A Light Bulb Moment

I recently had what I call a Light Bulb Moment. Yes, I amazed myself by coming up with what may possibly be a new technique.

OK, OK, my conscience is bothering me. I must confess that I don’t think that I really discovered this technique. In reality, I think I must have read about this idea and it got stuck in the back of my brain only to resurface recently. I did a Google search to see if I could find where this idea came from so I could give credit where credit is due but I haven’t been successful. That being said, let me tell you about this great idea.

I am especially anxious to get this information posted before Easter. No, this idea has nothing to do with religious beliefs. It has to do with the plastic Easter grass that can easily be found at this time of year and may not be available at other times. This is the stuff that is lovingly placed in the bottom of Easter baskets to cushion chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. Heaven knows, we wouldn’t want to bruise our Easter bunnies, would we?

After reading this blog, creative people the world over will no longer just be biting the ears off the chocolate bunnies on Easter morning. No, they will also be seen gathering Easter grass to recycle into amazing art projects.

I can see the puzzled look on your face. Why, you ask, would anyone want to save that stuff? All it does is get all over the house, it sticks to the cat's fur, and plugs up the vacuum cleaner's filter.

Here is where the bright idea comes in. Did you know that you could use Easter grass as a low-cost substitute for Angelina Fibers? If you aren’t familiar with Angelina Fibers, they are fibers that reflect light. They have many uses in fiber and mixed-media art. However, they are pricey. It's hard to capture the look of Angelina in a photo. It looks much better in person. This picture doesn't truly show the iridescent beauty of the Angelina. (Double click on any photo to enlarge).

Now, before I go further, here’s my big legal disclaimer. Easter grass isn’t meant to be heated and melted. Therefore, I don’t know how safe it is to breathe the fumes produced by melting Easter grass. I suggest that if you decide to play with Easter grass (henceforth known as EG) that you do it outside or in a well-ventilated room. I don’t want to be responsible for your pickling your liver.

I decided to try making angel wings as my first attempt at using EG. Usually angel wings are large and one would need a lot of Angelina fiber to make a nice-sized set of wings. To my mind, this was the perfect time to substitute the less expensive EG. My goal was to come as close as possible to the iridescent look of Angelina while using the EG.

Working on a non-stick oven liner, I sandwiched EG between two sheets of parchment paper (not freezer paper.) I used an old iron to heat the EG. Invariably, my irons get all gunked up with whatever products I'm working with and I have to throw them out and buy another one at a garage sale.

It took a little experimentation to get the heat setting and timing right. Too little heat or time, and the EG didn’t melt. Too high a heat setting and I got a big melted blob. I tried using a heat gun, but it wasn't hot enough to melt the EG between the parchment paper. I tried using the heat gun without sandwiching the EG between sheets of parchment paper and the fibers were uncooperative and flew all over the place.

Here's how the wing turned out using iridescent EG.

Branching out in my experimentation,I wanted to see if I could embed some little, shiny items in the EG while I was ironing it. I tried glass beads (left). Duh, glass doesn’t melt. What was I thinking?

I also tried sequins. Sequins do melt, but it was hard to get them to melt at the same rate as the EG so I wasn’t thrilled with the results of that experiment. I tried sprinkling gold embossing powder on the wing and then reheated the wing with a heat gun with great results (center). I also made one wing using a layer of blue translucent EG followed by a layer of the iridescent EG (right). This wing also looks great in person.

I had several colors of EG in the house. As it turns out, my favorite when making wings was the iridescent one on the left.

I also experimented with melting other colors of EG and was not as pleased with the results for the wings. I did notice that the some packages of colored EG have both opaque (bottom) and translucent strands (top.) I didn’t like the way the melted opaque EG looked. It was very flat and one dimensional. I painstakingly picked out the translucent strands and ironed them. (Yes, I’m nuts, but you knew that already.) I was pleased with my results using just the translucent colored strands.

Here some ideas for using colored EG. I brushed mica powder (Pearl Ex) on the melted EG and gently re-ironed. I loved this result. I can see using this type of freeform piece as the base of a pin or as part of a collage.

On the right is the result of my ironing EG onto a piece of two-sided fusible bond (the kind used to apply appliques onto fabric.) After ironing the EG onto the bond, I removed the paper backing and ironed the EG onto fabric. I see endless possibilities with this technique such as doing freeform embroidery on the fabric and using in art quilts.

While I had the iron, heat gun, parchment paper and the non-stick liner spread out all over the place, I decided to spend a few minutes experimenting with another idea I had.

As I mentioned above, I had noticed that sequins melt. This got me to thinking about Punchinella which is sequin waste. If sequins melt, I knew that Punchinella would also melt. If you are not familiar with Punchinella it is on the left in the picture below. If you would like to purchase Punchinella, it can be ordered online. I know Aileen at Outside the Margins stocks Punchinella (http://www.outsidethemargins.com/).

I experimented with trying to make embellishments and beads with the Punchinella. It worked great. I cut a piece of Punchinella, rolled it around a dowel, and ironed it between the parchment paper. I let it cool a couple of seconds and then still keeping it on the dowel, I rolled it between my hands forming a bead (second from left.) In the third picture from the left, I tried weaving some fibers through the Punchinella holes, then heating and rolling into a bead (using the dowel to keep the center open.) One last thought occurred to me. Remembering my duh! moment from earlier in the day, I knew that glass beads wouldn’t melt. I strung beads on a piece of fiber and wove it through the Punchinella holes. Then ironed it and formed it into a bead (right). Nice effect if I say so myself.

I think that the creative opportunities for using EG are endless. Be sure to stock up now while the EG is readily available.