BS: Mudcat Crafters

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 07 - 12:31 AM

Ha! I have things tucked away "safely" all over the house! Now if I could only remember what I considered safe at the time I did the tucking. :)

Serendipity was at work yesterday--the hobby store closed before I got there so I made a detour to run to the grocery store, my regular chain but a different outlet. And there in the strip mall was a bead shop. I didn't have time to run by today but I will tomorrow, and see what they have for comparisons.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 11:22 PM

I've seen knotters similar to what John posted and they do work. I just never got into using knots, esp. with the wire I use.

Maggie, I can't find the contact sheet of the professional photos I had taken. I had just found them, recently, and put them somewhere "safe" wouldn't ya know?!*smile* I will scan and post when I find them. IN the meantime, I have a personal totem necklace which I will try to scan and a couple of others. They aren't really what I would consider representative of what I did for folks, on a professional level, though, as they are personal designs for myself.

It's been fun to have this thread come up, again. Thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 07:03 PM

I take macaroni and glue it on old dishsoap bottles and spraypaint it gold. It is quite lovely. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: John Hardly
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 06:35 PM

I had a friend who was a spinner. We gave her bags of Malamute coat to spin and her assessment -- Malamute coat is too short to spin well. Samoyed is much better.

BZ seems to like to spin though. He'll chase 'round the yard -- especially anywhere Ariel (his goddess) leads him. I don't think it's the same kind of spin.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 05:36 PM

BTW--do you collect dog hair for weaving? I could send you gobs of it from the Blue Heeler (it's quite complex, the shorter, fuzzier inner coat and longer darker hairs on top) to add to the Malamute output.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: John Hardly
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 04:44 PM

I actually learned how to do it myself. They are knots. And that little needle-at-the-end-of-a-wooden-handle tool really does a nice job of it. It places the knot as tight against the bead as possible -- barring some other scientific/metaphysical breakthrough wherein two things could actually occupy the same space.

(an experiment in which BZ has been almost exhausively pursuing ever since we brought him home -- seeing if he can occupy exactly the same space that Ariel already occupies. So far, only negative results. But not for want of trying.)

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 04:31 PM

The photos are small on the 12-step page (sounds like a program for recovering beaders). Did you watch her use this, and did it look like the photos? Are the knots really knots, or are they tight loops? If they don't really hold, the device purchase would be all for naught. . .

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: John Hardly
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 10:56 AM

Knotting between beads is a good thing. If the main reason for not knotting (that two word pairing was worth the whole post) is the difficulty, my wife used this
system for her hand-rolled beads. Did a nifty job of snugging 'em up.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 10:39 AM

Llanfair, I hope you'll post some photos. Have you used Photobucket or one of the other hosting sites? If you have digital photos of your work it is a simple matter to upload them to the site then use their formatted text to paste individual photo links into this thread or make a "blue clickie" back to your pages.

Sandra, I see when I visit that "LandofOdds" page that I've been there before. I read about nylon thread but I hadn't seen the remarks about the silk with pearls. I hate to calculate the amount of time my mother's pearls have been on the same thread. Once I get a little practice I'll restring them. I have an even older set from a great aunt that look great but need a new clasp. I've been reading about the brands of thread and fibres also--I don't know if anyone could keep up with all of that, but I'll make myself a chart.

Kat, I have several diagrams, and after studying them for a while (I think I may have crossed my eyes to see if that helped!) I have figured the basic knot and the end of the piece and the bead caps or various ways to attach to the clasp. This page has a lot of information and a couple of clear sketches near the bottom. I hope you'll post photos of your finished work. So far all I would be able to post is a growing collection of little plastic bags in a couple of lacquer boxes! :)

I have a few books, selected after extensive hovering in the craft section at Barnes and Noble, that offer a range of techniques and sample projects. As I process this information those projects are becoming clearer.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Llanfair
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 02:52 AM

Blimey, this thread is still going!! I see I posted in 2001, and a lot of things have happened since then. I've had a market stall, Bron's Crafts & Curios, on Welshpool market for three years nearly, and that pays for the rent on my workshop, which is stuffed with junk and craft stuff, which I'm always trying to clear.

I sell unusual items, bits of pottery,treen, pictures, that kind of thing, plus the stuff I make. At the moment that's driftwood mirrors, decoupage boxes and trays, some pyrography, and the big seller, the cloth shopping bags, cheap and an alternative to the plastic bag.
I've acquired some raw fleece, and the next project is to do some felting. I bought a drum carder on e-bay, which will make life much easier, if I only had the space!!!

Oh, and I'm planning to start some classes in the autumn, teaching the skills I have.
Even with no patience and a butterfly mind, it's possible to produce some lovely stuff!!

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 02:41 AM

The Encyclopedia gives lovely clear illustrations of several ways of knotting between beads, but doesn't say what thread to use.

I've had a great time searching for pearl knotting info & found this well illustrated site & this one says use silk as nylon bead cord will tend to cut the pearls!

Kat, I hadn't heard of the C thru B thread which I obviously need! The fact that I'm not actually using my wonderful, beautifully arranged stash of beads & fittings is no reason not to get more supplies & fortunately I found an Oz supplier.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 12:58 AM

No, I don't ever knot it, but then I don't string pearls that much. If I do string them, I use fresh water pearls. Pearls do look nice with knots in between and if the stringing material breaks, the knots keep them all from falling off.I used to have some silk thread, but never used it.One of the things I like about C thru B is it lets the colour of the stones, beads, etc. show up nicely. If you use thread, use a colour as close to the beads colour as possible and it can make a nice enhancement, also.

I don't tie it off at the ends. I use crimp beads with special crimping pliers, then feed the C thru B back through the last few beads at each end. I then put a jeweller's glue on the crimped crimp beads. I will have already have put on the clasp and jump ring in the loops of the C thru B before pulling it taut and putting on the crimp beads, etc. If this isn't clear, let me know. I've never actually explained this in writing or without demonstrating before!*smile*

I'll see if I can make an example up and put a picture of it on line, if you'd like, along with pix of some finished pieces.

Another thing that looks nice between beads are seed beads.

Oh, and I don't like the long needle thingies. The C thru B is stiff enough it works as its own needle, plus I didn't find the needles all that stiff or helpful when I first started out, so just never used them.

Thanks for asking. I am going to have more time, now, to maybe get back into beading and I find I have missed it!

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 12:11 AM

I went back and looked at your link to Fire Mtn. They say this stuff knots. Do you tie it in knots between beads, or is it more that you can tie a knot to hide under a bead cap at the end? Do you do a single strand or double strand when you bead with it?

My last question for the evening--have you used those twisted wire needles? They look ideal for threading for those of us with aging eyes. . . :)

SRS

Getting so close to getting started that I can almost taste it!

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jul 07 - 11:48 PM

But what about the things you want to bead with a knot in between--or do you simply not string anything that way? I'm thinking of pearls, in particular, but I have some other stone beads that I think would look great with the knots. That is, if I can figure out what the best thread/cord might be (for instance, I have some gorgeous turquoise and jade and carnelian and tourmaline that could go in various combinations, such as a carnelian string with a big turquoise tear-drop in the middle, and a combination of the jade and tourmaline in a simple strand, or a combination of jade and carnelian.) I have a variety of heishi, shell and stone, so could use a wire and put these in between the bigger beads, but in my mind's eye knots seem to suit the design.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Jul 07 - 09:52 PM

SRS, sorry I didn't see this sooner. No fires near by, thank goodness.

About the ONLY thing I string on is C thru B which I usually get from Fire Mtn. It comes in different gauges and the beauty of it is, it is wire with cloth (silk?) over it AND it doesn't bind into a certain shape whichever way it is bent, unlike the stuff I used to use. Bend that stuff once and it was impossible to get it unkinked. I love C thru B! It also does not break.

More later...gotta go.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jul 07 - 09:10 PM

Sandra,

That's handy--I've seen reference to both products. I wonder if the Beeswax lobby has a comparable comparison chart? ;-)

I've picked up a spool of beadalon to try with some crystal beads (Years ago I strung it myself, totally not knowing what I was doing, and it broke later both times). But beadalon seems awfully heavy-duty for other uses, and as some of these sites mention, how they hang makes a difference. (It occurs to me now that I have a string of small garnets on monofilament that I should redo before it breaks. Those sharp edges will get it sooner or later).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Jul 07 - 08:05 PM

I have both beeswax & Thread Conditioner & use both (depends on which one I have nearby)

comparison of thread conditioner, beeswax & others

I know I have info on thread types for different projects, but it's not in my "Encyclopedia of Beading Techniques" (Sara Withers & Stephanie Burnham, Simon & Schuster, 2005) & I don't have time to look thru my magazines & photocopies now as I have to go out.

I'll check in when I get back in a few hours & if Kat hasn't answered I'll go thru my collection.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jul 07 - 06:49 PM

So, every time I think I have the bits and pieces to sit down and start practicing this beading business, I find some new aspect of it I hadn't thought about or didn't know about.

Today I was looking at nylon cord, deciding I'd practice with simple beads and make it look like stringing pearls, with a knot between each bead. When I was researching the weight of this thread (and there are others like it) I came across the admonition to wax your thread before using it.

Wax. Beeswax, actually. Okay, I'm sure I can find some beeswax.

But I have a question of you beaders out there--even though I've found sites that talk about this in general, how do you know specifically which thread or cord or wire is the right one to use with different types of beads? I've read about the problems of sharp edged beads cutting silk, etc. But is there a chart or book or something that describes the ranges of stringing materials and the types of beads and stones and how they can be used?

Also, I notice that Rio Grande won't let me look at the catalog. Was it always this way, or is that a relatively recent development? I don't mind buying it if they'll let me, but what does it take to be let into their club? I'm not looking for finished jewelry, I'm looking for a place to get the best selection of findings and tools and such. Is this it?

I expect I'll hear from Kat on these questions, if she isn't busy out putting out the back forty. Are the fires in that area also, or just the heat?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 07:10 PM

Andrea, I'm still "sorting out" ten years after my parents' deaths. I'll just recommend that you not hold your breath waiting for extra space to arrive. It's one of those things like "nature abhors a vacuum." Things always manage to fill that "space" and so it never really is space.   :-/

I picked up another book at the used book store today. Same one as is still in stock at the full-priced store but about 1/4 the original price. It inclues information on enameling; and Kat, those enamels you linked to are gorgeous.

Oh, and the woman in the photo with John is his wife. I forgot her name, I'm sorry to say. Maybe if John pops in here again he'll tell us. I agree, his work was gorgous. If I weren't so broke that I don't have a pot to piss in, I might have bought a new pot from him! :)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: mouldy
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 01:34 PM

I still do the salt dough, although with all what's happened this year I haven't had the chance to do much.
However, I have also started dipping my fingers into making applehead dolls. They are still very much a work-in-progress, but I love seeing people's reactions to them! I don't think there can be many people making them here in the UK.

Also, jacqui.c, my shawl lives on my bed and I wear it every day!

When a lot of the necessary sorting out after Ian's death is done, I will have more space to work, and then probably feel more like it too.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 12:48 PM

SRS, I plan to get started with small tiles, first. It's been several years since I took enamelling classes, so I have some practice to do, first. My teacher, Donna Wilson, is well-known as a jewellery enameller. One day I hope to make something even half as nice as what she does.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: HouseCat
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 12:40 PM

I've just sent some of my handmade paper to a paper-crafting friend in Scotland (I'm in Alabama). Does this make me an international artist? ;~) SRS, John Hardly's work looks beautiful.
HC

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 12:09 PM

I've just finished crocheting a pram banket for Harry. I'm in the middle of cross stitching some pictures for his nursery, his Dad has already finished the one he was doing so I'm behind on that one! I've also started on a name plate for Harry's room!!

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 11:55 AM

I'll probably move this after a little while, but for now, here is a glimpse of one of our talented crafters, John Hardly (aka Bauman). This was taken this spring at the Main Street Arts Festival in Fort Worth, TX. A juried show, so his work had to be very good to be accepted.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 07 - 02:21 PM

One of those books I looked at yesterday had some wonderful examples and very good illustrations of making enamelled metal jewelry. It takes time and patience but the results are astonishing. What are you planning to make? That book had some beautiful enamel buttons, something I wouldn't have thought about, but what a perfect way to customize a garment, whether one you've made yourself or one you modify.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Jun 07 - 12:57 PM

Good for you, Maggie. I learned from a good friend and beading saved my sanity more than once.:-)

I was given a kiln, free of charge, recently. Wrote to my enamelling teacher and got the name of the book she recommends. Bought it a couple of weeks ago. Now to assemble the other parts I need, then I can have some fun!

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 07 - 11:15 AM

I was inspired by this thread to go through my beads and equipment and decide that what I need next is a little more guidance. I have lots of printouts and articles and web site links, but I took a gift card from christmas to a local book store and (along with the Calvin and Hobbes comic book for my son) picked up a couple of books that give detailed instructions on the types of beading that interest me. So many to choose from, so I found those that had some final products closest to what I want to make. For myself I like simple, elegant, not too long necklaces, some to compliment clothes, others to contrast, and I like the geologically-interesting semi-precious beads. I like how wire is used for some of the beads. Briolettes look so good that way, etc. I will learn with sterling silver, then switch to the gold-filled wire and beads.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: rich-joy
Date: 20 Jun 07 - 02:07 AM

My main passion (apart from Singing, that is!) lies in Crocheting - not that clever, delicate, fine, doiley, kinda stuff - but colourful chunky creations!! (particularly headgear ...)

Oh, and I also have a wool/yarn addiction and my stash-size increases at a somewhat larger rate than my creative OUTput!!!
:~)))

I am trying to place crochet pics on my Flickr site, but it all takes TIME ............

I dream of the day when I can have my own "shed" (cum studio) ... my SO has just built his own big new Shed and now, can rarely be prised out of it!!!

The last weekend of this month is the 11th annual Beanie Festival, in Alice Springs (central Oz), and, to which I am FINALLY going!!!
I'm very excited!!!   
http://www.beaniefest.org/



Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 07 - 11:51 AM

I have a sun room that houses the lion's share of our craft and sewing supplies. At christmas a lot of eBay stuff was shoved in there and it still hasn't been all excavated. That's a summer project, when it's so hot outside that I'm looking for indoor tasks.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: HouseCat
Date: 19 Jun 07 - 09:49 AM

This year my fondest wish came true -we turned the spare bedroom into a craft room. I'm so organized that I don't know what to do. I have an old wardrobe that I turned into storage, and the TomCat built a couple of cabinets as well, bless him. I have a REAL worktable! And if I make a mess, I just shut the door on it. Heavenly.
Great hearing about what everyone else is making!

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: jacqui.c
Date: 19 Jun 07 - 06:37 AM

I've neen making shawls and afghans. I've actually had some commisions for shawls recently, which is gratifying. Not a lot of cash but enough to fund the addiction.

I also started making cell phone holders to hang round the neck for those, like me, that can never find the darn things when they ring. That led to shot glass holders.....

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 Jun 07 - 04:01 AM

Same here Stilly... mine are kept in old Ferrero Rocher boxes (boy, did I have fun emptying them - the new ones are too small. I knew those little ambassador pleasers had gotten smaller!) and looking at them end on it's like little boxes of rainbows. Each box holds about 40-50, there are 8 boxes and an awful lot in project boxes around the house!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 09:39 PM

Liz, I haven't used my DMC threads for a while, but I used to do a lot of crewel embroidery . . . (thinks fondly back to those evenings when there seemed to be time for that kind of thing!) I picked up one of those little hardware organizers, with 100 plastic drawers (or something like that) and arranged them by general color in each drawer. There may be various shades of a dark green in one, grays in another, all one type of blue (I bought duplicates also) in yet another. It's pretty to look at even when it isn't in use.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 09:32 PM

When I log off I'll be making 2 cards & a selection of bookmarks - one lot for a friend's birthday tomorrow (oops, gotta get my skates on & card into mailbox before end of day), the other for my old boss who is retiring on Friday.

I have far more Japanese paper & other paper & cardboard than any human can use in one lifetime, same with beads, & most other stuff I collect.

My papers & beads are perfect arranged (I do more arranging than using!)

Liz, I only have a large bikkie tin full of stranded cotton, but I do have 2 huge 3kilo jars full of blending filaments, & 8 perle, & a smaller bikkie tin of silk stranded threads, & an assortment of old bakelite lidded jars & 2lb coffee jars full of other threads like 3 perle, 12 perle, silk buttonhole twist, other silks, hand-dyed threads ...

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 04:46 PM

I finally got sick of buying duplicate threads for my cross stitch and embroidery - so I spent 2 afternoons making a database of all my threads. Now I have a list of what number DMC threads, how many skeins, a colour name (although you probably won't find many of the names on any chart list) and whether it's in the box or in a project.

I'm making cards again at the moment. Flowers, this time. Little pansies in purple and yellow.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: HouseCat
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 01:02 PM

Glad you brought back this thread, SRS! You're making progress! What's everybody up to now? I love hearing from fellow crafters. I make handmade paper out of fiber and leaves and grass and whatever else looks like it will grind up well in a blender.
HC

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: CarolC
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 01:00 PM

Art Furniture

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 12:50 PM

I haven't done much more with my beading, but I did recently pick up some of the stringing materials and needles--I'm getting closer!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 12:07 PM

The easiest way to find my site now is to dot com my name

ClintonHammond.com

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Sep 05 - 10:16 AM

The article was about handmade jewelry in the May 2005 issue. I just looked--they didn't create a web version of the article.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 11 Sep 05 - 05:31 AM

Sure it was jewellery in the Martha Stewart magazine, and not picklocks and skeleton keys?!

(Sorry, couldn't resist... it's like Delia Smith being bound over to keep the peace for drunken hollering at a football match.... oh wait... that happened too!).

I've had a busy year sewing for various events - Limpit was a handmaiden at a handfasting and I made her dress, my costume, another concert gown, silk waistcoats etc...

I've also made various bits of equipment and orthopaedic aids for my mate who broke his ankle badly. It started with cut down trousers with velcro sides and progressed to strange shaped foam wedges for his physiotherapy and a little waist pouch (think market trader) for carrying things around his house. Now I'm working on some decent carrybags for our camping equipment (getting a bit sick of taking the cooker out of a toilet roll bag) and playing with flame orange ripstop.

Christmas cards will soon be available and I'll try to put a link up to a photo site if anyone shows any interest. I've still got a fair amount of stock from last year, and we're about to start making this year's batch in a variety of crafty ways. It seems the best sellers were the easiest to make so I'll go for another batch of them. As for last year, I got nearly £50 over my costs for the ones I sold at work and at Limpit's bazaar.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Sep 05 - 10:05 PM

It's almost fall. It's almost secret santa time. We'll be bearing down on the holiday season very soon. So I'm bringing this favorite thread back to the top again, to see what folks are doing.

Kat, are you crafting more now that you've been recuperating for a while? What are you up to? What are our metal smiths doing, and how about our woodworkers? Sewers (that doesn't work!--how about "those who sew), crochet folks, those who tend to their own knitting. . .

I'm sick to death of political threads. Even below the line, Mudcat is so much more. I'm in the design stage of my beading. All of the beads and findings are here, except the final selections of wire/thread/silk/monofilament and needles. (Ha! As if that were nothing! I have a friend who has made jewelry for years, and we're going to go through some of my proposed projects and she'll make recommendations). There was a great article in Martha Stewart Living last spring that had a lot of good diagrams and examples.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 06:19 PM

Tracey, thanks! If I ever find the other pieces, mine and my friend's, I'll post them, too. Your projects sound like fun, too!

SRS, I think we might be talking about two different kinds of tiling. Painting them, to me, means clay tiles which are then fired and yes, the colours are fixed permanently.

What I learned to do and still need to learn a LOT more about is more properly called "enamelling" in which glass is fused to metal using a kiln. We used copper tiles, cleaned them in "pickle" (an acid solution), then used a spray on glue/fixer before applying the sandlike glass colours. Each colour has to be done in a separate firing, but each one only takes about 1-3 minutes, sometimes more depending on size, etc. The beauty of it is kind of like watercolours. If you don't like the way it turned out, you can fiddle with adding more glass, more colour, etc., then fire it again.(Each time you heat it in the kiln, you can change it by how you place the powdered glass colours.)

One may also use forms of glass, for instance, the green tendrils of *seaweed* on the blue tile were just small rods of green glass which I cut to length and placed on the tile.
This might explain it better and has a gallery of some nice work.

As for the bumps, I do have one piece a friend did in which she used millefiori beads to create contour.

Good luck at keeping the kids outta the castoff bits!:-)

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: GUEST,Stilly River Sage, in through the back door
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 10:33 AM

Kat,

What I meant by durable has to do with the bond. When it's heated it makes the enamel hard, but does it also make it stick indelibly to the tile? You said something about fixing it later--which makes me wonder if you can scrape it off? I know that when you apply paint to plastic, like painting a company logo on a plastic drink cup, that the paint can scratch off. But if you use paint (probably a different sort, but I don't know) on a mug and bake it for however long, that ink is there permanently. (I learned this in my newspaper days when I interviewed the owner of a new company setting up to print promotional items and containers). So is there a type of paint perhaps or a type of tile (or glaze on that tile) that works to bond it all together permanently?

Part two to that question--you've probably seen the tiles in gift shops and the airport, etc. that have a three-dimensional look because the paint is beaded on the tile surface. It is a low-profile contour that makes the colors stand out all the more. How is that achieved? Could you do it with your "fossil" tile by using a thicker mix of your paint and letting it dry that way before baking?

Just curious. I don't think I'm getting into tile painting now. But I am considering tiling my porch in the future and a few accent tiles would look good. You can buy all sorts, and just buying a few doesn't make them prohibitively expensive, but I'd like to have something unique to the house that speaks to the nature here. (I'd paint a few tarantulas and toads on tiles! I found a nice spider, but it's a mosaic, which isn't bad either.)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Tracey Dragonsfriend
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 08:57 AM

Hey, Kat, they're very nice! Beautiful colours, and I like the fossil-y look too.

And I know what you guys mean about the STUFF! I bought a job lot of wooden blanks recently, and now I can't move! I use a corner of the dining-room to do pyrography and other crafts, plus an old table any my PC desk, and now there's boxes stacked just everywhere. Including in front of the radiator, and that's not gonna work past October or so...

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 04:05 PM

I retreived those links from this very thread earlier in the week, so I'm all set. And I guess, from all of the fishing gear I handled over the years, that I should have been able to figure out the "swivel" part. Oh, well. Yes, that's what I was looking for, and though I'd poked around at Rio Grande, I hadn't found it. I'll look through those later.

I've just finished re-configuring the wire shelves in my craft room. Moved the bottom shelf up enough to put buckets and baskets under it, then the six shelves are for various bulky home maintenance (paint, etc.) and craft (boxes of yardage) stuff. This will free up floor space in my laundry room and the entire bottom shelf in my long cupboard. Heaven forbid I throw anything out to accomplish the same effect!

Trash day is tomorrow. What are the odds that the children will voluntarily clean their rooms, fill bags with trash, then take them down to the curb and deposit them in the same can where the discarded craft stuff is? Right. I think I'm safe once that stuff is in the can at the curb!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 02:12 PM

Well, it seems to be, on copper tiles, at least, SRS. Those have been dropped several times and, in class, we had a lot of mishaps, but no real breakage that I recall. I didn't get to work with them but they also have enamel watercolours which are baked on the same way. I have one my friend did of a winter scene by a river. Really remarkable stuff to work with and quite beautiful.

As near as I can tell and remember, the thing you are talking about for crystals is just called a "swivel or fixed mount."

If you don't already know about them, I'd recommend getting Rio Grande's catalogue;

taking a look at Lapidary Journal (I found a subscription well worth it, at the time);

and, getting a catalogue from Fire Mountain Gems.

Sorry if any of these are repeats from back when.:-)

Also, this doesn't look like the same cover as the book we used in class, but I know it is the same author. This would be an excellent book to get if you are really interested in knowing and learning more about metalsmithing, imo: The Complete Metalsmith by Tim NcCreight. That link goes to Amazon where you may look through some of the pages.

Have fun! My sister got rid of oodles of over-the-years craft projects last year when she packed up her house to store while she went to Alaska. Did well at a garage sale, too!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 12:47 PM

Kat, is enamel baked onto a tile durable?

It makes perfect sense that this kind of crystal collar, whatever it is called, would be around at rock shops and such. I just don't know what to call it or I'd be able to do a search and figure them out. I'll poke around some online rock shops later and see what I can find in the odds and ends. Thanks for pointing me in that logical direction. I agree, taking a class in metal-working would be the best solution.

I've been clearing out and reorganizing our craft area during the past couple of weeks. I'm finding old projects, some finished and needing a frame, others works-in-progress, and then there are those things that are an accumulation of materials but the project never started. I think it's time to either do them or put them in a garage sale.

The kids will walk in the door any minute now, and I'd like to have some of this stuff out of sight if I don't plan to keep it. They're even worse packrats than I am, and might take it out of the trash or the garage sale pile again if they see some of the discards.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 12:03 PM

Okay, please keep in mind, these were two of the very first pieces I did in enamelling class. The dark green one actually cooked too long, but we decided it was kind of cool. My teacher thought it looked like a fossil. The other is realy elementary, but I love the blue. The neat thing about enamelling is you can redo it, very easily, just adjust and throw it in the kiln again!

Here ya go: craftwork.

(Oh, they are small tiles.)

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat Crafters
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 11:32 AM

Thanks, Tracey and congrats on your site! I don't have any of my former jewellry stuff online, anymore, but once in a while I put a simple "Y" necklace up in the Mudcat auction.

SRS, take a metalsmithing/jewellry design class if you can. I took it for a year at the local college in Casper and while I think the teacher focussed too much on finesse of design and not enough on the actual mechanics (plus she was a purist, so hardly any power tools could be use for the work which proved too hard on my shoulders), it was STILL a fantastic class and I learned a lot. I have a pair of earrings I need to have finished.

The link worked fine. It is my experience that with someone to show you how and some practice, it wouldn't take you long to be able to make those. I see them at all of the rock shops and fairs I go to.

The other thing I took which I LOVED was bronze-casting, but enamelling is my real love because I get instant gratification. Now, I just need to save up and get a tabletop kiln for doing small pieces. I'll put up a picture or two of the fish tiles I did.

Love this thread. Thanks!

kat