Crafting 1: Dragon-Scale Phone Case

Dragon-Skin Phone Case over Otter Box

Time: 1 day

Materials: Duct Tape, Paint, Crafting Knife (razor/X-acto)

Success Level: Eh?

See directions and tips below.

Hello! So this post is a bit of a crafting failure (or pseudo-failure [see below for why]). As a rule I don't typically do crafting projects; it's just not my area of expertise. However, my Otterbox case has been looking quite decrepit as of late (the softer plastic part was peeling) so I've long been planning to cover it up with duct tape. However I couldn't just have a boring silver finish; I wanted a dragon-scale case. I wish I would've taken more pictures to show the process but it's super inconvenient to take pictures of the thing you normally take pictures with...

Anyways this was a really simple project following the following steps:

1: cut rows of scales into duct tape with a crafting knife

2: lay scales AS NEATLY AS POSSIBLE (one of my failures) on phone case covering entire case

3: brush over scales with colored paint

4: brush upwards over scales with black paint to accentuate the scales

Ways I failed:

1: I cut really sloppy scales of all sorts of different sizes

2: I laid out my scales really messily and didn't really bother to cut out the other openings in the case

2a) I had little wrinkly bits of folded scales

2b) I had some scales almost completely overlapped

2c) I didn't bother to make smooth duct tape edges on my case

3: I used glass paint that is heat-set. Of course I knew better than to but my plastic phone case in the oven, but turns out the paint didn't take to the duct tape, so now it's all peeling off. I think acrylic paint is supposed to stick to duct tape perhaps, but don't quote me on that.

4: I cut the duct tape such that the grain was horizontal though I wanted my scales to have a vertical grain. I kind of achieved this by brushing both the colored and black paint vertically

Other Tips:

1: Find paint that sticks to duct tape

2: If you can find a paint that's supposed to stick to duct tape (probably acrylic ?) also try to find one that's transparent so you maintain the shine of the tape into the scales

3: Cut the duct tape scales with a vertical grain

4: Take the time to cut the scales as neatly and same size as possible

5: Take the time to lay the scales down neatly - try to avoid wrinkles and bunches

6: brush on the black paint stroking upwards so that the paint accumulates in the crevices of the duct tape scale design and accentuates the scales. This also helps to hide any rough edges on the cuts.

Conclusion:

I'm really glad I went for it and created my dragon scale phone cover even though I messed up a bit along the way. Overall I think this design has a lot of potential especially in the hands of a crafty person who can cut and place neat scales. I'm not sure how long mine will last since the glass paint I used is flaking off. If all the paint comes off I may try to redo it with my acrylics; or I may decide to redo the whole project; or I may decide to do something else with my peeling case. [Note I plan on getting a new phone within the year which is why I totally don't mind doing whatever with my current phone case]. This design was a ton of fun and even though I wished it would've come out a little better I'm still pretty content with the results! (At least until all the paint falls off)...

Other Art 7: Harry Potter Mug

Harry Potter Mug

Time: A couple hours

Materials: A glass mug, Americana Crystal Gloss Enamels glass paint (black and white), 

a sharpie, an oven

I am a huge Harry Potter fan so I was really excited to make this mug. This was a super fun project that I made for one of my friends for her birthday. It was quick and easy, and the best part is that the mug is completely usable and dishwasher safe!

I formed the idea when I was looking online for things to make or get for my friend for her birthday so I was looking at Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings trinkets when I came across a couple different really cool Harry Potter mugs that people had made and I thought, "I could totally do that!" However making mugs is a bit tricky especially if you want to be able to use them! The safest bet as far as I can tell is to buy specific ceramic or glass paint that says it is dishwasher safe after you bake it in the oven. Unfortunately I have yet to find such a paint that also says it is safe to use on the food/drink side of the surface, and I really wanted to stipple a grim on the bottom of the cup which is why I ended up going for a glass cup rather than a ceramic one.

Though I messed up in a couple parts because I was getting used to using the paints, I am overall really happy with this mug (and I hope my friend enjoys it as well! :D ) and I am definitely going to make more mugs or similar things in the future!!! (Already bought four more colors of the Americana Crystal Gloss Enamels paints!!!) [Even though making mugs is a little too close to the 'crafty' realm rather than the 'artsy' realm for my comfort sometimes since I really am not particularly 'crafty'...]

Anyways, here's a super detailed look at how I made the mug!!!

Original sketch for the mug. I was literally going to write our 'Harry Potter' in Harry Potter font which would've been kind of a pain so I'm really glad I didn't do that!

I was originally planning on putting this on the handle (depending on how big the handle of the mug I was going to buy was) but instead I decided to write my friend's name on the handle to make it more personalized.

Looking at pictures on the internet, I sketched out a silhouette of the Hogwarts castle on a strip of paper that would reach half-way around the cup so I could draw the castle twice. Then I taped the paper down to the cup so I could trace the drawing.

This is what the inside looks like with the paper taped on. Notice I had to trace the outline of the castle to the other side of the paper so I could see it better. I am actually tracing the castle backwards so that it will be forwards on the outside.

Here's after I traced it. I used a red sharpie so that it would be easier to see when using black paint. Note: the glass warps the drawing quite a bit so it's important to make sure what you're tracing still looks good even if it doesn't exactly match the original sketch.

Here's the first castle completely traced.

Here it is with both castles and a sketch of the grim on the bottom. Note: All of the sharpie is on the inside of the glass so that you can see it when you paint on the outside of the glass (since you can't paint on the inside of the glass at all since the paint isn't supposed to be in contact with food or drink).

These were my sketches for the symbols I wanted going around the cup. I wanted 8 symbols: the seven horcruxes (Book, Ring, Locket, Cup, Diadem, Snake, Harry), and the Deathly Hallows symbol.

Here's everything fully painted. Notice I am wearing gloves because if any oil gets on the outside of the cup underneath the paint then all of the paint will chip off. You have to wipe the whole thing down with rubbing alcohol before you start painting.

Sirius!!! <3 (but jk, it's the actual grim)

The cup has to dry for like four days before you bake it. I had to keep it upside down since there was paint on the bottom. Notice I also wiped off the sharpie from the inside using rubbing alcohol.

After 4 days you bake it at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

And it's done!!! :D

Other Art 6: Fruit Mug

Fruit Mug

Created at 'All Fired Up' - a pot painting place

April 2015

I made this mug for my mom for mother's day. I wanted to incorporate some fruit (since our kitchen has a lot of fruit pictures and things), and the bordering that is on our china (Mikasa Italian countryside). I had a bunch of fun planning and making this (so there are a lot of pictures...).

Note: I had to do a lot of planning since I would have less than two hours to choose a mug, draw, and paint everything! (And after choosing my mug I ended up having only around an hour to do everything but I got it all done!!!)

Enjoy!

Planning the fruit layout and thinking about how I am going to paint them. Using glazes at the pottery place is totally different from painting with acrylics. I had only done this once before (with the Dragon Bowl), so I still didn't quite understand how to use the glazes.

Originally I was going to make a plate.

 And then I wanted to make another bowl. Notice I wanted the inside to be rings of colors which I ended up adapting to the mug.

Finally I was able to convert my design into a mug. The fancy border is adapted from the Mikasa Italian countryside china.

 I made a layout of my design and tried to figure out my colors.

 This is the border color scheme I ended up choosing, but I wish I would've went with a darker green in the stripes, but I wasn't sure how the yellow would look over a darker green since I wasn't sure how the glazes would act.

 Before being fired up!

 I tried to add a border around the lemon last minute so it didn't fade into the border.

 Note: the names around the rim are my families (since it's a mother's day mug but I didn't exactly want to write 'Happy Mother's day' - I just wanted to make it cute and something my mom would like) [though in retrospect I wish I would've at least written happy mother's day on the bottom]

Frankie is my puppy.

Inside.

Final mug! Note: since I was rushing I only did two layers of glaze instead of the recommended three so my mug was a bit blotchier than I expected it to be but I'm still quite happy with it. Also note the shadows on the orange needed to be much darker but I couldn't anticipate how layering the glazes would look... 

The handle for some reason turned out really nice even though I definitely only put two layers of glaze...

The inside was pretty blotchy but you can't really tell in the picture. But that part doesn't matter as much as the outside at least.

Overall this was a super fun project, and it makes me want to paint more mugs and bowls and things!!! I had a blast and I hope my mom is enjoying her mug! Happy Mother's Day!!! :D

Other Art 5: Dragon Bowl

Dragon Bowl

Created at 'All Fired Up' - a pot painting place

November 2013

I made this a while ago at a pottery event with my floor at my dorm. I wanted to make a bowl and (inspired by recently completing the Haku dragon crochet) I decided to put a bunch of dragons on it. I wanted it to be like the (wingless) dragons were flying in the sky (the white lines were supposed to be cloud lines...), and I wanted the inside of the bowl to be a cool jade green color and really swirly (although I went a bit over-swirly putting swirls on top of swirls on top of swirls).

This was a super fun project to make, and I definitely want to do more with ceramics and glassware in the future (hint hint nudge nudge).

Side note: My mom always uses this bowl now! (And by always I mean sometimes but more than I thought it would be used). It makes things extra special. :) It's an especially good strawberry bowl. :D

Way too many pictures:

Cute dragon:

Inside: [super swirls]

I think I probably should've just left it with just the big multi-swirls and not gone over it with all of the little swirls that just make it look messy and take away from the big mega-swirl.

 Another cute dragon.

 Bowl

Bottom: 

That's all!