Lampshades Made At Our Workshop

Very proud to show you these lampshades as they were made by the people attending our workshop after just 20 mins of instruction and then just a few mistakes later and voila!

You can check out our courses at www.iekoenvironments.co.uk 

Crackle Glaze Made Easy

Here are a couple of non toxic, environmentally friendly techniques that can either replace or compliment the Shabby Chic ageing look.

The technique is the same for both only the crackle medium differs. 

Method Using Gum Arabic:

Gum arabic, also known as acacia gum,chaar gund, char goond, or meska, is a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of the acacia tree;Senegalia (Acacia) senegal and Vachellia (Acacia) seyal. It is widely used in the food industry as a glaze for confectionary.

Mix the Gum Arabic with a little water until  you have a double cream consistency. 

Paint on your first coat of water based paint remembering that this is what the top layer of paint will crack back to expose. Leave to dry.

Coat on a thick coat of Gum Arabic and leave until tacky. I dry the gum with a hair dryer to speed up the process.

Then paint on a thick coat of paint. Do this quickly and try not to overwork it as it will drag. Immediately you have finished painting then dry using a hair dryer. This will help the paint to crack. Either use a varnish or wax to finish off. 

Method Using PVA Glue.

Replace the Gum Arabic with PVA Glue and follow the same process. The glue isn't as natural as the gum Arabic but performs pretty much the same.