Getting the Faux on..........

Hey People!  The E-Team is starting the New Year with a New Series:  Getting Your Faux On!! 



Of course, it wouldn't be an E-Team hop with out some goodies!!  All you have to do is leave a comment on each Team member's blog for a chance to win one of  THREE $25 eP gift vouchers!  You will have from today, Friday, January 20 until Sunday, January 22 to leave a comment.  Winners will be announced late Monday, January 23 on the eP blog.

E-Team Members

Daisy

Broni

Linda L

Micki

Sherry

Me!

The lovely Wendy Vecchi posted a fabulous faux technique, Faux Crazed Porcelain, on her blog a while back, using Glue n Seal and Rock Candy Crackle Paint.  Our fearless leader, Daisy, challenged the E-Team to use this technique and see what we could come up with to inspire you to give it a try!!   

I did a lot of experimenting with this technique.  Let me first share my project, then I'll share some tips on what I discovered.

Let's just ignore the fact that I put my cage on base at an angle.  Yes, it really bothers me, as I was wanting it to be straight!  The bent "bars" would be my failed attempt trying to correct the angle of placement after the fact.  Obviously, sometimes you just have to let those little mishaps go. sigh.

I decided to make a decor item or wall hanging.  The base is a piece of foam board that was cut to 6x6".  Two layers of Pure Luxury Ivory card stock the bottom layer is slightly larger than 6x6") were distressed and form the base.  All the decorative papers come from My Mind's Eye 6x6 pad Madison Avenue.  The fall seasonal Distress Ink Gathered Twigs was used to add distressing along the edges of the papers.  The cage was die cut from Ten Second Studios Dark Chocolate metal. It's difficult to tell from the picture, but the cage was bent to form a 3D effect off the base.   The butterflies were punched using a MS butterfly punch and Alterations  movers and shakers  Mini Butterflies. The Clearly for Art modeling film was used to add dimension to the butterflies. 

Other accessories used were Old Lace Glimmer Mist (on the base design paper and the Fleur de Lis "lace", made with the Spellbinder's die), 1/2 back self adhesive pearls (from my stash) and the decorative pearl swirls, also from my stash.  The sentiment tag is just a scrap of Ivory card stock, distressed with Gathered Twigs ink that I wrote the saying on. 



NOW for the faux porcelain!!  One of the surfaces for this technique that I tested was the Clearly for Art modeling film.  I brushed a thin coat of Glue n Seal onto the film and after that had dried, I coated again with the Rock Candy Crackle Paint. I die cut the flower pieces with the Tattered Floral die and then used the reinker for Distress Ink Spun Sugar to color the  flower.  I just dropped several pools of ink onto the film and used a paper towel to rub it into the cracks and wipe off the excess.  The color and technique seemed to hold well, even with the heating of the film to mold the flower petals. 

The center of the flower was made with a Viva Pearl Pen in Cream.  I colored it with Copic markers to match the flower. 



The leaves were done the same way, only I used a transparency sheet from Office Depot for my base. 



Let me share some tips/tricks with you that I learned while exploring this technique.

Surfaces:  This technique works on a variety of "slick" surfaces.  I tested it on glass, transparency and Clearly for Art modeling film.  You MUST use the Glue n Seal (or perhaps Elmer's Glue) for a base for the crackle paint to adhere too.  Otherwise, the crackle paint will rub off!!  A thicker layer of crackle paint will yield larger cracks, but I have found it takes a VERY thick layer to get large cracks.  You can speed up the drying process with your heat gun once you notice the cracks appearing.  Just beware that if you happen to hit a thicker pocket of paint, it may bubble with the heat gun.  It can sometimes result in a different texture than the rest of the cracks.  I'm not sure if that is from the paint or perhaps the glue bubbling. 

I also tried this technique on Ten Second Studio's metal, using the same methodology. While the technique works on the metal, I found that the cracks were sooo fine, that they were difficult to see with the shine of the metal. And I'm still experimenting as to what type of inks I could use to highlight the cracks more. I really wanted LARGE cracking on the metal versus the fine cracking that I was getting more often than not. So far, I have found that it takes a VERY, VERY thick coat to crack large on the metal, but that is not consistent. I also tried to speed up the drying process of the paint, once cracking was noticed, with my heat gun, but it seems to have a reaction with the glue/paint/metal and results in a change in color of the metal. I will be experimenting more with this technique and metal and will let you know what I come up with at a later date!!

Coloring:  Surprisingly, Distress Stains and the Distress ReInkers seem to color the faux porcelain without rubbing off.  I found that I could get a second layer of color on if I allowed the first layer of color to dry.  I still need to test permanent inks to see how those will color.  The mottling effect of darker Alcohol inks tended to obscure the detail of the cracks since the ink will adhere to the smooth surface under the cracks.  The lighter color of inks look FAB!

Other:  I also tried using the glue as a base for other crackle paint on these same surfaces.  Worked well, but you obviously don't get the transparency as you do with the Rock Candy crackle paint. 

 Tip:  If you by chance find that your crackle paint has dried up, mix in some water.  It doesn't seem to affect the crackling compound of the paint.  DO NOT  use a glaze to thin the paint.  That, DOES seem to affect the crackling!!  Also, Linda L, had a great suggestion to store your paints and Distress Stains upside down to help prevent air from getting into the jars and bottles.   Just tip the paint jars upright for a minute or so, before using them, and the paint will drip off the brush back into the jar.

I hope that you found this technique inspiring and will give it a try! 

'Till next time.................explore a new technique or experiment, with a twist, using an old favorite technique!!