a paradise for those who love all things arty
A Worn of Warning when you are doing Art and Crafts
- When using Sharpies remember that over time they will discolour and fade.
- Cheap watercolour paper is cheap for a reason!! It doesn’t take colour well and can if you use too much water disintegrate.
- If you use Tupentine be very very careful, it is combustible!! Much safer to use it either outdoors or in an extremely well ventilated area.
- Modge Podge can take forever and a day to dry and even then may remain tacky!! A suggestion to stop the sticky and keep the shine is to spray with either acrylic spray or spray fixative.
- You get what you pay for when you buy art supplies – you don’t necessarily save money in the long run.
- When you use your heat gun remember that it is used to melt objects – this means that it is capable of melting carpets, materials etc. Think before you melt!! The same applies to using a hot glue gun!! Melted glue will remain forever in a carpet unless removed with scissors.
- When you have a drink be careful where you place it. If you knock it over you could end up with more than a mess than you bargained for – plus it could well be the ruin of many hours hard work.
- The self healing cutting mats don’t like being heated up – they warp – remember this when you have your heat gun in your hand.
- When doing art get out of your nice clothes otherwise they won’t remain nice for long!! You could always put on a pinny!!
- Alcohol inks will dye your hands and nails!
- Bleach will ruin your clothes if splashed on them!
- Be careful when using your heat gun you can give yourself a nasty burn.
- UTEE when melted can hurt and burn if you touch it.
- Spray paint will melt Styrofoam.
- Seed beads and feathers will go everywhere if there is a breeze!
- If you are using Dremel tool make sure your hair is tied back otherwise you could scalp yourself.
- Loose fitting long sleeves aren’t the best fashion statement to wear when doing art, unless you are prepared for the art items to be scattered over the floor and the sleeves to be covered in all things art related.
- Before shaking tins/pots of paint or glue make sure that the lid is on tightly!
- Don’t try to make a resin mould out of un-cured polymer clay. Toxic fumes are the result!
- Don’t use white glue on vellum paper.
- Don’t watercolour over pen drawings unless you know the ink is waterproof.
- If you decide to help your watercolour picture to dry using some sort of heating device don’t if you’ve used any masking fluid on the picture – it will bond so tight that the paper’s top layer will peel as you try to remove it.
- Bleeding can occur with just about all forms of markers – if in doubt use some test paper first!
- When cutting paper with exacto knife or similar make sure you have something underneath the item you are cutting other than your best table that is!!
- If you put your work into a book to flatten it, make sure you use waxed paper around it to stop it sticking to the book pages.
- If you use a guillotine cutter be careful where you place your fingers!
- Twinkling H20s won’t twinkle if used over Gesso.