Craft Inc. Winner

Hope everyone enjoyed all the great craft business information we had last week. Congratulations to the winner of the copy of Craft Inc. from Chronicle Books...

Patchi said...
This review came at the perfect time! I have a great idea (at least I think it is - LOL) but I have no idea if it's feasible. I'd love to know the step-by-step of putting the business together and how much it would take. So far all I have is random notes in a diary, this is just what I hoped existed!

If you are our winner, listed here, please email your name and address to info@craftcritique.com. Please put Craft Inc. Winner in the subject of your email.
Thanks and Congrats!

Vendor Review & GIVEAWAY: Folk Art Enamels by Plaid Enterprises (article 2 of 2)

Reported by Wendy Jordan

I recently have found the fun little bottles of paint at the craft store to come in very handy in my crafting. When I had the chance to review Folk Art Enamels by Plaid, I jumped at it!! I had found a lot of uses for the colorful bottles of acrylic paint and was thrilled to craft with Enamels. Until I started researching the Folk Art Enamels, I didn’t know the difference between acrylic paint and acrylic paint Enamels. I found right away that the enamels were to be used on glass or glazed ceramics.

I was provided with Folk Art One Stroke paint brushes, Stencil Décor stencil daubers and Plaid Peel and Stick Stencils.

I started my project with five enamels and the flower Peel and Stick Stencil.


The stencils in the package are stored on a clear sheet. The stencils can be washed with soapy water, dried and placed on the backing for storage. If cared for properly, each stencil can be used multiple times.

I started by cleaning the glass surface that I was adhering my stencil to. The stencil is made of thin plastic; it was pliable and easy to maneuver right where I wanted it.

The One Stroke Brush set was equipped with a guide on the back of the package to tell this non-artist how to use each brush and what project each brush would work best on. This came in very handy!

I found right away that the enamel was very thick and I wasn’t going to be able to use strokes while using it with my stencils. I switched to a smaller brush right away and did more “daubing” with the brush. I wanted to be able to have control of my color, and be able to use different colors in the center of the flowers, so I chose to stay with the smallest of the One Stroke Brush Set and not use the Stencil Décor daubers which would color the entire open areas.

I had finished “painting” the first set of stencils onto the glass. The Peel and Stick stencil peeled off nicely. I was so relieved when it lifted off of the glass and was not stuck in any areas and didn’t smudge my enamel. It was a bit bumpy in places, but for the most part, I was calling it a success!!!!

Before I replaced the stencil onto another area of the glass, I followed the cleaning instructions and was able to immediately start stenciling again. It was wonderful how easily the dried enamel peeled off the plastic with soap and water. I continued to stencil again and again until I completed the entire border…

Yeah….It turned out fantastic!!!! I was very thrilled with my stenciled, enameled frame. Once the border was finished, I read the back of the enamel bottle about drying time. The back of the bottle states “Air dry for 21 days or bake”. I was a bit concerned by that, but was happily relieved when my frame was completely dry within two hours of air drying.

As a lover of all things that can apply ink, I love sponge daubers. I had never had the chance to use one that was intended for paint.
I applied the Peel and Stick stencil to the edge of my next project and I chose the smallest wood handled sponge dauber. The dauber was perfect for this stencil because I wanted to use one color and didn’t have to worry about precision application.

I adhered one of the bigger stencils in the center and used a large sponge dauber to daub the enamel on. I didn’t really care for the sponged look the pink enamel left on the flower. I used a medium sized One Stoke Brush for the leaves.

I was able to sponge some black enamel on top of the pink flower, while the stencil was still adhered and I was happy with that result.

I found that the black enamel had a different consistency that the other colors. It was almost gritty, where the other colors where smooth and thick. The black provided the perfect coverage for stenciling with a dauber.

The black enamel was not as easy to come off the stencil as the other colors. I washed it with soapy water, the same as the others. This may have something to do with its different consistency.

Pros:

• Folk Art Enamels come in 38 colors, so there is something for every project.
• The enamel is easy to clean off of unwanted surfaces. If left drying too long, the enamel just peels off.
• The enamel cleaned nicely out of the brushes and daubers I used. It also cleaned easily out of my palette.
• The enamel is thick and is easy to control. There isn’t any dripping or running.
• The enamels can be made transparent by adding an enamel clear medium.

Cons:

• Dried Enamels can peel off of your glass surfaces if touched with something sticky, like a piece of tape.
• The black enamel wasn’t as forgiving on the plastic stencils. Not as easy to clean up.

Giveaway!
Our friends at Plaid have provided us with $50 prize packs for 2 of our lucky readers. Just leave a comment answering the following question to be entered to win!

Would you try this product? What  would you paint?

One comment per person, per article, please. Winner will be selected on Saturday, June 4, 2011.

Disclosure

Vendor Spotlight & GIVEAWAY: Folk Art Enamel Paints

Reported by Maria Del Pinto

The Folk Art Enamel Paints are created specifically for painting glass, metal, ceramic and other non-porous surfaces.  Folk Art Enamels are also non-toxic and dishwasher-safe (once cured).  Before they are dry, the paints can be cleaned up with soap and water, which makes working with them easy. This is a completely different type of paint, so do not mix or use water with these like you would with acrylics. Additionally, the manufacturer directions say to bake finished items in oven for 30 minutes at 350° or let dry for 21 days to cure completely.  After which the piece becomes dishwater safe if put in the top rack of dishwasher.

Here is a list of the Folk Art Enamel Paint colors that I had to work with:

• 4001 Wicker White
• 4017 Lemon Custard
• 4132 Parisian Pink
• 4120 Soft Apple
• 4025 Cobalt
• 4133 Lipstick Red
• 4032 Licorice

So what products work well with these, well there are the Plaid Enamel brushes, the Enamel peel-and-stick stencils and the daubers.

Plaid Folk Art Enamel Brushes

The kit came with Folk Art Enamel brushes which have special soft bristles for using with the enamels so you get better results when using them to paint on non-porous surfaces with the enamel paints. They look and feel like the one-stroke brushes, but they serve a different purpose.  Look for the light green color (instead of the dark green) on the handle in the painting section of the craft supply stores.

Plaid Folk Art Enamel Peel-and-Stick Stencils

The kit came with these fun floral and the butterfly stencils.  They have a sticky back and stick to glass, ceramic, and other non-porous surfaces.  They can re-used at least 20 times.  The packaging recommends cleaning them between uses and storing them on the mat provided in the packaging.  

Plaid Paint Daubers Set

The daubers are helpful when using the peel-and-stick stencils.  The daubers can be used to apply the paint onto the non-porous surface. The package has several different sizes so you can achieve a variety of results. 

Testing the colors

The first step was to check the colors to see how they look on a opaque glass surface.  The white background really makes the colors pop.

I also wanted to see how these paints would look on black ceramic, so I painted some of the colors onto the plate surface and was pleasantly surprised to see how well they showed up.

The third sample shows how the colors look on glass.  This gave me a chance to see which ones were opaque and which were a little more translucent.

The fourth sample shows the same glass surface on a light source.

This sample really shows how opaque the black and white colors are.  The other colors are more translucent and will show brush strokes if I do not apply the paint properly.  

Overall, I think the white ceramic background shows the beautiful colors off the best, however, the paint looks good on all the surfaces I tested.

First Project

My first project is to paint a simple picture frame.  I just wanted to test how the paint, peel-and-stick stencils, and the daubers would work on a simple curved frame.  The first thing I did was wash the surface of the frame and let it dry.  Then I cleaned it again with rubbing alcohol to remove any oils that might have been on the surface.

I covered the frame with some painters tape so I could measure out the lines for the background of the frame.  Then I painted in the white lines.  I removed the tape while the paint was still wet and filled in the blank areas with the pink. 

I used the multi flower stencil from the floral collection (30459).  I placed it on the frame, making sure to press down to secure it before painting the surface of the photo frame.  Since it is made from a flexible material, it adhered great to the curve of the frame.

I used the daubers to paint in the stencils, starting with the yellow followed by

the pink.

Once I removed the stencil I realized the design was too small to work with the large strips that I had previously painted onto the frame.  Since the product it easy soap and water clean up,  I decided to wipe off the paint and start over with a different stencil.  So I used a wet paper towel and the paint came right off.

I found that there is a small learning curve with the peel-and-stick stencils.  You should practice on a different item with a similar surface until you get the results you are looking for.  Basically it is all about how you load the paint onto the dauber and how you apply it to the surface.  Truly the simplest results are by utilizing the traditional tap technique.  Just tap onto the surface, the first tap will be translucent.  However, if you want a more opaque result, then you can keep adding layers of color.  I also found that by using white (which is a more opaque color) as a base coat and then layering the other colors on top, I got the opaque results I wanted very quickly.

Repainted with larger flower stencil.

For the next project, I decided to paint a vase that had a cool design on the glass.  I started with the stem.

Then I filled in the rose.  I love the fact that this project was done so quickly with great results.

I read on the Plaid website that these enamel paints were great to use with the "One Stroke" painting techniques.  So decided to try that technique out on a glass surface.  I started by loading the brush with

Parisian Pink and Wicker White.  Then I painted it onto the glass.  It looks pretty good.

For my third project, I decided to see how that technique using the enamel paints would work on a ceramic sugar jar.

So I began with the lid which looked like it could be cool with flower painted onto it.

I used the "One Stroke Technique" to blend the two colors together to create petals.  It looked pretty good, considering it was my first try at this brush technique.  There are great painting tutorials at the Plaid website.

I then used the dauber to paint the knob yellow.  Since I did not have orange, I blended yellow with red to create an orange color to finish off the lid.

I then painted the rest of the jar with the yellow (Lemon Custard) and pink (Parisian Pink) enamels. 

The Folk Art Enamels are available in 38 colors.  The colors are rich and fun to work with and can be purchased at larger craft stores or on the Plaid website.  I have seen people paint wine glasses, cookie jars, cake stands, glass dishes, cups, etc.  The Plaid website has some fun tutorials and glass painting projects you can try out and be inspired.  I really enjoyed working with the enamels paints will continue to see what I can create with them to add to my home decor and craft project ideas.

Tips:

• Shake bottles well before using.
• If you are painting a glass, remember not to paint on the rim or any area that the mouth or food could come in contact with.
• Prepare project for painting by washing with soap and water.  Once the surface has dried, then clean area a second time with rubbing alcohol.  Allow the surface to dry completely before painting it with the enamels.
• If you don’t like what you made, it is easy soap and water clean up to remove the paint (as long as it is uncured) so you can start over.

Pros:

• Folk Art Enamels are highly pigmented so you get great color results.
• Folk Art Enamels can be mixed together and blended to create different color shades.
• The white and black are highly opaque which allows you to use them on top of  or beneath the other colors for special detail work.
• Folk Art Enamels are non-toxic and easy to clean up.

Cons:

• Folk Art Enamels take up to 24 hours to dry and 21 days to cure.  So plan accordingly or follow the manufacturers suggestions of alternate methods to cure your piece.
• Items painted with the Folk Art Enamels are not microwaveable.
• It is hard to find some of the colors in the local crafts stores.

Giveaway!
Our friends at Plaid have provided us with $50 prize packs for 2 of our lucky readers. Just leave a comment answering the following question to be entered to win!

Have you ever used the Folk Art Enamels before?  What types of objects do you enjoy painting?

One comment per person, per article, please. Winner will be selected on Saturday, June 4, 2011.

Disclosure

Vendor Spotlight & GIVEAWAY: Simply Screen by Plaid (article 2 of 2)

Reported by Erika Martin

I've always loved the concept of screen printing, and it's something I've wanted to try for a while, but the set up really intimidated me, so it's something I've never done. When the opportunity came along to review the Simply Screen system by Plaid, I was all over it! This system doesn't take much space or any high-priced equipment. You don't have to worry about making a screen and expensive squeegies. Plaid has thought of everything and made it really easy to create screen printed projects with just two simple purchases. Seriously, you won't believe how easy it is to do this until you see it and fortunately for you, I've had lots of fun playing and experimenting with the Simply Screen products; I'll show you how easy it is!

Plaid was so generous to send along two stencils, glitter, paint brushes and paint. They couldn't have picked more perfect stencils for me, too! The peace sign and the tree are just my style and my daughter loves them, too.

When Craft Critique reporters went to CHA (Craft and Hobby Association), they took a great video demo of the Plaid booth showing how to use the new Simply Screen products.

Each stencil package comes with an 8.5" x 11" inch screen stencil, a squeegee applicator, and complete instructions on the inside of the stencil packaging. I created a bunch of projects and tried different fabrics to see what worked best. The packaging states, "Print on tees, tanks, hoodies, andbags, tote bags and most other fabric items."

First, I started out with a canvas child's apron that I picked up at the local dollar store. I pulled the screen stencil away from its backing and then put the backing aside to be able to put the stencil back on after it was used and cleaned.

The canvas was a bit bumpy so the stencil didn't stick down as well as I wanted it to and I used the dry squeegee to try to press down the stencil to the canvas fabric as best as I could.

You can see in this photo here that the stencil had trouble sticking to the canvas.

I applied a line of paint at the top of the stencil, above the design.

I then used the squeegee to pull the paint down and over the stencil. I needed to add a little more paint to fully cover my stencil, but that was really easy to do. Each fabric holds and absorbs paint differently so you might find that something like a raw canvas will need more paint due to its absorbancy, while something like a t-shirt will take less.
Because the stencil didn't stick completely to the canvas fabric, the stencil slipped and moved a little while I was pulling the paint across it with the squeegee. I resolved to use some masking tape along the edges of the stencil for the next project.
After I was done with the paint application, I pulled the stencil away to reveal the image. The peace sign stencil has a bit of a rough look and grunge to it to begin with so the paint that seeped under the stencil during the slippage wasn't a big deal and just added to the grunge look. However, if I had used a stencil with a more intricate design, this would have been a problem. Our kitty, Ozzy, always has to check everything out, especially when I'm working on the floor at his level.

I found that the same problem of slippage and not sticking happened on this tidy-up basket that I got at a home-decor shop.

I put masking tape around the edges of the stencil but because the stencil had trouble adhereing, there was a lot of paint leakage under the design.

Next, I screen printed on a t-shirt and used the tree stencil. Because there's so many fun designs on this stencil, I wanted to try painting the designs with different colors. Due to the paint bleeding through on the apron, I decided to use a piece of the packaging to put inside the t-shirt to keep from any paint bleeding through the back of the shirt.

I had no problems sticking the stencil down onto the t-shirt. There were no gaps between the stencil and the t-shirt. I used different sized Plaid paint brushes and various Simply Screen paint colors to fill in the designs on the stencil.
Here's a view of the finished paint job before removing the stencil.
And here's a view of the design after removing the stencil. There were a few spots that needed to be filled in with a paint brush and some of the intricate letter designs didn't come through as well as I would have hoped, but my friend and I were able to tweak them with a paint brush.

Here's the completed t-shirt.

And here's my friend, Angel, modeling the finished shirt for me. The first washing of this shirt turned out just fine. The color stayed bright and vivid and nothing came off of the shirt. Same as with the second go through the washer.

Next up was a shirt for my 11-year-old daughter. Peace signs are the in-thing right now at school and she loves sparkles so we used the Simply Screen Foil & Glitter Adhesive and the Simply Screen Glitter.

I adhered the stencil to the t-shirt and then applied a line of Simply Screen Foil & Glitter Adhesive along the top of the stencil.

Using the squeegee, I pulled the adhesive down the stencil, just like I did with the paint on the previous t-shirt.

I pulled the stencil off the t-shirt and applied the glitter.
My daughter and I liked the look of the four colors of glitter mixed together so we moved the shirt around to mix them.

We shook off the excess glitter and let the design cure for 24 hours. It's important to let any designs cure for 24 hours, whether they're done with glitter, foil or paint; this is also listed in the instructions.

As per the instructions, I heat set all of the designs after letting the paint cure for 24 hours. I used my iron on the cotton setting (no steam) and used a cloth in between the iron and the design.

To get any stray pieces of glitter off of the t-shirt, I hand washed it and let it line dry. And here she is, wearing her new glitter t-shirt. She loves it, even though she looks scared in the photo.

Oooooh, look at the sparkles!

My daughter and I did a couple more t-shirts. This t-shirt was done using three colors and pulling them down over the stencil with the squeegee.

The next one was done completely by my daughter. She chose 5 different colors to use and applied them with a paint brush (we added a 5th color after this photo was taken.)

She got a little bit off the edge of the stencil so we fixed it by turning it into a painted heart. Like I always tell her, "There are no mistakes; only changes in design."

I'm always looking for something fun to make my daughter when it comes to clothing or accessories. I made an orange t-shirt for her and used the three colors she wanted but instead of squeegeeing them straight down, I used a wave action as I pulled the squeegee down for a cool effect.

She recently asked me to make a skirt for her upcoming choral concert at school this month and she told me she wanted it to be springy and it needed purple, green and yellow in it. I cut some fabric from my stash and decided to turn them into pockets to put on her skirt (which is the Insa skirt from the Sewing Clothes Kids Love book that I reviewed last spring).

Notice how her t-shirt matches her skirt?

She's so stylin'!

I also created a pillow case for my daughter by grabbing one of the plain cases from the linen closet and dressed it up with a quick screen printing.

My last project is a wall hanging that I did for my daughter's bedroom. She enjoys color, design and she especially likes it when it's up on her bedroom wall.

I started out with a piece of Roc-Lon multipurpose fabric (which I reviewed for Craft Critique last summer) and cut it to fit the size of the tree stencil and then pressed the stencil in place.

I used paint brushes to color in the designs on the stencil.

I added some fabric backing and a few embellishments to finish it off. I sewed a sleeve to add a dowel and voila!

So, what's my take on Simply Screen by Plaid? I had a blast using it, even though a couple of projects didn't turn out quite like I wanted them to, but that was likely due to the type of fabric I was working with. My stencils got quite a work out but they're still sticky on the backside and have plenty more uses in them. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more stencils and I'm looking forward to creating more screen printed art. Simply Screen is really easy to use and great for a fun family project.

Pros:

• Great price points for stencils and paints (MSRP for paints: $3.00, MSRP for stencils: $6.00).
• Stencils are self-adhesive and reusable up to 20 times. That's just 30 cents per use!
• Lots of paint choices.
• Paint, glitter and foil effects are all possible with the Simply Screen system.
• No need for expensive set up. You can make a fabulous screen printing under $10. All you need is a stencil (which comes with the squeegee applicator) and a bottle of Simply Screen paint.
• You can use paintbrushes for more detailed painting effects.

Cons:

• Stencils don't stick to all fabrics (stencil didn't stick well to raw/textured canvas and pressed fiber fabrics) and this caused the stencil to slip around while applying paint and the paint seeped under the stencil.

Giveaway!
Our friends at Plaid have provided us with $50 prize packs for 2 of our lucky readers. Just leave a comment answering the following question to be entered to win!

Would you try this product? What kind of event would you screen print t-shirts for?

One comment per person, per article, please. Winner will be selected on Saturday, June 4, 2011.

Disclosure