More experimenting with metalFX

Last weeks play session with the metalFX and nailpolish really got me quite excited about the varying ways we can add colour to metal. There are of course traditional, and heat patinas. These either require the use of chemicals, and or fire - not an option for everyone. Gilders paste comes in a wide variety of colours, and dries rock solid hard - but for those of you who also suffer from 'collectemallitis' like I do, it can get more than a little pricy.  That said, a wee tin of gilders paste will last you forever!

Enter nailpolish, metalFX, and a can of spray varnish! It's fun, cheap, and has the added bonus of being pretty much instant gratification. You can see my initial experiments with it in the Breath of Spring inspiration from last week.

I managed to get a few better pics of the process this week.

 The above image shows the metalFX just after it has been applied. I've been experimenting with varying different ways to apply it. Brushing it on, or blotching it on with lots of excess will give you completely different looks. You'll want to experiment with it both ways, as it depends on the bead/finding that you're using with method looks better.

Above, I've brushed off most of the excess, and purposely roughed it up a bit to allow the base metal to show through. The beads were then sealed. I've tried two methods: 1) a top coat of nailpolish, and 2) a coating of clear spray varnish (the one I had on hand was Painters Touch Clear by Rust-Oleum)

Both work quite well to seal in the metalFX and prevent it from flaking off. I found the spray varnish gave it a harder coating, but would probably depend on the quality of the nailpolish top coat that you use (I just had cheap stuff) ;-)

If you decide to play with this process - we'd love to see what you come up with!

Powders, powders everywhere

...and a serious case of collectemallitis. I've been working on new colours for our metalFX collection. It's fun, messy, but very, very difficult to try and narrow down the possibilities. Dwyn came over late last night to help narrow down the next selection to 14 or so odd new colours. Of course, the most requested colour was black. That's coming, along with more metallics.

There are so many things you can do with our metalFX - They work well on resin clays, polymer clay, and mixed into resin.

As you can see from the state of my kitchen table - we rarely eat there ;-) Occasionally, we clear off all of the various craft and painting projects long enough to eat a family meal together. Usually, we eat in the living room. lol.

Working on blends, and attempting, not overly successfully, to match certain beads. I think I'm getting a bit closer now though. Stay tuned in the coming months for more colours to be added to our collection.

The images below show our current lineup. Please excuse the messy photos. The samples will be removed from the paper backing, cleaned up and attached to a display board for the store. Once that's done, we'll post the new pictures on the site. 

Mixmaster ;-)

I'm working on some brand spanking new colours for our MetalFX line. I've got a couple in the works based on requests from Marg, and I'd love to hear about any more ideas for colours to add to our range. Can you think of anything missing, or even just another specific shade of your favourite colour?  As always, we believe the more the better!  And of course getting input from those of you who use it, is always best.

Click on the image below to be taken to our full line of MetalFX.

These are so much fun to make, and of course fun to use. Use it on your epoxy clay/crystal clay, polymer clay, and mixed into resin.

Inspiration Friday - Just playing around

As I'm sure many of you know by now - I'm easily amused, and once I get going with something I need to play it out til the end. Or until I collapse from exhaustion - which is what sent me to bed at 6am, only to wake up at 10 am to keep going. Last night around midnight I was browsing through last years copy of Handcrafted Jewelry. On page 11, Jess from Vintaj shows how to apply alcohol ink on metal to colour it. Usually, I would file something like that away with the million and one other things I want to try someday.  However, I had a bunch a Vintaj bits, and I also own 6 colours of alcohol inks.  I needed to try it out right then.

Btw - this also works on lucite, and glass! The glass did better with just the straight inks, and no metalFX though.

(Note - I got my alcohol inks from Micheals)

I started squirting and brushing the inks on any piece of metal I could find on my desk. The results were pretty and subtle - then I remembered our MetalFX, so I went and grabbed the box of supplies that I use for formulating the colours. This is where the magic happened for me. The colour combinations that you can get by blending different shades of inks, with different MetalFX is unlimited. As well, you can build up successively by allowing it to dry, then adding more colour (both ink and MetalFX)

The finish is surprisingly sturdy. I scrubbed each one quite vigorously with a paper towel. I do recommend sealing before you make it into something with a bit of Renaissance Wax.  

Be on the watch for a ton of other projects coming your way that you can use our MetalFX in. It's neat stuff!