Wednesday 29 February 2012

WOYWW 143–More Stencils, Choccie Box Inserts, and Heat Insulation

Thanks again to our wonderful Julia for hosting another weekly hop around the world’s most creative, amazing, tidy (not!) and interesting workdesks. To join in, click on the link in my sidebar which will take you to Julia’s place.

Not a great deal going on Chez Shosh this week because it’s mostly been on the computer, in Inkscape to be exact, working on vector drawings for Sheba, my cutting machine.

Having more or less got to grips with cutting ordinary cardstock, I wanted to branch out a bit, so I’ve been cutting stencils (see my last post). What’s on my workdesk this week is the next one that I have cut – a polka dot design consisting of 1/2-in circles on an A4 sheet. I have been having problems getting it to cut right but I’m on the way now.

To the right of the stencil you can see some recent sample cuts I’ve made with Sheba – my Indian floral border and my silver mirror butterfly on its mat layer, and beyond them, the doileys still waiting for me to do something with them lol! On the left is just a pile of stuff waiting to be put away – nothing a bit interesting.

Above the stencil is the plastic insert from a box of choccies. It fell on the floor upside down (empty!) and when I picked it up I thought it looked really interesting from the back, and wondered if I could make it up into some sort of mixed media art project. The bottoms of the depressions are very thin and flimsy so I’ve been trying to think of a way to strengthen them. I’ve put a bit of acrylic gel medium (thick moulding paste) in one, and although it’s not quite dry yet, I don’t think it’s the right stuff, and anyway I shall end up using far too much of this rather expensive stuff! After doing it I remembered my Polyfila that my hubby bought for me last year for my mixed media stuff, so I’m going to use that. Once the depressions are all filled and the stuff is dry, I shall paint the surface with gesso and take it from there. I want it to end up totally unrecognisable as a chocolate box insert!

Back to the drawing board now, and more work on my stencils (really struggling with the flower one but have some thoughts on how to proceed, having slept on it) and also my designs based on Indian fabrics.

One thing on my workdesk that you can’t see, because it’s under my craft sheet, is a new heat proof mat that I got this week. It’s made of a substance called Cogetherm, an asbestos substitute made from mica, which is supposed to be extremely heat proof and insulating. I have yet to put it to the test. You wouldn’t believe how many green cutting mats I have warped – if you look at the top of the photo above, you can see my latest effort (that’s quite a new mat…) – that wasn’t done particularly carelessly either, as I had a glass cutting mat (heat-proof, kitchen variety raised off the surface with little feet) and then my non-stick craft sheet on top of that, and I was using a heat gun, admittedly for quite a long time. I’ve warped mats by leaving my melting pot switched on for quite a while, also standing on this glass mat, and the radiant heat is enough to warp the mat. Although non-stick craft sheets are always advertised as “heat proof,” they are only resistant to heat themselves, and they offer absolutely no protection for what’s underneath.

I thought it was time to think outside the box, because no craft suppliers seem to have addressed the problem of heat insulation. I found this rigid mat on the website of Presspahn and thought it looked a good bet. I’ll let you know how it fares.

Have a great week, everyone!

18 comments:

  1. Love that you are cutting your own stencils! That is something that I always have wanted to try.

    I have warped many a mats, so I am looking forward to your review on the one you bought.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am with you on the craft mat being "heat proof" they let the heat right through though they done melt themselves, anything below them does! My cutting mat is testament to that! Nice to see your stencils that you are cutting, might give it a go with one of my cutters...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi there, thanks for letting us peek this week and I hope the rest of the week gives you some creative time too. Nice to hear you are getting to grips with your machine, makes me feel guilty for neglecting my craft robo. oh well, maybe later.....
    Neil #61

    ReplyDelete
  4. Will be interesting to see what you do with the chocolate box insert. I love your stencil (Hazel, WOYWW #5) x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lots going on your desk today, I would be very interested to see how the new mat holds up to heat!! Thanks for the link, Have a great week, Hugs May x x x

    ReplyDelete
  6. I know what you mean about the heat gun melting everything. I wonder if that is why so many crafters use the glass mats. Love your vine trail

    ReplyDelete
  7. Enjoyed my visit to your blog looking forward to seeing what more of your work

    ReplyDelete
  8. That template looks fab, I haven't really used masks etc for cutting or inking through. Those spots look fab. Happy Wednesday to you, enjoy this week's snoop of oh so creative places & take care. Zo xx 83

    ReplyDelete
  9. Only a crafter would drop the insert from a box of chocolates and be inspired! Can't wait to see what you do with it! Happy WOYWWing. Debbie #89

    ReplyDelete
  10. Loving the polka dots ,and please be interested to know how you get on with the mat.Good luck with the polifila
    hugs judex10

    ReplyDelete
  11. having tinkered with inkscape my hat is off to your for your designs,its so hard,happy crafting,x

    ReplyDelete
  12. I agree with you about the mats. I even warped on of the huge quilting cutting mats.

    You are sure good with techie stuff on your machine. I read back a couple of posts...wow, it made my head spin! You sound like you like to figure things out yourself so I think you are going to have fun with this.
    It would be pure torture for me as I am hopeless with anything techy!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Interesting post. I love your spotty stencil a great bonus from your Sheba machine. Hope you are felling well and enjoying a period of good time. Sounds like you are making the most of things.
    Love JoZarty x

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi It's May here regarding those texture stamps and moldling paste, Not sure if this would work on a embossing folder as you have to leave the paste on the texture stamps for at least 24 hours, but I suppose if you left the paste on the embossing folder you might get the same effect, I have just run them through the big shot to cut the set paste into hearts and butterfly shapes, and whoop whoop it worked a dream I am very impressed and the pattern from the plates were not affected they look good, Hope this helps a little!! Hugs May x x x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Shoshi. I just about made it to the desk hop this week. I wouldn't miss my Wednesday afternoon group for anything, but it has almost ruled out Wednesday as a crafting day. I like your polka-dot mask. This morning one of my friends told me she has bought some very heavy vellum/ lightweight plastic (she's not sure which it is!) that sounds like it could be good for cutting masks. She has offered me a sheet to try. She bought it to make quilting templates. I have also warped a fair few green mats, so your heat-proof mat sounds very interesting. I look forward to hearing how it performs. Kate xx

    ReplyDelete
  16. Loving visiting here, I always feel so inspired. Love the stencil, Sheba sounds like quite some machine. Are you going to sell your stencils?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Love the stencil here and in the next post - really great colours too! Sarah at 1 having a late WOYWW peek on Friday!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments! They are much appreciated. Spammers, please be aware that I read and moderate ALL comments, and yours will be deleted before publication, so please don't bother!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...