Photographic artist Jo Howell takes us through a couple of fun holiday craft ideas you can make at home.
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Christmas craft cyanotype lantern
You will need:
- Cyanotype chemistry
- Craft knife
- Scissors
- Double sided sticky tape
- Vellum
- Puck light
- Batteries
- Heavy duty gift bag
- Laser cut Christmas shapes
Method for lantern
Step 1
In a suitably darkened room:
Cover your workspace and tape down the top and the bottom of your vellum to avoid it curling up. Use artists tape or remove extra stickiness on your clothing.
Step 2
Carefully brush on the cyanotype solution mixed 1:1 while avoiding pooling or uneven coverage. Be quick and precise. Then leave to dry.
Step 3
Using the craft knife carefully cut out a window on either side of the bag you will use as your lantern. Leave approximately an inch or 2cm around the edge as a frame.
Step 4
Apply double sided sticky tape around each window you have cut out. There should be 4 strips framing the window on each side of the bag. Leave the protective cover on the sticky tape until the prints are dry.
Step 5
Once the cyanotype has dried on the vellum peel away the anchor tape and stack them all together. The vellum likes to warp in water so you should flatten the sheets under heavy books.
Step 6
Once the vellum is flat and dry you will need to set up your exposure unit. Using my 30cm distance from print box set-up with a 50 watt UV lamp worked best at 12 minutes or more. I like a deep blue so left them for 25 minutes. Compose your print and leave to expose.
Step 7
Once the vellum is exposed you need to wash it in super cold water for at least 10 minutes.
Step 8
Peg and weight the vellum at each corner as it dries.
Step 9
Flatten the vellum between books when dry.
Step 10
Remove the protective covering on the double sided sticky tape and carefully apply your cyanotype print. You can cut down the edges and neaten everything up. Then add your batteries to the puck light and stick it to the inside base of the bag.
Laser cut Christmas decorations
You will need:
- An old book for the paper
- Laser cut wooden shapes
- PVA glue
- Paintbrush
- Scissors and craft knife
- Cyanotype
- Acetate negative
- Hessian string for hanging the decorations
Method for cyanotype decorations
Step 1
Find or create some holiday themed designs to make your acetate negative. Prepare and print your negative.
Step 2
Remove pages from the book you have chosen to use. The book I used for my own decorations was a DIY book from 1960.
Step 3
Apply your cyanotype solution to the surface of the book pages you removed. Let it dry in a darkened area.
Step 4
Get your exposure unit, glass and negative ready to use.
Step 5
Place the negative on top of the prepared book paper and flatten it with glass. Set your exposure away.
NB: My exposure unit is a cardboard box that raises the 50 watt lamp 30cm distant from the exposure. This was exposed in 12 minutes.
Step 6
Once exposed then wash in super cold water for approximately 5 minutes or until all of the yellow chemistry has come out of the paper.
Step 7
Peg up to air dry.
Step 8
Once dry use PVA glue to apply the print to the surface of the laser cut shape. Once the glue is dry cut around the shape with a craft knife.
Step 9
Glue another print to the reverse side. Let it dry and then cut it out with a knife.
Step 10
Thread your string through the hole and secure to make a loop.
You can varnish these if you want but I think that they look great without it.
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