. I stamped a tile using Sandal,Ginger,and Caramel with a tiny bit of Gold thrown in and then I rubber stamped a design using Archival Ink in Jet Black
. Then I decided what the heck. I'd embellish. It was too one-dimensional. I also decided to attempt to embellish using only what I had lying on my work table - that's not as much of a challenge as you might think if you could see my work table. :) So I pulled out some findings. They were all boring silver and gold-colored. Guess what? I dyed them! I used Twilight Purple Alcohol Ink
, put three drops in a small plastic container, dumped the findings in, swirled them around until they were covered, pulled them out and let them dry. Word of warning - if using Gorilla Super Glue
on the findings after the ink has dried be careful not to get any on your hands because the ink will pull away on your fingers. Other than that, it won't rub off. If I were dying findings for jewelry use, I'd seal it with Krylon's Make It Last
spray sealant. It's non-yellowing and lasts forever. It's a very good sealant but it also needs 24 hours to dry completely, so be sure to dye everything and seal it all at the same time - that way you can use the findings the next day. Anyway - the photo below shows the tile, nothing is adhered - I'm simply laying out, but in the upper left corner, you'll see two butterflies. One is silver and the other is purple. The purple one has been dyed using Purple Twilight
. I made antennae for it using brass craft wire
and then added a drop of Hypo Cement
at the top, since the finding is actually a pewter bead and the wire runs through the body of the butterfly. I just coiled the ends to make spiral tails for it. I love these inks. My next project is to use some primer on a large picture-sized area over my bed and then ink the wall and rubber stamp it. Weird you say? Not really - think about a mural. You can do a LOT with rubber stamps if you know what you're doing.
Okay - since I know you really want to know what my work table looked like tonight, here it is. A little embarrassing, but hey - it is what it is. :) That's just the table I use for paper and altered artwork. I have my bench in my living room (a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!) where I do all my metal work.
