Showing posts with label image tranfers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label image tranfers. Show all posts

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Toner Transfer Silhouettes



(See more photos of this style of toner transfer pendants in my Flickr photostream.)

This is one of the techniques I've been experimenting with for the past few weeks-- toner transfers. I still have lots of things I want to try with them. I started out with the encased toner transfers Donna Kato demonstrates in her new book. I want to eventually go back to those for another try, but in the meantime, I've been sidetracked.

BlockPartyPress wrote recently about the returned popularity of silhouettes. I'd noticed that, too, and been drawn to their simplicity and graphic appeal. However, I've found myself wanting to add to them, to a certain degree. I guess I'm just not really that much of a minimalist, at heart. (g) Whatever the reason, I've ended up putting clouds and such behind the silhouette toner transfers.

While working on these pendants, I've thought that perhaps it's just extra work to do this with a transfer when you could get a very similar result from a stamp. Certainly it'd be easier to just stamp it on rather than going through the song and dance of making the image, having it photo copied, burnishing (and burnishing) it on, then carefully removing the paper. I guess the reason to do it with a transfer is that you don't have to own a stamp for each and every silhouette or pattern you'd like to use. I don't have that many stamps, so this works for me. There may be other advantages to using a toner transfer instead of stamp and ink, but I haven't (yet) used inked stamps on pc, so I can't say what they'd be. (That does remind me, though, that it's high time I used the ink pad I bought especially to use with clay. . .)

I've learned a little about which things do and don't work for this technique, but I'm still running into occasional problems with tiny air pockets in my clay that puff up during baking. Nothing awful, but not what I want. I guess I'll just have to be more careful about that. Unfortunately, I thought I was being careful. (g)

Incidentally, the pendants in the bottom photo are just about the only Halloween-themed things I've made this year. I had plans to do more, but I just never got around to it. Oh well. Maybe next year!

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

What I've been up to, lately. . .

What I've been up to lately (in the realm of clay). . . Quite a few annoying "flops", in varying degrees of floppiness. ;o)

I'll admit it-- I'm impatient, and I have unrealistic expectations. If something doesn't go right the first time, I'm a bit miffed. If it messes up a second time, I threaten to move on to the next thing, never mind the well-known fact that "practice makes perfect", "Rome wasn't built in a day", and so on. If it's something I really want to do, I might give it a third "go"; otherwise, I need to take a breather and come back to it later. These days, I have a number of "come back to it later"-grade projects.

While reading Donna Kato's new book during my vacation, I came across a few more things to add to my "to try" list. I've been gradually working my way through some of those.

The first project I tried (the alcohol ink on metal leaf under translucent clay) kind of flopped (partly because I deviated from The Plan and didn't realize how sticky the inked clay would be, even after a good, long drying time). I have those lemons sitting off to the side, waiting for me to work up the willpower to see if they can be salvaged. (I'm sure they can be, but I'm just not in the mood to clean up messes, lately. As the piles of clutter in the office can attest!!)

The second "Little Project That Couldn't" ;o) was another from the new Kato book. And ok, maybe it "could", but it didn't do it as well as I'd hoped. It was the encased toner transfer project, and this time, my problem was two-fold.

On the first try, I chose a transfer and color combo that didn't work out very well. The colors are ok, but you can't see much of the transfer. It looks almost like some interesting cracklature instead of a transferred design.

On the second try, I took contrast into consideration, so the transfer is alright-- but this time (as with the first try) I had a little trouble with the translucent clay sticking to my work surface and tearing/stretching when I tried to move it (even when I used a clay blade). After all that burnishing to make the transfer, it's no wonder that the clay gets stuck, but it's still a huge pain. Next time, I guess I'll work on a small tile and chill it. . . Then I also had trouble deciding what to do with the sheets of clay. I tried a couple other things with metal leaf and paint-- attempts to dress up an otherwise dull piece-- but I fear I may have only made things worse.

All in all, it took quite a bit of time, and left me with lots still left to do before I'll have anything finished. Not exactly an exhilarating experience, but I have to keep telling myself that I can't expect everything to go smoothly the first time. (If only I were one of those people who truly enjoys a challenge! (g) Instead, I think I really prefer it when things come easily!! Only joking. I guess. . .)


Looking at the pieces again, I think maybe I was too harsh with them. I mean, I definitely wouldn't say they're my best work, but it's not as though I'll have to bury them in the dead of night. ;o) I think my main problem was that I'd looked forward so much to trying this technique, then when I finally was able to, it wasn't the dream I'd been expecting. I do tend to expect things to go more easily than is likely.

So, what else? Well, I tried that faux ceramic tutorial I linked to the other day-- the one that glazes extruded clay beads with tinted liquid clay. The first try was a disappointment. The liquid clay was running more than I'd expected (probably because my bead rack doesn't hold beads on vertical pins, but on horizontal ones). I tried setting the liquid clay with an embossing gun, then put them into the oven to cure properly. Apparently I didn't heat set them sufficiently, as the liquid clay still cured into a slight drip. :o( Fortunately, it was a test run with just two beads, but now I'll have to figure a better way to deal with the remaining "base beads" I made for that technique. (Maybe I'll make another bead rack, like the one used in the tutorial photos.)

So, has anything been going right? (g)
I did go through with a plan to make different pizza toppings, which was fun. I've run into a slight problem with my pizza slices, too, but it's nothing major, and I think I know how to fix it.


I was also pleasantly surprised with toner transfers. I'd been putting them off and putting them off-- partly because transfers in general are such persnickety things and there are about a hundred ways of doing them-- partly because I didn't have easy access to a copier. I finally got around to visiting the Xerox machine at a local library, which wasn't too much trouble (g), and the water technique in Donna Kato's book makes the process much easier than I'd expected. (Yay!)

(Of course, before I could go to the copier, I had to get my "master sheets" ready. That did take some time-- finding images that were in the public domain, arranging them on the page-- and then, when I had ideas for projects requiring specific images, figuring out the basics of Adobe Illustrator and drawing my own vector images. . . Not that all of that is absolutely necessary, depending on what you want to do. It's pretty satisfying to wrestle a new computer program into semi-submission, but it can also be ir-ri-tat-ing!)

Um, where was I? Oh yeah, toner transfers. So I've been focused on those for a little while, now, using them in a more straightforward way-- not in the encased technique. I was heartbroken when a couple of what I'd hoped would be "perfect" pieces came out with bubbles marring them. But oh well. I'm pretty sure I know what went wrong, and I can adjust my technique.

And that's been it, apart from a few other bits and bobs along the way. I don't have many new photos from the past couple of weeks. For some of the projects, I'm waiting until I get it just right (or "right-er"). As a matter of fact, I'm off to test my toner transfer bubble-problem fixer-upper right now! Wish me luck! ;o)

Monday, July 02, 2007

New polymer clay product on the way?

I just read something interesting in a PCC thread about Donna Kato's newest book. (You can find the thread here.) I haven't found anything official about this subject, but as Donna Kato herself was in on the discussion, I guess that's official enough. ;o) Apparently, the book mentions a new product that will soon be released to the public--

What is it?
It's something called "Kato Color Concentrate Clay" (which may or may not be the name it's eventually marketed under-- I don't know), and from what I understand it's basically polymer clay with a very high concentration of pigments. There's something like six times as much color in this new product compared to what goes into regular polymer clay.

What do you do with it?
From what I gather, some of the projects in the new Kato book use it, so you can probably refer to that for some examples. Based on the same PCC thread, it sounds like it probably has a variety of uses. For example, it's ideal for making rich shades of pearlized/mica-infused clay without losing the mica shift (chatoyant) effect. It's also suppsed to be great for mixing dark colors without the muddying you often get when mixing regular clay. Because the colors are so rich, you can use just a little bit of the color concentrate, compared to the amount of regular clay you'd have to add to mix the desired color.

What colors does it come in?
The only colors it will initially come in are red, yellow, and blue. But these can be mixed, of course. (Mixing is really their whole reason for existence.) There may eventually be new olors added to the line. (It looks promising, based on the discussion in the PCC thread!) Another color-related tidbit for those of us dying for more info: The three existing colors, mixed in equal parts, make black-- apparently a very fantabulous black. (No, I'm not sure what makes it better than regular black. (g)) ...And the greys are pretty great, too, according to Lynn Ann Schwarzenberg, who was the impetus behind the prototype for the product.

How is it packaged?
I don't know. (I'm not even sure if it's been packaged yet!) Donna Kato describes it as polymer clay consistency-- not liquid-- so I imagine it's packaged similarly to regular polymer clay. Because it is so potent, it may come in smaller packages than regular clay. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Where can you get some?
To start with, it will only be available at select on-line distributors, according to Ms. Kato. And it's not available even there, yet... This first batch is relatively small-- 300 lbs. I hope that once that flies off the shelves (as it's sure to do, I'd say), they'll manufacture more. If it's successful enough, maybe it will eventually be available wherever Kato Polyclay is sold. (However, the only local stores that stock solid Kato clay don't even have the liquid Kato, so I'm not holding my breath. (g))

And in less exciting news. . .

While checking out Donna Kato's blog on the off chance that she'd mentioned this new product (not that I've seen so far, but I'm still reading), I saw this entry-- and this one, too. Evidently, the folks at Epson have changed the formula on some of their papers. One of their papers was discovered to be excellent for image transfers with polymer clay, but that has changed.

Don't despair! There's still hope. ;o) There are other papers that work, including the one Katherine Dewey suggested in the second link-- JetPrint Imaging & Photo Matte Paper, medium weight. (Actually, I think that's the one I've used before. I'll have to go check...)

Friday, April 27, 2007

"Transferred" to a whole new world!

Image transfers are one of those "messy" subjects-- one of those things you hope a newbie never asks you to explain. ;o) Not because you're hoarding away your secrets, but because, well, there are so many different ways to do it, and it seems that there's just a little bit of magic involved in each of them. One person swears by this method, while another warns you that said method has never, ever worked for her. Nearly all explanations of the various processes conclude with "you just have to play around with it until you find a technique that works for you".

(That's true of many techniques, actually, but maybe more so than usual with image transfers.)

I've dabbled in image transfers once before-- but only enough to get the very tips of my fingers in the water. I used the T-shirt paper method, in which you use your home inkjet printer to print an image onto T-shirt paper-- the type that you can use to make iron-ons for T-shirts. You then emboss the print-out (image side down) onto a sheet of clay (usually white) and cure the clay for a short period of time. You peel the paper away, and ideally, you're left with a transferred image. (That's the method I used to make these key chains.)

Well, today I finally got around to playing with my new Kato Liquid, which can also be used to make image transfers.

(The Kato Liquid has been "new" since my birthday, back in February. Haven't I mentioned before that I have a problem with procrastinating? I have several other things I want to try with the Kato Liquid, too, so maybe now that I've started, I'll keep going!)

Because Kato Liquid (aka Kato Sauce) is clearer than TLS, it is generally favored for use with image transfers, but both can be used-- as can Fimo Decorating Gel, I'm sure. I'm fairly certain there are a number of ways to use Liquid Kato for transfers. The way I chose was this: Choose a picture/illustration/whatever from a glossy-paged magazine or catalog. (I used a catalog. More on that in a minute.) Trim the piece from the magazine. Apply a thin layer of the liquid clay to the side of the paper bearing the image you want to copy. Smooth it out evenly, trying to avoid bubbles as you go. Pop it into a pre-heated 275-degree (F) oven for... well, the bottle didn't give instructions. Since it was such a thin layer (and would be re-cured, later), I didn't figure it needed too long, but I try to cure for "a good long time", so I left it in for 10 minutes. (I also used an aluminum foil tent, as always.) To get optimal clarity-- if you're using Liquid Kato-- hit the clay side with a heat gun until all cloudiness disappears. (This took longer than I expected, and I was beginning to think that I'd just put on too much clay, but then it suddenly began to clear, and wow, what a difference that made!) Allow it to cool, then soak in water for a while. Gently rub away the paper. Admire the results. ;o)

I'm not sure if I got all the paper off my transfer, yet, so I'm re-soaking it, just to be sure, but I think I got most of it. Here's a photo of my first try, looking down through the liquid clay. (The other side is a big messier to look at, which leads me to think that I haven't gotten all the paper off yet.)



The photo's not that great-- reflections from water on top of it-- and there are a few bubbles that I missed-- but hey, for a first try, I have to say that I'm very impressed with this technique! It was so quick and easy! And now I have a permanent copy of this picture, which I've admired since I first saw it. (It's the "autumniness" of it. I'm one of those annoying "autumn people" who have never gotten over the obligatory adolescent obsession with fall. (g))

The drawback would be that if you're using a magazine photo, you can only make one transfer of each photo. Also, there are some copyright issues you'll have to look into, if you're making things to sell. But if you're just playing around, this seems like a super-easy way to go.

A couple of things I love about the possibilities this technique presents-- the "decal" (the image transfer on the liquid clay) is so flexible that it could very easily be applied to something rounded. (The other method I described would make image transfers to curved objects more problematic.) It would also be simple to trim the decal down to any shape you want. You could probably even cut through it with decorative edging scissors!

If you're like me, you're always finding beautiful images in magazines-- things that you'd love to save and use, somehow, so that you could see them again and again-- but you can only use so much stuff for decoupage or pages in your "inspiration journals". It might not be practical to make image transfers of huge pictures, but this is definitely a simple way to make pendants, charms, key chains-- whatever-- from your favorite smaller "borrowed" images.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with these things-- how best to turn them into jewelry and such-- so I can make more of them! ;o)

On a tangent-- If you don't get a lot of magazines-- or if you don't want to cut up your magazines-- don't forget catalogs. There are lots of them available for free. Try searching the Internet. (For instance, there's this page.) Now, of course I'm not encouraging you to order catalogs if you have no intention whatsoever of making a purchase, because that would be unethical and would kill trees and the fairies and elves that live amongst them... ;o) But what you decide on your own to do is up to you. (g)

  • Catalogs for clothing and furniture sometimes have pretty photos of fabric swatches.
  • Those that sell home decor often have interesting objects or motifs decorating the objects.
  • Wedding invitation catalogs have script-style fonts (if you want text) and details like floral/romantic illustrations and (photos of) embossed patterns.
  • Travel brochures and kits that you can request on-line will include beautiful landscape photos-- and maybe even maps.
  • Post stamp catalogs have great photos of-- you guessed it!-- postage stamps!
  • Don't foget about the glossy sales papers and circulars you get in the mail. Give them a look-through before automatically tossing them.
  • Other glossy papers-- like old calendars-- can also be used for this purpose. If you have the stomach for it (some can't bear even the thought of it), you could probably also use pages from illustrated books, if the pages are glossy.

So, I'm going to have to give this some more thought and try to turn my "autumn decal" into something useful...

ETA:
After posting this, I learned a couple more things about this transfer technique and thought I ought to pass them along.

1. You know the side of the transfer that was "a bit messier to look at"? It was mainly "messier" because parts of it were still covered with a slight film of white. So I went back and started scratching it off with a fingernail. It came off, alright, but (a bit too late) I noticed that my scratching was also removing the colors of the transfer! So don't do that! (g) In future, I'll just be happy to use the non-messy side!

2. After realizing that I was scratching away the transfer, I placed the still-wet decal transfer-side down on a scrap envelope. (It was a piece of junkmail with a slightly glossy-textured envelope, in case the type of paper might make some difference.) It dried there, and a day or two later, I came back for it, peeled it off the envelope, and saw that still more color had been left behind on the envelope! I don't know how much-- if it's enough to be visibly missing on the transfer-- but the color left behind on the envelope was obvious enough. So that's another no-no. Don't place your transfer "inked"-side down on something-- especially if it's wet.

I'm thinking, now, that it's best if you just gently rub-- don't scratch!-- away the paper, let it dry with the transferred side up, not touching anything else (or gently dab it dry it with a cloth)-- and use it ASAP, preferably sealing the delicate side with clay, glue, glass--whatever. I'll give it another try one of these days.