Flocking the bunny slipper magnets, part 2

Posted on May 2, 2012 by christine

Ralphie by the bunny slipper magnetsHello to all of you in blog-land! It’s me Ralphie the Bunny “back-in-action” at Christine’s studio. Last week she was feeling under the weather, so I haven’t talked to you for awhile. Let’s see where we left off. The last time I talked with you, I reported about how Christine adds the flocking to her bunny slipper magnets. And yes, how I wanted to dive into the colorful flocking powder! In the photo above you can see all of the bunny slippers completely covered in flocking powder and the magnets are getting glued on.

The bunny slippers covered in colorful flocking powderHere are the bunny slippers in the flocking application stage. Christine wanted me to share a flocking powder tip with you. As she was adding flocking to the slippers, she wanted to make a slipper with purple flocking powder. The problem? She had no purple flocking powder and she was having a hard time spotting some purple flocking powder online. After some thought, she decided to mix the pink and blue flocking powders together to see what the result was. To her delight, she was able to mix a purple color of flocking powder. So remember that if you need a certain color of flocking, try mixing some of the colors that you have to see what you end up with!

Colorful and fuzzy bunny slipper fridge magnetsThe photo above shows how the slippers look all done in their fuzzy flocked goodness! So how did you like learning about how the bunny slippers were flocked? I hope you enjoyed it. Talk to you soon!

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Flocking the bunny slipper magnets, part one

Posted on April 19, 2012 by christine

Ralphie in front of fridge magnetsRemember last week when I showed you the magnets that were glazed and finished? I was standing in front of a variety of cute fridge magnets created by Christine. Did you notice the cute fuzzy bunny slippers just over my right arm? Those are the magnets that I will be showing you today. More precisely, I will be giving you a look at how Christine added the wonderfully soft and fuzzy flocking powder to the resin bunny slippers.

Ralphie by resin bunny slippersHere I am right next to a half dozen uncovered bunny slippers. They are ready to “hop-to-it” (pun intended) and get covered in a variety of colored flocking powders. You can see some of the flocking colors in the vials sitting behind the bunny slipper pieces. Ooooh…..this is so much fun!

Christine applying glue to resin bunny slippersHere you can see Christine applying glue to the surface of the resin bunny slipper with a paint brush. This is where the colorful, fuzzy and slightly glittery fun begins! Yes, I did say glitter. There is a subtle amount of glitter mixed within the colors of the flocking powders.

Christine tapping off excess pink flocking powderAfter Christine sprinkles the flocking powder over the glued surface, she taps off the excess into an empty coffee liner. Applying flocking powder is just how you would apply glitter to the surface of a piece. Christine will attest that applying flocking powder is just as enjoyable as applying glitter to an item. She loves glitter bunches and bunches!

Christine holding a partially covered bunny slipperIn the photo above you can see how the flocking powder looks on the surface of the bunny slipper. You can also see how handy those coffee liners are for catching excess flocking powder.

Ralphie diving into flocking powderOh…..all of those pretty and soft flocking powders look so tempting that I want to dive right into them and get a coating of flocking material covered over me. I guess I better stop myself and leave all of the flocking material for the bunny slipper pieces.  This where my part of the tour ends for today. Next time you will see the bunny slippers all covered in a fuzzy coating of flocking powder. I will also share a tip with you that Christine discovered while coating her bunny slipper magnets. Please, don’t miss it!

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Making the mini soda can labels

Posted on April 16, 2012 by christine

Ralphie by watercolor pencilsLast week, I promised you that I would give you an in-depth look at how some of Christine’s magnets needed some extra attention. Today I, Ralphie the Bunny, present to you a look at how Christine created the teeny, tiny labels for her mini soda can magnets. In the photo above you can see that I’m standing next to the materials she used to create the original illustrations for the labels. She used watercolor colored pencils, a waterproof black India ink pen and, of course, last but not least, a sheet of watercolor paper.

Ralphie the bunny with mini scissors and labels for soda cansAfter Christine had her soda can labels drawn, she scanned them into her computer and reduced the size of them to match the size of the soda can resin pieces. Then she arranged as many labels as should onto an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet and printed off a copy. After she had her printed copy, she went to get some color photocopies at a local office supply store. Then she had the tedious task of cutting out all of the labels with a tiny scissors that I am holding in the photo shown above.

Ralphie the bunny peeking by the soda cans work-in-progressHere you can see some of mini soda cans sitting in her studio. After she had the labels cut out and the soda cans painted, she decoupaged the labels onto the painted resin pieces. Once they the decoupaged labels were completely dry, Christine gave them a nice and shiny coat of glaze.

Mini soda cans in the painting and glazing studioAren’t they cute? You can find Christine’s mini soda can magnets listed at her store, Lilly Bug Boutique. They are sold as a set of three magnets and you can pick out which three flavors of soda that you would like in your set. How did you like learning about how the labels were made? Hope you enjoyed it. I will be back next time to give you another inside look into the goings on at Christine’s studio. Please come back to check it out!

Soda can fridge magnets by Lilly Bug Boutique

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Glazing the resin & gluing the magnets on, part 5

Posted on April 13, 2012 by christine

Ralphie looking at glazed magnetsHello, readers! Last time I left you, I gave you a look at the work-in-progress of painting the resin pieces. Now look at the resin pieces! They are all nice and shiny looking. Don’t they look nice with the coat of Triple Thick Gloss Glaze by DecoArt, Inc. that Christine used to coat them with? She loves using that glaze on her work and I can see why she does.

Glazed resin piecesThe surface of the hand-painted resin pieces look so glossy and glass-like. It adds richness and another dimension to them. Christine loves it when color is added to her pieces with paint, but she loves it even more once that coat of glaze is added and it gives her pieces a finished and polished look.

Ralphie next to resin pieces with magnets glued onBefore we can officially call them “finished,” we need to securely glue the Rare Earth Neodymium magnets to the back of the resin pieces. And by “we,” I mean “Christine.” She uses a small dot of super glue to attach the magnets and places them in the tray of rice to keep them laying flat and balanced. Those magnets are super powered and strong, although the correct term is “Rare Earth Neodymium.” That’s a mouthful to say, isn’t it? The bottom line is that they are not wimpy magnets, so they will stay in place while on display on a kitchen fridge or other magnetic surface.

Ralphie in front of the great wall of magnetsAnd here I, Ralphie the Bunny, stand in front of the great wall of magnets. There are more magnets still being worked on in Christine’s studio, but there are a lot that are already finished. Can you spot any favorites in the mix? I will be giving some extra attention to some of the magnets shown here. It will be an inside look at the special treatment some of these magnets required. I promise you, it will be fascinating, so stay tuned! I hope you enjoyed today’s update. If you missed any updates, don’t hesitate to click on the links below. Talk to you later!

Ralphie’s tour debut (Part one)

Casting with resin (Part two)

Cleaning the resin (Part three)

Painting the resin (Part four)

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Illumination of Color Etsy treasury

Posted on April 11, 2012 by christine

Illumination of Color Treasury on EtsyToday someone on Etsy, Sandra Ferri of Once Upon a Time Soap created this gorgeous and colorful treasury. She included my popsicle magnets in her treasury. I love this treasury with all of the bright, vibrant colors. Click on the image above to get a closer look at her treasury. Enjoy!

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Painting the resin, Ralphie’s studio tour part 4

Posted on April 9, 2012 by christine

Ralphie peeking from behind the resin piecesPsssssst…hello….shhhhhh……..Right now I’m hiding out behind an assortment of work-in-progress hand-painted resin pieces in Christine’s studio. There are a lot of pieces that need to be painted and I wanted to be as quiet as possible so Christine can focus her attention on painting all of the details onto each of her cast and cleaned resin pieces.

Ralphie at painting stationLook at all of the resin pieces: popsicles, soda cans, coffee cups, citrus slices, sunglasses, strawberries, flip flops, inspirational words and more. Did I miss anything?

Ralphie with resin piecesThere are resin pieces as far as my felt bunny eyes can see. Can you spot some of Christine’s other work-in-progress pieces in the photo above? There’s a giraffe sculpture in the background and a couple of writing pens in the foreground. Every spare inch of Christine’s workspace is utilized. It does get a bit crowded in here.

Unpainted and painted resin piecesRemember when all of her pieces were a white color? Now they are being transformed into bright and colorful pieces. This is the part of the process where each piece comes to life and their own unique “personality” emerges. Christine loves this stage in the process. Seeing all of the bright vibrant colors makes her workspace look so cheerful.

Assortment of Christine's magnet piecesHere is a close-up view of some of her pieces being painted. She’s trying to get a few new summer themed pieces to include at her Etsy store, Lilly Bug Boutique.

Ralphie in front of hand-painted magnet piecesChristine took a break from her painting, so I’m able to get another view of her work-in-progress of her painted pieces. It is so much fun to see them in color. Do you have any favorite pieces that she has been working on?

Ralphie the bunny at painting stationWell, I gotta go for now and let Christine get back to finishing her painting without any interruptions. Don’t forget to come back and see more updates from me, Ralphie the Bunny! And if you missed any updates, click on the links below to see all of the exciting things you have missed. Talk to you later!

Ralphie’s tour debut (Part one)

Casting with resin (Part two)

Cleaning the resin (Part three)

 

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Happy Easter from Ralphie

Posted on April 8, 2012 by christine

Ralphie the bunny carrying a basketHappy Easter wishes! I, Ralphie the bunny, have taken a break from my tour guide duties and wanted to bring you some Easter cuteness and cheer today. As you can see in the photo above, I am carrying a basket which holds one of Christine’s lil’ bunny sculptures. For Easter she sent a couple of her friends a mini basket with a mini bunny inside. You can see how the baskets looked in the photos below.

Cute mini basket with mini bunny sculptureHere is a mini bunny in a basket waiting to be wrapped and sent out to a friend for Easter this year.

Mini basket with bunny wrapped upChristine carefully wrapped each mini basket with clear cellophane wrap to make them look like the regular large wrapped baskets. She liked them so much that she had to take pictures of them, so she could remember what they looked like.

Ralphie the bunnyWell that’s about it for right now. Make sure to stay tuned for when I return with further “work-in-progress” updates from Christine’s studio.

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Cleaning the pieces of resin, Ralphie’s studio tour part 3

Posted on April 6, 2012 by christine

Ralphie the bunny next to newly cast resin piecesHello, your humble correspondent has returned with another inside look at how Christine makes her cute, handmade magnet pieces. Here I am standing next to a bunch of newly cast resin pieces. The next step in the process is to get them all cleaned up and ready to paint.

Pieces of resin in need of some cleaningYou can see how the edges are uneven on the two pieces shown above. Christine will sand the backs of each and every piece and then use her Dremel tool to smooth out the edges. Also, if there are any imperfections anywhere on the piece, Christine will make sure to get them Dremeled and/or sanded away. Watch out, it is a very dusty process!

Ralphie next to sanding stationThis is how Christine’s sanding and Dremel station looks on a typical resin cleaning day. There is a lot of resin dust, pieces of sandpaper, a Dremel tool nearby and of course a stash of ready to be cleaned resin pieces. During the cleaning process, Christine will often wear a dust mask and safety glasses.

Christine cleaning a piece of resinWith her Dremel tool in hand, Christine is busy smoothing out the edges on one of her newly cast resin pieces. It is a messy and dusty task, but a very necessary task to be done.

Ralphie posing at sanding stationWow….I made it out of the dusting station without a lot of dust on me! Can you believe that this part of the tour has already ended? Time certainly flies when you’re having fun! I know that Christine may not have the same sentiments after cleaning up a big batch of resin pieces. It does take a lot of elbow grease when sanding the pieces and then having to Dremel them. I hope you are enjoying this work in progress series. Please let me know how I am doing at my reporting skills. If you missed part of the tour, you can always go back and catch up, by clicking the links below.

Ralphie’s tour debut (Part one)

Casting with resin (Part two)

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Casting with Resin, Ralphie’s studio tour part 2

Posted on April 5, 2012 by christine

Ralphie's Studio TourHello it’s me, Ralphie the Bunny, and I’m back to show you some more behind the scenes views at Christine’s studio. Today I will give you an up-close look at how she casts her pieces with resin using handmade silicone molds. Before any molds are made, Christine firsts hand-sculpts all of her pieces with either polymer clay or Apoxie Sculpt or a combination of the two. After the original pieces are created, Christine works on making molds out of silicone. The molds may not be too pretty to look at, but they do a great job at making multiples of the original pieces that Christine painstakingly creates.

Ralphie next to resin casting trayHere I am up close to where all of the casting magic happens. Get ready to see how the resin looks as it begins to cure. It is exciting to see it happen!

Christine's magnet pieces being cast in resinThe photos above show an assortment of Christine’s molds being cast with resin. In the first photo, the molds have not been filled with any resin yet. In the second photo, there are some pieces that have newly poured resin in them. The newly cast pieces almost look like they are filled with water. The pieces that are white are the ones that have already cured/hardened.

Coffee cup magnet being cast in resin

Here’s a series of photos to see the resin cure “in action.” It slowly begins to look white and the whiteness begins to spread and emerge throughout the entire mold. Can you guess which piece is being cast? Yes, it’s Christine’s coffee cup magnet design! You may have noticed that rice fills the tray where her pieces are cast. Why rice? The rice helps to level out the unevenness of the bottom of the molds, which allows Christine to get a more balanced casting of her pieces. It has worked well for a variety of tasks in Christine’s studio.

Ralphie the bunny watching the resin being castWow…can you see the resin curing in some of the molds? It is so much fun to watch! I can’t believe this portion of the tour is already over. No worries though, I will be back again to show you more happenings at Christine’s studio. Don’t miss it!

Did you miss the debut of the tour? Just click here to see what you missed.

To see the next update click the following:

Part three: Cleaning the pieces of resin

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Awesome giveaway at A Little of This and That

Posted on April 5, 2012 by christine

A set of cute miniature items giveawayThere is an absolutely awesome giveaway going on during April at the blog, A Little of This and That! You can win all of the items shown in the photo above, click on the photo to find out how to win this adorable set of prizes.

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