Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Aluminium Foil again

I was using aluminium foil bonded to brown paper recently to make some gift bags so I thought I would see what happened if I bonded it to fabric instead
The method is exactly the same.
I substituted heavy weight calico for the brown paper and put a layer of Golden Soft Gel medium on. I am sure you could use any type of medium, I just grabbed the soft as I thought it would be easier to apply.
The foil is carefully crumpled up and flattened out again before bonding to the fabric.
Next step is to apply paint. You need to mix Golden GAC200 with the acrylic paint so that it stays on the foil when dry.
For the first layer half the foil was covered in Dioxazine Violet-Purple acrylic.
This was then rubbed back. When you do this some of the paint settles against the ridges of foil giving a really nice effect.
I did the same on the other half using Quinacridone Burnt Orange.

When both these paints were dry I covered them in a layer of Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold. I still mixed it with the GAC 200 even though there was already a layer of paint on the foil. It is important to make sure the bottom layer of acrylic is thoroughly dry before applying a top layer. If it is still wet or even just tacky it will lift off when you put the second coat on.
I've put this close up in just to show you the different colours that the camera picks up all depending on the light source.
I decided to ‘road test’ this fabric to see how it behaves and what I could possibly achieve with it.
The colours in all the following photographs are nowhere near a true reflection of the actual colour of the painted foil.
So I started off by making the old favourites: Inchies, ATC;s and Postcards.
These two postcards also had machine knitted wire laid on top.
Close ups of them both.

Of course, I just had to make the ubiquitous Padfolio/Journal or whatever it is called now.
The first one is just your normal run of the mill type.
A black silk lining and notepad finish it off.For this one I machine knitted 0.20mm gauge wire with a Madeira FS Metallic Embroidery Thread in a lacy pattern. This was stitched on the top before constructing the journal.
The inside has been lined with black silk and the signatures are handmade paper which has been sewn in. There are four signatures in all with ten pages each - very meaty! I punched holes down the side of the first page and threaded the black ribbon bookmark through.
And finally, the box.
Thought I would like to do something a little different so:-


And just out of interest, the little dog inside is also made from knitted stainless steel wire by an artist called Sarah Jane Brown
If you follow this link here you can see more of her fabulous work.
Creating these pieces wasn't too much time wasted as it gave me a chance to see how this fabric handles.
More on this later.

30 comments:

Unknown said...

Gorgeous as usual, the colours glow

Sandy said...

WOW have you been busy. I really like what you do. Must knit some wire. Sandy

Vicki W said...

Awesome!

Susan D said...

What scrummy colour. I tried painting on foil while ago but now I know where I went wrong because it came off. Thanks Lynda.

Linda said...

I love the aluminum foil and really appreciate you sharing your experiments. The fabric/foils are just gorgeous and your finished pieces are fabulous! Linda T

Donna said...

Thanks so much for the "tutorial" on painting foil. It looks so scrumptious, but I'm really very curious how you sewed it... didn't your thread break when punched through the foil layer by your sewing machine? I'm sure the needle must have dulled quickly, but am fascinated by the fact you could sew at all :-)

Carol said...

Oh my god Lynda these are stunning! This technique is just stunnning> I can't tell you how good this work is, get WOW on the phone now!

Kim said...

Wonderful work. Great tutorial. Thanks.

FARBTUPFER said...

Great, love the wonderful colours!

Ruth said...

Cool technique and great projects too. I like the mix of knitted wire and the fabric/foil. I wish that cameras gave accurate color representation a little better. I always have trouble with that.

Doreen G said...

OMG Lynda so that's what you have been up to.
Simply awesome.

Pat said...

Wow, was this post ever worth waiting for, that close up picture is plain drop dea gorgeous.

Shirley Anne Sherris said...

Hi
Hmmm - today I made out my list of paints and mediums I am going to buy and negotiated another draw in the stack from my grandson to store them in. I have just popped into this blog and now they are urgent.
Many thanks for such a detailed and brilliant workshop.
Cheers

Julie said...

I love the colours you have used here Lynda and the box is wonderful! I have started on the brown paper project in your previous blog but Christmas has got in the way. Must get back to it and get an order off for Golden mediums. :)

Micki said...

I am so relieved to know that you have been busy working away at all of these wonderful things. I was afraid something might be wrong. I love what you have been up to.

Judy Rys said...

Great project! I can only imagine how beautiful this is in person.

Françoise said...

Beautiful, as usual Lynda!
Glad to have you back in blogland.

sharon young said...

This is indeed a triumph, Lynda. The knitted wire over the foil is inspired, it gives a very unique texture that changes the quality of the knit into something more sculptural.
The construction of the box is brilliant!
Many thanks for sharing this technique, I too would be interested to know how it behaves under the machine.

Moira Anne Dickson said...

These all look great. Thanks for the step by step.
Moira.

neki desu said...

she's back!
need i say that my faves are the ones with knitted wire? :)

neki desu

Unknown said...

I wondered why you wheren't blogging? Now I understand, it's gorgeous!!!! Thanks for the tutorial, this brings a whole new idea for me!

Elizabeth said...

This is all just fabulous!! I also love the little knitted wire dog!!!
Elizabeth

gunnelsvensson said...

WONDERFUL!

Ro Bruhn said...

What stunning effects, I love what you've created with the end products. Thanks for sharing.

Val said...

Fantasmagorical!! Thanks so much for the tutorial as well. Val

Micki said...

You have been given the "Make My Day" award. See my blog for details.

Barbara said...

these all is wonderful...love the colours ...and purple....:))

Dianne said...

The textures and the colours are fantastic. Love the box!!

Nancilyn (Fiberdabbler) said...

Outstanding tutorial! It's also great that you actually show the products used. I'll be hitting up the art supply store soon. Now then, what kind of wire knitting machine? What guage wire? And the aluminum foil -- regular, heavy duty, no-stick?

SewDelish said...

Oooh I love this. I absolutely have to try this! Thanks