UTEE stands for Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. It's similar to embossing powder, only a lot thicker. I played with it using the Ranger Melting Pot and some of my ceramic molds. I saw these products demo'ed on the Carol Duvall Show of DIY Network on DirecTV. After watching, I went online and bought the melting pot right away. In the demo, they used cookie cutters to make shapes out of the melted UTEE. Yes, I already have a set of cookie cutters, but I've been thinking about using some of my small ceramic molds and see if it would work. It took a while to melt the UTEE using the melting pot, and it does give out a certain smell, so good ventilation is advised when doing this. I added a few drops of Suze Weinberg's To Dye For and a dab of Pearl Ex to add some color. I realized that the UTEE gets hard really fast - like seconds, after pouring from the pot. So you really have to be fast, but very controlled, in pouring the melted UTEE into the mold. It worked!
Whatever the shape of the mold, the melted UTEE followed it. I was really happy to see the end product. The best thing about the UTEE is that, if you make a mistake, or you don't like the outcome, you can just put it back in the melting pot, and melt away. I also tried to put UTEE straight into the mold, and melt it there using my heat gun. That didn't work. The melted UTEE just stuck there. I ruined one mold because of that. So you really have to melt and pour using the melting pot. The one thing that frustrated me is that the melting pot takes really long to heat up and maintain the UTEE in its liquid form. So, impatient me, I took out my heat gun, and helped melt the UTEE with it. That was a lot better. Now, my brain is brewing up with ideas on what I can do with the UTEE, especially now that I know I can use my ceramic molds. I can make my own embellishments, pendants, buttons, and a whole lot more. I have to dig in my ceramic mold stash and look for other small designs.
Whatever the shape of the mold, the melted UTEE followed it. I was really happy to see the end product. The best thing about the UTEE is that, if you make a mistake, or you don't like the outcome, you can just put it back in the melting pot, and melt away. I also tried to put UTEE straight into the mold, and melt it there using my heat gun. That didn't work. The melted UTEE just stuck there. I ruined one mold because of that. So you really have to melt and pour using the melting pot. The one thing that frustrated me is that the melting pot takes really long to heat up and maintain the UTEE in its liquid form. So, impatient me, I took out my heat gun, and helped melt the UTEE with it. That was a lot better. Now, my brain is brewing up with ideas on what I can do with the UTEE, especially now that I know I can use my ceramic molds. I can make my own embellishments, pendants, buttons, and a whole lot more. I have to dig in my ceramic mold stash and look for other small designs.
Today is a good day :)
No comments:
Post a Comment