George Weil Blog & FAQs
Welcome to the George Weil Blog FAQs which includes information about the art and craft products sold on this website. There are project ideas, photographs of items created by our customers, product reviews, and step-by-step instructions. See also our USEFUL LINKS page which includes a listing of websites offering information about the products sold on our website, training resources and Guilds.
If there is anything you would like to see included here or if you would like to contribute an item, please email graphics@georgeweil.com
Make a Name Plaque from a Flexible Mould
with Sue Heaser (see also pages on using Sculpey Flexible Moulds and Layering colours in Sculpey Flexible Moulds) Sculpey Alphabet moulds can be used to mould letters for childrens name plaques. These have dozens of uses such as for party...
CONTINUE READING >
Using Flexible Moulds for Polymer Clay
with Sue Heaser Sculpey Flexible Push Molds are incredibly easy to use for moulding all brands of polymer clay. The moulds are made of flexible rubber, so once you have pushed the clay into the mould, you can flex it to...
CONTINUE READING >
Selectasine Printing System, curing and fixing
Inks made from the Selectasine Binders and Pigments provide excellent wash fastness on fabric. It is advisable to allow the ink to dry for at least 24 hours before fixing them with heat. When the print is dry, the screen...
CONTINUE READING >
Firing Art Clay Silver Clay
Preparation before Firing Art Clay Silver Clay Great News! Although the following still applies to Art Clay Silver Clay, the New Art Clay Silver clay formula has increased the working time of this product! See our “New Formula Art Clay...
CONTINUE READING >
Fibrecrafts Natural Dyes
FIBRECRAFTS natural dyes can be used in all natural dyeing techniques and colours with vary depending on the mordant or method used. We suggest you experiment with the dyes and keep notes on how you arrived at the finished result...
CONTINUE READING >
Hair Fibres for Spinning or Needle Felting
The Fibrecrafts range of these rich hair fibres which include Alpaca, Camel Down, Cashmere, Mohair and Yak Down. They can be used for spinning soft, fluffy yarns and in feltmaking. The fibres do not felt easily as the scales along...
CONTINUE READING >
Felt Making Using Felting Needles
Felt is created by agitating wool fibres until they mat together to form a non-woven fabric. The fibres can be laid flat on a surface or moulded around a former such as a hatshaper, cardboard or even a ball. Most...
CONTINUE READING >
Making Felted Fabric and Felt Balls by Hand
Felt can be built in many ways using wool fibres as the base. However it is important to make sure that you are using the correct quality of wool fibres. Too coarse a fibre slows felting as fibre below 56’s...
CONTINUE READING >
Photo Emulsion Exposure
A popular method of making stencils for screen printing is to use the Diazo Photo Emulsion. The screen is prepared with the photo emulsion and a negative printed on acetate is placed on the screen before it is exposed to...
CONTINUE READING >
Stencil making with water-resistant Diazo Photo Emulsion
A screen is coated with photo sensitive emulsion and allowed to dry. The stencil is made by placing a “film positive” (i.e. your design printed onto a transparency, or hand drawn onto draft film / polydraw using a permanent opaque...
CONTINUE READING >
Using Deka L Dyes
You can use Deka L dyes on all natural fabrics including cotton, linen, silk, wool and viscose, although they are not suitable for use on synthetic fabrics. Results from dyeing are dependent on the amount of powder in the dye...
CONTINUE READING >
Cyanotype Blue Printing
Creating Cyanotypes The Cyanotype Chemicals Pack contains 100g Potassium Ferricyanide and 200g Ferric Ammonium Citrate. The chemical names sound alarming but are fairly common place. They have no significant adverse effects on us or the environment. The main iron salt...
CONTINUE READING >
Handmade Cotton Paper with Natural Dyestuff Inclusions
These highly textured, robust papers were made using cotton linters on an A6 Mould and Deckle, (a 250g pack will make approximately 50 A6 sheets). Linters contain partially beaten cotton fibres which are formed into dry sheets that resemble blotting paper...
CONTINUE READING >
Cotton Fabrics
The cotton material for Batik work requires a good finish, needs to be reasonably pliable and be able to accept the resist in order to prevent dye penetration. The Bleached Cotton, the Javanese Primissima and the Javanese Prima all meet...
CONTINUE READING >
Mixed Media Collage
Woven Silk Fibres A further variation on the silk papermaking method. Ruth Edwards has taken lengths of dyed and undyed silk fibres and woven them prior to applying the CMC paste. Silk Sea This design, by Alison Bate, has been...
CONTINUE READING >
Handmade Paper Gift Bag from Sloshy Lokta Paper
The Sloshy Lokta paper used for this paper bag is handmade in Nepal. It is a light-weight natural lokta based paper that has different coloured pulps sloshed over its surface, leaving a trail of intermingled colours. The potential for stitch, book...
CONTINUE READING >
Rubbers and Erasers for Artists
There are a huge range of artists rubbers and erasers available on the market today. Each eraser has unique qualities to suit different situations and art styles. Here is a short overview of some of the types of eraser and...
CONTINUE READING >
Making Jewellery from Millefiori Canes
with Sue Heaser This pretty jewellery is made using slices from the Millefiori flower cane and slices from the Leaf cane. Materials and Tools You will need a flower cane reduced to about 13mm diameter, a leaf cane reduced to...
CONTINUE READING >
Making a Leaf Shaped Cane from Polymer Clay
with Sue Heaser A simple leaf polymer clay cane will set off your millefiori flowers to perfection. This delightful bracelet was made by threading wire through millefiori flower slices and linking them with wire that has been threaded through leaf...
CONTINUE READING >
Polymer Clay Millefiori Cane Flower
with Sue Heaser Flower canes are easy to create from polymer clay and make beautiful jewellery. You will need the following materials and tools: Polymer clay: ¼ block each of white, violet and black. Small quantity of golden yellow Roller...
CONTINUE READING >