Saturday 19 November 2011

Customisation & screenprinting

Clothes making and customisation feels a bit hard at the moment, but I tried a couple of small things.

Buttons added to a vest top - told you it was simple stuff!
Screen printing is a bit more complex, but Ben, screen printer extraordinaire showed me how to do it and we made matching tops for me and Alex's niece Ivy (well, she was excited about it!).

Make a template online using a black and white picture, print it out and use a craft knife to cut out the picture. Use acrylics to paint the template onto the screen. For the screen you can use thin synthetic material from a charity shop and an old photo frame, secured with a staple gun and duct tape. When it's dry, the acrylic acts as a waterproof barrier to prevent the printing paint getting through when you use it to print.






Yes, my top is matching one for a three year old...


Monday 31 October 2011

Halloween pumpkin

I got slightly obsessed with this pumpkin, submitting it to Guardian photos of pumpkins (and taking a screenshot) and hassling everyone on Facebook to 'like' it so I could win an iPad. I didn't win, but the trick or treaters seemed to appreciate it.






Saturday 24 September 2011

Making plasticine people - for stop motion animation



Evidence that Alex and I came up with the plasticine pirates idea before Aardman! After a trip to 4D model shop on the CS3 cycle route we started our plasticine people experiment.



We made armatures out of wire twisted together using a drill.


We used plastic to cover the armature joints and add bulk. The plastic balls were melted in hot water. We added balsa wood feet so they stood up on their own.




Building the figures.


Finished products.

Me and my pirate.
Alex and his old man

Thursday 14 July 2011

Earring holder with a photo frame.

This was a bit of an experiment but it seemed to work quite well. Old frame from the a charity shop, little tacks and wire from Cowling and Wilcox.

Too many odd earrings...

Wednesday 11 May 2011

Rag rugs

First attempt at using material to make things was rag rugging.

Rag rug made for mum using blue, green brown rags
Rag rug base ('hessian'), tool and bag of rags

Rag rugging tool and hessian from a  bead shop in Kentish Town and the rags from charity shops, my old clothes and some bits and bobs begged from work colleagues.


Rag rug for Alex, I tried to make it look like a branch, but it doesn't work and looks more like a dinosaurs foot.

Looks a bit better from the back tho.  I just used duct tape to seal this one, if I had more time I would have hemmed it properly.

Thursday 10 February 2011

William Blake mirror



I've always liked the idea of covering furniture in paper, words and pictures, so when I bought a cheap full length mirror with a hot pink frame from Brick Lane, I decided to try and cover it with poems. Blake is buried in Bunhill Fields, just next to where I work and I studied his poems for  A level so I have always had a soft spot for his work. In addition they are a lovely mixture of words and pictures which makes them perfect for this kind of project. I used an illustrated paperback copy of Songs of Innocence and Experience, cut out the poems and pictures and glued them round the frame, before covering them in sticky back plastic. If I did it again, I think I might use varnish instead, as this would act as a better seal. Nevertheless, the mirror had lasted a good while already and adds a literary element to blow drying my hair in the morning!