Making an acrylic pour swipe diptych with lots of cells, using helmar PVA glue and silicone

Making an Acrylic Pour using Helmar PVA glue and Helmar Silicone Oil for Cells

Hey guys, Kristina here again with my very last post for Helmar.  I decided to do something I have wanted to try for ages, and that is an acrylic pour using PVA glue as the pouring medium, and silicone oil for the cells.  It actually worked better than I expected.  I covered the diptych in resin to enhance the shine once it was all dry, because I just love the gloss finish resin gives.


Helmar products used:
Silicone Oil
Helmar craft and hobby pva glue


Other Items required:
Paper Towel
Floetrol
Pouring medium or Airbrush medium
Water
Mixing Jug
Acrylic paints for pouring
Plastic cups
Popsicle sticks to mix the paints
Resin (if you decide to cover it in resin)

Procedure:
First of all there is a formula for making the pouring medium that you need to know.  This is the formula from "Pouring Your Heart Out" YouTube channel.  It is Floetrol 3 parts: PVA Glue 2 parts: Pouring medium 1 part: water 1/4 parts.  So, you use 300g of Floetrol, 200g Helmar pva glue, 100g of pouring medium and 25g of water.  You mix all of this together in a plastic jug and let is sit for a half hour.
Then decide on your paint colours, and the swipe colour.  Black or white is generally a great beginners swipe colour.  Add some of your pouring medium to the plastic cups, then add the acrylic paint to the pouring medium and mix well.  It is a great consistency when the paint stays on your popsicle stick when you lift it out of the mix, but it also flows straight back into the cup when you tip your stick.  If it is too thick, add more pouring medium or a little bit of water.  If it is too thin, add more paint.  I found Jo Sonja paints to be the best consistency for this type of pour.  Once you are happy with your mixes, leave them for at least an hour, this helps the bubbles settle to the bottom.


The paint colours I used in this pour were:
Carbon Black (Swipe colour)
Titanium White
Yellow
Aqua
Burnt Sienna
Rich Gold
Pacific Blue
Metallic Copper
Yellow Ochre

Once the paints have been mixed and left for a while, arrange your canvas that you will be pouring on.  Lay down a plastic covering on top of cardboard or plastic, so you don't make a mess on your floor.  Put your canvas on top of some cups, so it is not on the ground, otherwise it may get stuck to the ground.


Right before you are going to do your pour, add the silicone to all the colours except the black (swipe colour).  Add approximately 4-5 drops in each cup, and stir once or twice, not too much.

Now it is time to pour.  Pour the paints in any order you want, but just make sure your swipe colour is in the middle of the canvas and a little at the top.



Once you are happy with the paint, get your paper towel, I had to use two joined together because my canvas was wide.  Place the bottom of the paper towel into the black paint and drag it slowly down the canvas, making sure it is dragging the paint down the canvas,



Then grab a new paper towel, place it in the black paint and swipe up the canvas in the same way you swiped down.  Almost immediately you will see the cells forming because of the silicone oil added.  It is absolutely beautiful to watch.


This was the most fun I had had in a long time, just watching the colours mix and cells form.  If you have any spots on the canvas that are not covered in paint, just pour a little bit on them, or mix it around with a popsicle stick until you are happy.





Just leave the canvas on the flat surface until it is dry to touch.  It can take up to three days to be dry to the touch, depending on your weather etc.  Mine took two days, and even though it may look dry, refrain from touching it unless you are absolutely sure.  Yes, speaking from experience here, I touched it, it wasn't dry.  Once you are absolutely sure it is dry, give it a wipe with a slightly damp paper towel.  The silicone will rise to the top of the paint and make a slight film on the canvas.  Just wipe it off and it's done.

Next step is to wait about two weeks to ensure the paint is fully dry, and the pouring medium too.  This can take a while.  Then either varnish with your choice of varnish, or you can cover it in clear epoxy resin.  I chose resin, I have a pretty bad allergy to resin so I probably shouldn'y have, but I just love the gloss shine when it's dry.

Mix up your resin how the instructions tell you too, wear gloves, mask, fully cover up and do it in a well ventilated area.  I didn't do this when I first started with resin, and it caused me to become allergic.  I cannot even be touched by the fumes of the resin without getting a serious allergy burn with rash and severe itching.  It is not fun so I recommend always covering up.
You should always wear a mask, the fumes are pretty harsh, especially on your respiratory system.


Lay your canvas flat and above the ground, like you did with the acrylic pour, and drizzle the resin over the canvas.  Help it smooth out and cover the canvas using a long flat stick or your hands with gloves on.

Then when you are happy with the coverage you need to remove the bubbles using a heat gun.  Go gently over the whole canvas with the heat gun.  Then leave it alone to dry, it should be touch dry in about 12 hours, depending on weather.  This is what you should end up with, a gorgeous acrylic pour thanks to pva glue and silicone oil.










Thank you for these awesome last six months, I have enjoyed using my creative side again.  It has been a pleasure and I hope everyone keeps creating with Helmar.  Don't forget you can purchase Helmar products from here:  http://www.helmar.com.au/shop/manufacturer/





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Mickey Mouse Rock n Roll Rhinestone Shirt

How to make a Mickey Mouse Rock n Roll Rhinestone Shirt

Good morning/afternoon everyone.  Kristina here with my latest Helmar blog post.  I had the theme of Rock n Roll, now I am the least Rock n Roll kind of person in the world.  I do love Disney though.  What does Disney and Rock n Roll have to do with each other???  Well, Mickey Mouse does the Rock n Roll symbol with his hand!  So I thought that it would look stunning as a rhinestone design on a black shirt, using Helmar's Gemstone Glue.

Helmar Products Required:

Helmar Gemstone Glue

Other items necessary to complete project:

Shirt, preferably a dark colour

Chalk

Traceable

Old paintbrush

Tracing Paper

Here is the traceable I have made from the design pictured:

The first step is to copy the traceable onto either tracing paper, or normal paper.  Then cut the traceable out, making sure to carefully cut out the fingers so you know where the black on the shirt should stay.

Place this on your shirt, taking care not to have the design to high or too low, then trace over the whole thing in chalk.

The next step is to start gluing the rhinestones on using the Helmar Gemstone Glue.  I began with the vertical line on the cuff, then I started on the bottom of the hand.  Pay attention to the lines and neatness, try to keep it relatively straight.  I used the old paintbrush to paint a little line of the glue onto the shirt, then placed the rhinestones onto the glue.

You just keep gluing the rhinestones on, making sure you leave a gap where the black part of the fingers are.

Make sure you leave the glue to dry for at least 24 hours before even thinking about washing the shirt.  When I did wash mine, every single rhinestone stayed attached, nice and firm on the shirt.

This is a picture straight after washing the shirt.  I was really impressed with the strength of the gemstone glue.  The final step is to let it dry and then wear your awesome, unique, one of a kind Disney Rock n Roll t shirt out to the next concert you are attending.  You never know, we may bump into each other at the next Pink concert, ballet recital, or even Disney on Ice!!

Until then, keep your creativity light glowing, and stock up on Helmar products and all those shiny shimmering pretty things that make life so sweet.

One final word, please remember that Disney is a copyright giant, it is fine to make things like this for yourself or to give to another person, but please don't charge any money for Disney inspired products.  For your own sake.  So create away! And give away!

Xmas pudding cake shoes handmade.

Xmas Pudding Shoes and Decoupage shoes

for less than $12

Good Morning, Afternoon everyone in the blogging world.  I decided to put away my Bah Humbug for the day and I designed these awesome Xmas pudding shoes, with Santa on the heel holding it all together.  I also did a quick decoupage xmas canvas shoe, that took less than ten minutes to do, and honestly cost me less than $2.  I bought the black canvas shoes from the Op Shop for $1, and everything else I already had on hand.  Here are the glamour shots of these festive beauties......

To begin with you will need a pair of high heel shoes for the Xmas pudding design, and almost any kind of shoe will work for the decoupage shoes.  

These are the products I used from Helmar:

Crystal Kote Matte or Gloss Varnish

Helmar Craft and Hobby PVA Glue

Scrap Dots 

Premium Craft Glue and 

Super Tac Glue

Other required items are:

Shoes

Xmas decorations

Brown Acrylic Paint

White Acrylic Paint

Wrapping paper with xmas designs you want on the decoupage shoes

Ok so to begin with I sat down in front of the television and began watching Xmas shows, yep, I did that. 

I cut out lots of xmas pictures from wrapping paper, and xmas tissue paper ready to be glued onto the black canvas shoes.  

Once I had everything cut out I just glued them onto the canvas shoes where ever I wanted them to be with the Helmar Craft and Hobby PVA glue. 

I used a paintbrush to put the glue on the shoe, then I placed the pictures on top, then another layer of glue on top of the pictures. I added some tiny little xmas bows using the I had to decorate the edges, to add some sparkle to it.  Must have sparkle!!

Once I had done this, I decided to get some of the xmas ball decorations that go on a tree, and I used the Super Tac Glue to adhere them to the edges of the shoes.  Once dry, spray with the Helmar Crystal Kote Varnish spray and there you go.  A quick, inexpensive and unique pair of everyday xmas shoes to wear around town.

Christmas Pudding Shoes

I found these cheap pair of high heels in the Op Shop, $5, absolutely perfect for what I wanted them for.  The only type of shoe I didn't want was a fabric one like canvas, it would just make it a little harder to paint.  It can still be done though.

The first step, or it can be the last step if you think Santa will get in your way, is to glue santa, or a bauble onto the heel of the shoe.  Now I tried a number of different ways to do this and I found the Premium Craft Glue to be the best way to adhere Santa in the shortest amount of time.  

After Santa was happy, I glued on some more of those little xmas balls across the bottom seam of the shoe, using the scrap dots from Helmar.  It is quick and easy to apply and I could raise and lower the little balls as much as I wanted.  

I had two little bells with some mistletoe attached that I thought would look perfect on the front of the shoe.  I attached them using Super Tac Glue.  Some red ribbon added to the front of the shoe with PVA glue makes them look like a wrapped up pudding.

I'm betting no one else is going to have these festive shoes at that work Xmas party!

Now for the icing of the pudding I wanted it to be layered and dripping.  Premium Craft Glue is the perfect choice for this part.  I applied a thick layer across where I wanted the icing to approximately end, allowing for some dripping,  I then filled in the rest of the top of the shoe with the glue and allowed it to dry.  It took less than fifteen minutes before I could paint the icing.  It honestly is that quick.

I tipped the shoes a little before the glue dried to get the drips of icing.  I then painted the icing in white paint, it needed about two coats.  I painted the rest of the shoe in raw umber (brown) acrylic paint, and they are completed.  When the paint is fully dry I recommend using the Crystal Kote Varnish spray just to protect everything.

This is the first coat of paint, to get a nice even coverage at least two coats of paint are required.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year.  Fingers crossed for an Arty New Year!!

Please follow me on social media for lots more arty ideas....

Please follow me on facebook........... KristinaObrienart
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