If I only had a Heart

Wait a minute ..... I DO have a heart.
I saw these hearts at Michael's (or Joanne's - sorry can't remember for sure where) and thought they just cried out to be altered.

Out came the Vintaj Patina and a while later they were transformed into earrings I have aptly named "Tin Woodman's Desire".

I hear a beat ..... how sweet!

Catch up V2.0

Still have two more pair of earrings to blog about.  Just got too tired last night to continue.

Both these were made from metal beads that I picked up from Ben Franklin.  I colored them with the Ranger/Vintaj Patina paints that have come out recently.  I am really liking these paints. They are bright and cheerful and you don't have to bake them (a big plus).  Only time will tell as to how durable they are.

Week 20 earrings were made by painting base silver beads with a mixture of amethyst with the Patina Glaze to lighten it a bit. Then I went back in and with a toothpick carefully laid the straight amethyst into the indents in the beads.

Original metal beads

Earrings after painting with Amethyst Patina.  "Seeing Spots - Week 20

The next pair use the Jade color of Patina.  This time I also painted the end cap beads with the straight Jade.  The pair I am picturing are made from applying the undiluted Jade  to the bead.  I had also mixed the Jade with a larger amount of the Glaze to get more of a color wash.  I like the straight Jade better.

Green Twist Week 21

Original bead on left, Jade colorwashed bead on right.

To UTEE or not to UTEE...

I told you last week that I had ordered some of the new Vintaj Patina metal paints from Bello Modo.  Well, they arrived and I finally had a bit of free time to try them out.  I am impressed. I really like the color choices and the blendable aspect of the paint. The only downside is that they dry a little too fast.  I am not as quick with the brush as I used to be.  In the past, I probably could have done both blanks at the same time. Now just one at a time.
   I had gone on line and watched a couple of the YouTube videos showcasing this product.  On one of them, the demonstrator finished her pieces of using a melting pot and UTEE.  I have had a melting pot for years and never used it! (I KNEW I would have a used for it some day... ).  So after little digging around in the cupboard, I brought it out into the light of day.
   I am not sure I like using UTEE for this application.  My first blanks were a disaster.  I put on too much and the UTEE flowed over the edges of the blanks and got on the back and made a big mess.  I am not even going to show that - too ashamed.

  I got the hang of it better on the second set.  I did have a bit of a problem with the pre-made holes. The UTEE kept filling them.  Had to rim and remelt 3 or 4 times before the holes would stay open. This is the same folder design I used for the Twig earrings last week.

This set went a bit better.  I found there is a slight slant to the melting pot even after I propped it up on the lid .  I found this could be advantageous with controlling the flow of the melting UTEE around the hole.

 

Then I wondered how UTEE would work with alcohol inks.  It is interesting.  I *think* the inks are still dispersing under the UTEE. Take a look at the picture above.  See the tendrils of blue ink that are laying across the raised part of the embossed swirls near the sides of the discs?  I could swear they were not there when I finished them, but were there when I took the picture the next day.  And I just looked at them again - the tendrils are more pronounced and in more places.  I think this is because I failed to seal the ink before applying the UTEE.  I also noticed that UTEE scratches VERY easily. That is OK for me, as I can just pop them back in the pot and remelt to smooth the scratches out, but I could never sell them.
  I have ordered some Glaze especially made for this product so will wait till it gets here before trying more experiments with the Patina's.