Crafty Moose gone wild!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

walnut chair refurbish

walnut chair refurbish, originally uploaded by ticklish_moose.

picked up this well worn walnut burl chair for $10 at a garage sale. The seat was covered in some darn ugly green fabric, which I removed and recovered with my own embellished design. I painted the seat frame black and just refreshed the rest of the chair with some Old English.

I think it turned out great!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Grammatically Different Plates- Fresh Ideas Tutorial

Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.

Albert Einstein

'Live-Laugh-Love'

'I Hope You Dance'

'Believe'

OMG! I am LOL because it has all just gotten so ridiculous, IMHO....

Is that what life has become- someone else's catch phrase? Does it really reflect your thoughts and wishes for the day? I am thinking "we can do better than this".

By now you know I love quotes and Bible verses. I find great inspiration and comfort in many of them. I think words hold great meaning. You probably know someone that has a favorite verse as well. So wouldn't it be great to give someone (or yourself!) the gift of a word phrase that actually has some deeper meaning? I'm going to show you how with just an inkjet printer and a few inexpensive supplies.

For this project you will need:

A few ceramic plates (or tiles)

I pick them up all over. You may have a few lying around, but each of these were purchased for anywhere from .49-$2.00 ea.

Denatured Alcohol* (find it @ the hardware store)

*flammable- please use in well ventilated area away from flame

Lazertran Inkjet

(click on above link to see where to buy)

Lazertran has a TON of applications, but for this project we are applying it to a ceramic surface. I used black type, but you can print colored images if you choose. Don't worry- We'll have more fun with it another day.

Spray Polyurethane* (gloss or satin/matte)

* note: MUST be a urethane- acrylics will not dissolve film!

a few cotton balls
a pan of water about 1" deep large enough to hold transfer
inkjet printer

There are basic instructions that come with the Lazertran, but believe me- it is nothing compared to the voice of experience here. A few things to consider:

Choose a plate with a specific rim/edge detail to ease the transition from the Lazertran to the edge. You can see a faint line of the transfer on some types of plates more than others, especially with a curved inner edge.

Try to make your image a large enough size to come close to the transition line. It just looks neater.

I thought the gloss urethane gave a better result on my ceramic plates, but consider the original sheen of your item to give it a authentic look.

If you need to sand out any imperfections in your urethane finish- be sure it is fully cured and use a scotchbrite style sanding pad (fine grit) and lightly sand the surface without putting any real pressure on the pad. Then apply a light final coat. You may also need a sharp pin/needle to prick air bubbles in the transfer.

Measure your plate ahead of time to determine the size of your phrase. I like to use Publisher because it has a handy ruler on the side of the page, but use whichever program you are familiar with. You do not need to "mirror" or flip your image! Also, I do at least one 'test' sheet on regular paper to be sure I have things the correct size before I print on the Lazertran sheet. I would much rather waste a cheap piece of copy paper getting things right.

When you have things the way you want it- print on the white side of the Lazertran. I'm cheap, so I try to get 2 or more projects per sheet. Allow it to fully dry- 30 mins or so. If you are impatient you can try a heat gun, but no promises- OK?

I like to find a circle 'template' to use to get the size/centering correct. You may have a circle cutter. I do.....somewhere! If your plate is square, measure twice, cut once ;-)