Dipped Wire Flowers

     It started as a comparison between inks, paints and varnish to colour PVA dipped wire flowers, but what do you do with them once you've made them?.....  I made a card. I enjoy the challenge of the experiment but there should be an end use for the ones that work and the ones that don't.....recycle.

     I remember making these with my Mum when I was younger, I think the dipping medium we used was called something like 'Fantasy Film'. This method uses Stix2 Anything 3D PVA glue, it's a good strong glue with the consistency of double cream. I made a set of five small loops with jewellery wire, I'm sorry I don't know what gauge, you can bend it easily with your fingers and it will hold the shape.

     Five small loops makes for a nice size flower, I did find that if the loops went beyond approximately one inch the glue had trouble forming a film, best to keep them under an inch at their widest point.

     I bent the flowers into shape before dipping, if you try it afterwards you run the risk of splitting the film.     

     I decanted some of the 3D PVA into a tiny jam jar so I could dip the flowers into the glue easily. Dipping it in and lifting it out slowly seamed to work well. If the film breaks just dip it back in the jar and try again.

     I only gave each flower one dip but you can dip again once the first is dry to thicken the film. Each flower was left overnight to dry out, the glue goes clear when dry so it's easy to tell when it's done but overnight makes sure it's set completely. I also made some leaves but I wasn't very happy with the shapes, something I need to try again I think.

     I used four different mediums to colour the flowers and leaves:

  1) Leaves - Cactus green pearlescent Izink pigment ink dropper - painted on with a brush. Covers the wire as well as the film, great pearly sheen, no odour.

  2) Blue Flower - Stratosphere blue Izink pigment ink - has it's own brush in the lid. Covers both wire and film, dries matt, no odour.

  3) Pink Flower - Nail varnish - has it's own brush in the lid. Covers both wire and film, nice shine but rather smelly while working.

  4) Yellow Flower - Yellow Fabric Spray Paint - painted on with a brush. Covers well, more of a satin sheen and takes longer to dry completely, no odour.

     So a good strong PVA works well, keep the loops small and try whatever you have in your stash. I really like the Izink bottle inks because they dry matt and most flowers are matt not glossy, plus there is a great range of colours and a little goes a long way. Thank you to Keep On Crafting for asking me to experiment with the Izink pigment bottles, it's been interesting and it's not finished yet.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Creative Fingers - #201 Anything Goes

Seize The Birthday - #207 Anything Birthday / option Hearts

Watercooler Wednesday - #307 Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist

Unicorn  - #62 Use Flowers