted or knitted ‘jewelry’. Most of what I have seen is juvenile and mundane. Rosemary Hill in Elements of Style has broken thru! There has been a stainless steel thread on the market for a few years. I first received a sample about five years ago to try with kumihimo . Never did as I was concerned it would mar the fine wood surface of my Madurai. Rosemary Hill has several jewelry pieces using the fiber knitted and it is wonderful.

The layout of this book is easy and well planned.

(…the felted and beaded necklace is a great stash breaker for us bead/fiber/clay artists!)

I wonder if the editors at Interweave have a clause in their contracts re publishing? Or are they a naturally prolific crowd? Denise Peck, the editor of Step by Step Wire Jewelry is the author of Wire Style.
A M U S T H A V E ! ! ! !

The basics are there and so much more. My new jump-ringer is itching to try a couple of the easy and visually stunning chains!

Both of these are from Interweave. As is BEAD STAR!

Reminder: Today and tomorrow are the last opportunities to enter the drawing for Kristal Wick’s fabulous fabric beads . Simply leave a comment here on my blog and be entered!

And the holiday contest at Etsy continues… Please remember you must leave a comment here for fabulous fabric beads AND join the contest at Etsy to be entered in both.

Valerie

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PCAGOE Scavenger Hunt!

 

See the cute little elfin miss to the right? 
She could win you a copy of BEAD STAR  and the polymer clay components to make your own version of the Best in Show wining necklace from my Etsy shop. The members of PCAGOE, the Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy, are sponsoring a Holiday Scavenger Hunt. Beginning today, December 10, 2008 and continuing until midnight e.s.t. of December 21, 2008, visit my shop and find Elfin Miss hidden among my items. I have hidden one image of her in my shop. When you find her, convo me through Etsy and give me either the URL of the listing where she is hidden, or the Transaction Number for the Item.

That's it! You must be a registered Etsy user to qualify, so if you have not already registered, please take a moment to do so, and you can join in our fun! Registering is fast and easy.

On December 22, 2008, I will draw a winner at random using a random generator. I will notify the winner by return convo and you will soon have BEAD STAR magic in your hands! Not valid in conjunction with any other promotion or sale I am offering. I will also post the winner's name here on my blog.

And be sure to check pcagoe.com for the links to the other PCAGOE members who are participating in the scavenger hunt. Every member is offering a different prize!

(should you prefer, a $25 gift certificate to be redeemed by January 12th may chosen in place of the above)

During  the week of Chanukah I have a private treat…Treat yourself to a BEAD STAR set and receive a hamsa to hang in your home or to gift.

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for now....

To participate in the chance posted here please convo me at Etsy.
Next week, Wednesday, I'll collect everyone's name from here and from Etsy...run them thru a random name pick...&...voila!

I want to thank joolzbylisa of Etsy for this brilliant work-around!

Valerie

p.s. seems I have unknowingly posted a fix!! aren't the vagaries of the ethernet grand? when you click on the here above, or here (uh huh), you arrive at the original post with the comment fields INTACT.
bonne chance!!!

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broken blog?

Seems the comments field is broken!!! Yikes!
I am trying to figure this out. Stay tuned...
Valerie

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BOH

Next week is the deadline for the 2009 Bottles of Hope Designer Challenge.
It took me over an hour to find the web page! I have a few I am sending off. What I like about this is the fact that there is also a corporate monetary donation. Individuals receive the hand-crafted bottles. And caring institutions benefit from the additional donation

The bottles I use are ones that sustained me for many years. It feels 'right' to repurpose them in this manner.

Valerie

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it is official!

What I leaked yesterday, is now official today !!

And Interweave has sent (and graciously allowed me to post) the cover!

The best part? Now it is real. I was encouraged to enter by my dear friend, Louise Fischer Cozzi. I had many excuses. Bead Star made it quite simple. So I beaded and entered!

I did enter more than one piece, the rules allowed one entry in each of nine catagories. This was one of the two I entered with polymer clay and I am delighted! Polymer clay is a wonderful medium and the combination with seed beads is one that needs more exploration.

The magazine officially goes on sale at newstands Dec15th per the news release. However I have beading friends who have already purchased this inaugaural issue, so run out and get your copy. There are some wonderful designs in it by both well-known designers and newcomers.

. . . another drum roll please . . .
(hey, this has never happened to me before! so gimme a break here)

Art Bead Scene as I mention here, has a monthly challenge. (I did encourage you to enter.) And my entry is featured for the week! I happen to adore this piece. I have a black turtleneck silk sheath dress and deep V tangerine pullover cashmere sweater I have worn this with. The look is to die for! Artsy and elegant.

btw, that is a hollow square lentil. I used Scupley's Light . It has a powdery tactile feel, almost like a sanded silk. Heaven.

To everyone who stops by, leaves a note...you will be entered in a chance to win fabulous fabric beads by Kristal Wick! bonne chance!

Valerie

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too much to say

Ever had one of those days where everything seems to happen all at once?

• The competition was publicized last April and I entered. I was notified in June of my status. 1st prize in the seed bead category! A week later, by email, BEST OF SHOW!!! BEAD STAR!!Last June! It is now December. In June I signed a non-disclosure agreement. I TOLD NO ONE! (Well, except for my son who wanted to know what was 'wrong' when I started yelling and acting like an inane fool!) Seven months (yes! 7!) of this feeling of my skin being too tight to contain me.
  
  The copy I ordered arrived Friday afternoon. And if you happened to be on my block you would have witnessed me flying down the street to share the news with neighbors! (We are a close community!)


• The March-April Art and Design issue of AmericanStyle is focusing on polymer clay. They are offering special ad rates. And for the first time I am placing an ad!


• One of my listings made it into an Etsy treasury!
• This is a beautiful treasury, warm and festive. My first time to be picked among the thousands, or is it millions of Etsy items listed!
  
  Speaking of Etsy, I've listed sets/components needed to make your own version of the BEAD STAR Best in Show! Each set will make two in slightly different configurations. These are simple to make . . . with dramatic visual impact.
  ...there are several completed ones available both on Etsy and VAharoni.com
  
• This last bit has me perplexed & frustrated. As you see I have tried to create a three column blog. The main section, the part you are reading, should be centered. For four hours in the wee hours of the morning I tweaked and hacked to no avail. Any ideas?

Enjoy your week, and remember my free shipping for reader's and the buy 3 get one free set of the ornament/gift fob/pendant(Again buy 3 sets and mention my blog and you will receive a 4th . . . my choice . . . gratis, free, חופשי, frei, libre, libero, свободный, 自由な, gratuito. . . in other words . . . no charge :).

Valerie

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B E A D S T A R

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exciting December

This month there are contests, sales and giveaways. All to encourage the exchange of $$$$.

I encourage joining in the fun. At Art Bead Scene the December contest is posted and it smply takes a few moments of linking a photo!

Currently the PCAGOE December 2008 Winter Challenge is on. There are prizes for 7 (seven!) voters. Your chances are excellent to win a handmade item just for voting. Sweet.

All the magazines and online bead shops are having specials. I noticed a few are offering discounted gift cards. I'm not shopping. I'm selling. I am travelling to Santa Fe in the Spring and need some way to finance the classes I registered for at Bead Fest. My first.
Soooo. . . visit my Etsy shop for the continued free shipping if you mention my blog and

those ornament sets in my Etsy shop. (Again buy 3 sets and mention my blog and you will receive a 4th . . . my choice . . . gratis, free, חופשי, frei, libre, libero, свободный, 自由な, gratuito. . . in other words . . . no charge :)

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Round Robin Part 2

After quite a rest at this stop...RonaH's Round Robin Bracelet is on it's way.

Rona's quite ingenous use of mixed metals makes it an easy task to repurpose those found items!

I added a few washers, one stamped with her initials. And then cut a bit off a knitting needle and wire-wrapped it to form a link. Rona's choice of clasp is perfect for this, tying her concept together perfectly!

On to Round 3!!

Valerie

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