designing with stamps

stamping with mehndi

figure 1 (stamps,mehndi and patterns)

I used the stamps that I made from piercing patterns off vinyl tiles. I then glued them onto clear perspex so that the actual stamp is visible when patterns are being stamped. I wanted to see if these stamps are successful and stamps the patterns. I used mehndi out of the tube I coloured each stamp and then pressed it onto paper as shown in figure 1 

Now that I know the stamps work I need to find handles for these stamps.At first I wanted to use a nail,with the head being glued at the back of the stamp and a glass bead at the end. I got some wooden dowel pins and wanted to use those instead like shown in figure 2 below.

figure 2 ( stamps with wooden dowel handles)

matt wax gun and batik tool

figure 1

figure 1 shows paisley patterns made using the batik tool on the right with injecting and beeswax mixture and the left shows the matt wax gun with blue wax.

figure 2

figure 2 shows the close up of figure 1 that was done using the batik tool. What im tying to do is make the pattern more 3 dimensional by turning them over and making blobs on the other side.

figure 3

figure 4

figure 3 and 4 shows the patterns that are flat on the back and raised on the front.

figure 5

figure 6

figure 5 and 6 shows the detail both on the front and the back of the elements.

figure 7

figure 7 are patterns made using 3 different waxes with the matt wax gun. I started with the blue,then the red and then the green. I found the red and green wax works the best when the gun is on medium heat the blue wax needs to be used at a higher tempreture as opposed to the green and red wax.

draped head accessory

 

figure 1

 

figure 2

Initially when I design this head piece, the main idea was for the elements to look like chain. Figure 1 and 2 shows the initial design of the elements.

 figure 3

figure 3 shows the elements that were made by forging wire and soldering balls together with a jumpring at the ends as to attach to each other. These were all made individually by hand and no casting included,this was taking a long time to make. The connection between the two elements were quite weak because there were to many solder joints.

figure 4

figure 4 shows a different element that might work better. I want to use the batik wax tool to draw the pattern so that it is delicate and detailed.

figure 5

figure 5 shows the final element that im going to attempt drawing with the batik tool

cast mehndi elements for head piece

figure 1

now that the domed flowers for the diamante stones are done(figure 1),need to cast the other elements and clean them.

figure 2

 figure 2 and 3 shows the mould that i had made earlier using 1 master element that i spent one entire day piercing and filing round,sanded,polised than made a mould off.

figure 3

figure 4

 figure 4 shows the tree off elements that have just been casted and is now being cut off one at a time.

figure 5

the elements are being cleaned in sulphuric acid (figure 5)

figure 6

 figure 6 shows some of the elements that have been sanded and polished.

figure 7

figure 7 shows the arrangement of elements in the correct sequence for the bridal head piece

mehndi with batik tools

I used beeswax that was melted and poured onto the batik tool,the copper batik tool needs to be heated up before melted wax is poured in, reason being is that the wax cools quickly so heat needs to be maintained for this technique to work.

What temp does the wax need to be?

Im not sure ,but its not in its runny form or in its hardening form its slightly cooler than runny.

I used wax paper as the working surface but on the non shiny or non waxy suface. Reason being wax sticks to wax and i dont want it to stick i need to be able to take the wax patterns out easily.

here was a test to see runny form to slightly cooler.when its runny the blob flows out and expands whilst when it gets cooler it sits.

This one worked out beautifully i did this without reheating the tool. this means that i had to work quickly

I made i little scapper to gently lift off the elements,this was made from a copper strip that was tapered.

the beeswax is beaking,need to make it either harder or softer by adding different waxes

mehndi with icing

so ive searched for icing recipes and the hardest icing that i think that might work better than others is royal icing

so this recipe was as follows

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites, at room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• food coloring (optional)

i tried avoiding using eggs because im vegetarian and used vinegar as a substitute for now just to see if it works or else il have to try eggs.

Im using tracing paper so hopefully they will be easy to pull off.

i put them in the freezer for a few hors so that they were hard,although it was difficlt to get them off the tracing paper they began to crack.

mehndi with wax

this was really soft beeswax used for waxing shoes, I put pieces of wax into the cone and melted it in the microwave.
as the wax began to melt it started flowing towards the tip. I cut a small hole at tyhe tip and began creating designs,the wax has to be inbetween melting and cooling point to create these patterns. I noticed if its too liguid it spills everywhere when squeesed. if it to cold the wax that comes out of the tube starts curling into the air,it doesnt stick to the surface being worked on. The cone also becomes difficult to squeeze.