Categories
DIY Upcycling Ways With Wood

Tutorial – Image Transfers on Wood Jewelry

Tutorial – Image Transfers on Wood Jewelry

by Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann

Materials

Thin wood scraps (about 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick)*
Gold acrylic paint*
White acrylic paint*
Large thin jump rings
Necklace chain with clasp
Cutout images from magazines or laser jet prints
Clear heavy-duty packing tape*
Scotch Magic Tape*
Clear-drying gel medium (several brands will work, including Modge Podge sold at the Schnarr’s Ladue store)
Paper towels*

Tools

Saw*
Drill with small drill bit*
Paint brushes*
Water container*
Sandpaper*
Clear plastic tote lid (or some other piece of rigid clear plastic like a piece of plexiglass)
Scissors*
Bone folder or burnisher
Basin for water*
Needle tool

* – indicates items sold at Schnarr’s

Instructions

1. Gather some thin wood scraps and cut them into pieces in the 3/4 inch to 2 3/4 inch range to make bases for wood pendants. Try different proportions and shapes so you can try out different design options.

2. Drill holes so the pendants can be strung onto a necklace later. You can also add extra holes for dangles if you want to. Sand the wood pieces smooth and wipe off with a damp rag.

3. Paint the wood pieces all over with gold acrylic paint. When the gold paint is dry, choose a spot on the front of your pendant and paint a white mark, such a stripe or a circle and let dry. When you start layering translucent images onto your pendant, the white spots will show through and help provide a focal point for your design. You can paint in a loose manner or make precise shapes or preferably experiment with both to see the effects.

4. Take some of your found images from magazines or laser prints and paint them with a layer of clear gel medium. Let dry, and apply a second coat with the brush strokes in the other direction. Let second layer dry, and apply a third coat in a diagonal direction. Let all layers dry for several hours.

5. Take strips of clear packing tape and use the Scotch Magic Tape to hold them down at the ends, sticky side up, on a rigid clear tote lid or piece of plexiglass. Cut or tear found images and press onto the tape pieces with the sides you want to show facing downward. As you layer on images, you can check your work by picking up the clear tote lid and peering from underneath to see what your work looks like.

The backs of packing tape pieces all filled with images.
The backs of packing tape pieces all filled with images.
The underside of the plastic lid showing tape pieces from the front.
The underside of the plastic lid showing tape pieces from the front.

6. After the tape is completely filled, remove from the lid and tape face down on a clean rigid surface like a desk top or table top. Rub well in several directions with a burnisher or bone folder.

Here are some tools you can use to burnish the images firmly onto the tape - bone folder, squeegee, French curve, old gift card.
Here are some tools you can use to burnish the images firmly onto the tape – bone folder, squeegee, French curve, old gift card.

7. After the tape strips are thoroughly burnished, soak them in water. Add the images that you coated with gel medium also. When the paper on the back gets soft, gently rub it until it peels away. You will probably have to change the water and rub multiple times to get all the paper off. When you are done, only the ink will be left on the tape. Dry the tape and gel pieces back/sticky side up on paper towels.

Tip – to avoid clogging your drain, dump the water with paper pulp in it outside instead of putting it down the drain.

8. Take one of your images on tape and hold it over your pendant piece until you find a composition you like. Loosely trim the tape piece and coat the front of the pendant with gel medium. Press the tape onto the front of your pendant and push any extra glue out and wipe off. Let dry, then trim around with a scissors. Use a crafting heat tool to speed the drying if necessary.

9. If your first image layer does not quite look finished as is, cut sections out of some of your gel-coated pieces and use the gel medium to glue them on top of your tape layer for extra interest. Top off with a final coat of gel medium and let dry.

10. Re-pierce your hole or holes with a needle tool, and put a jump ring in your hanging hole. If your pendant has multiple holes for dangles, put a jump ring in each hole and attach dangles to the jump rings. Run a jewelry chain with a clasp through the hanging jump ring. You are done!

More information

Here is another tutorial I wrote that makes use of image transfers:
Art Journaling With Stencils and Image Transfers

I have a Pinterest board for Image Transfer ideas and inspiration to help you explore further:
https://www.pinterest.com/chasenfratz/image-transfers/

If you would like to see what other classes and events I have coming up, please see this page on my blog:
http://www.chasenfratz.com/wp/about/classes-and-events/

Categories
DIY Upcycling Ways With Wood

Class at Schnarr’s Hardware this Thursday – Image Transfers on Wood Jewelry

Class at Schnarr’s Hardware this Thursday – Image Transfers on Wood Jewelry

by Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann

 Image Transfers on Wood Jewelry
Class by Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann – Image Transfers on Wood Jewelry

Date:
April 25, 2019

Time:
5:30-7:30 PM

Place:
Schnarr’s Hardware, 40 East Lockwood, Webster Groves, MO 63119

Schnarr’s employee Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann is teaching this class again for the first time in three years, and for the first time at Schnarr’s. Make amazing lightweight pendants by transferring found images onto wood. You will be supplied with the materials to make a necklace for wearing your pendants. You will learn the basics of transferring images with tape and gel medium and attaching a clasp to a cord necklace. I will have a selection of transferred images on hand for you to use at the beginning of the class, then while your pendant or pendants are drying, I’ll show you two different techniques for converting found images into beautiful embellishments to add to wood pendants and other art and craft items.

Each class attendee will receive a printout with a written tutorial for that class so if you forget anything we learned you can refer back to it later. Jewelry tools will be available to borrow during the class and some tools and supplies will be available to purchase if you want to continue working on your own.

At each class, there will be at least one door prize randomly awarded to an attendee – probably a craft supply item of some type that relates to the theme of the class. Past prizes have included a necklace kit, a polymer clay frame kit and a craft stencil. That’s my way of saying thank you for coming!

What to Bring
It’s not necessary to bring anything but it’s a good idea to wear old clothes in case there is a glue mishap. If you have found images on glossy papers like magazine or catalog cutouts, or laser printed copies, you can bring those as a source for images.

What’s Provided
I will provide wood pendant blanks, gel medium, images, packing tape, findings and parts for at least one necklace. I will have tools to borrow during class.

Only 20.00 per person!

LINK TO GET TICKETS:
https://dabble.co/rc/carolyn-hasenfratz-winkelmann

Categories
DIY Upcycling

Art Journaling With Stencils and Image Transfers

Art Journaling With Stencils and Image Transfers

by Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann

Materials (* = items that are available at Schnarr’s)
Scrap mat board or chipboard
Book binding rings* available at Schnarr’s Webster Groves Location
Clean scrap paper
Tracing paper
Clear packing tape – wider strips are the most versatile
An assortment of found papers (pages from old books, magazine pictures, catalog pictures, laserprint copies, paint samples, etc.)
Assorted papers to use as pages – can be drawing papers, art papers or found papers from various sources.
Paper towels*

Tools
Paper cutter
Art stencils* available at Schnarr’s Webster Groves Location
Permanent* and other markers
Colored pencils
Gel pens
Glue sticks*
Hole punch
Scissors*
Pencil*
Ruler*
Masking tape* or painter’s tape* for holding papers and stencils in place while tracing and stenciling
Bone folder, burnishing tool or squeegee*
Basin* filled with water
Clear packing tape*

In case you missed my in-store demo during the Webster Groves Fall Art Walk in October 2018, this art journal book is what I was working on. I chose to work with a lot of abstract designs and random images to have fun with shapes and colors and not worry too much about content. When I was working on my demo, a customer asked what I was doing and I told him. He responded by saying, “I don’t have any kids”. Kids could do a book like this, but it’s fun for a person of any age who likes to experiment with visual media. I’m 51 and I can play with this stuff for hours! Coloring and playing is healthy for anyone to do.

Instructions:

To make the cover, cut two pieces of scrap mat board or chip board into 6″ by 6″ squares.

Punch two holes in each piece along one edge and link with binding rings.

From an assortment of your found papers, cut several pages 6″ x 6″. Using the cover piece as a template, trace circles on your inner pages to indicate where to punch the holes for the binding rings.

Here is a selection of potential pages cut from old books, posters and magazine ads.
Here is a selection of potential pages cut from old books, posters and magazine ads. You can use blank sheets of paper in your book, but it can be intimidating to start with a blank page. When you’re making altered art you can just build on what is there.

Using permanent markers, draw through some stencils to start some compositions on your pages. The stencils shown in the above sample are stencils that I cut myself. You can cut your own stencils or use pre-cut art stencils. It helps make your work more interesting if you vary the line weight of the markers. Add bits and pieces of collage papers if you are inspired to do so. Glue them down with a glue stick.

Here are a few more examples of two page spreads in progress.
Here are a few more examples of two page spreads in progress. I added paint sample strips to some of the pages to remind me to have fun with color.

Next start making some image transfers to add to your pages from packing tape. Use masking tape to hold strips of packing tape flat on your work surface, sticky side up. Start sticking papers you like to the tape, keeping in mind that the side that connects with the sticky side and faces down is the one that will show. The recommended sources of good papers for image transfers are glossy images from catalogs and magazines, and black and white or color images from a copier or laser printer. Areas that are white on the paper may turn out to be mostly clear or translucent depending on how much ink and clays and minerals are in the paper.

When you have covered the tape with images, turn the tape over and burnish well with a bone folder or squeegee. Burnish in at least three different directions and press hard to make sure all the paper areas make contact with the sticky tape. In the image below, the tape pieces in the center have had the paper removed already, and the strips on the sides still have the paper on the back.

After the tape strips are thoroughly burnished, soak them in water. When the paper on the back gets soft, gently rub it until it peels away. You will probably have to change the water and rub multiple times to get all the paper off. When you are done, only the ink will be left on the tape. Dry the tape pieces sticky side up on paper towels.

When your tape strips are dry, you can apply a glue stick to the sticky side and paste them in your book where you think they’ll harmonize with what you’ve already started. Continue to develop your pages further with coloring implements of your choice and more stenciling and collage if you choose. These little books make a great portable art activity if you carry them around with a selection of your favorite drawing and coloring tools. Here are some of my pages in various stages of completion.

Open the binding rings to insert your pages inside the covers in any order that you like. Decorate the book cover if you want. If you ever want to add new pages, you can just open the rings and insert them where you want them. I put a date on my pages when I consider them complete, and if I am really pleased with them I upload them to my Art Journaling Pinterest board. Have fun!