Watercolour And Brush Lettering Plate And Mug

(This post is part of my Frosty Festivities 2015 Blog Event – see a list of all the posts HERE)

On Monday I showed you my explorations in brush lettering, and today I’m back with a watercolour and brush lettering plate and mug:

Fun huh? I have been wanting to try out a watercolour effect on plates after seeing THIS POST and THIS POST. Then I saw some Porcelain Brush Pens on sale in TK Maxx, and I after the fun I’d been having with brush lettering I had to get them too!

The brush pens are by Edding, the porcelain paints I used are by Pebeo, my plate was from Ikea, and my mug was from The Range. Please be aware the paints and pens say they haven’t been tested for food use so should be used for decorative purposes only:

I wanted to write on the mug first, so I went straight on with the word ‘warm’ in purple:

I didn’t like how it looked as I wanted it to be big and bold. Luckily you can wipe the pen off with a baby wipe or damp paper towel if it hasn’t dried yet. Then dry the spot with a dry paper towel and you can write on it again:

I continued the writing underneath the word ‘warm’ first, rather than going above it, so I didn’t smudge it. I wrote ‘drink on a cold night’, mixing bold and script font styles:

Then once these words were dry enough not to smudge them I wrote ‘nothing better than a’ at the top:

I prepped my paints – stirring them with a lolly stick:

Then tipping them into some plastic bowls (which are ones I already use for painting), and mixing in some paint thinner. The bowl on the left hasn’t got the thinner mixed in yet, the bowl on the right does. I ended up having to add even more thinner. I’d say a good ratio for a watercolour effect is 9 parts thinner to one part paint! I used way too much paint and thinner:

I stippled the mug around the words with a layer of blue paint, trying to stop it looking too drippy. I should probably have used paint without thinner but I wanted it to be a bit translucent, plus I’d already mixed the paint and didn’t want to waste it:

Then I stippled it with gold paint over the top before leaving it to dry for 24 hours, then baking it in an oven according to the instructions:

On the plate I wrote the words ‘baby it’s cold outside’:

Then I tried dripping some paint down from the edges:

And used a cocktail stick to spread it out a bit:

But I didn’t like it! Luckily the paint can also be cleaned off while wet!

After cleaning the paint I tipped a pool of blue paint onto the plate:

I added a bit more thinner and started tipping the plate about to spread it out:

I decided it was covering too much of the plate, so I wiped some off:

Tipped it about again:

Added some splashes of gold:

I kept splattering and tipping until I was happy with the effect:

So I again left it to dry for 24 hours before baking in an oven according to the instructions:

 

I definitely want to experiment with these techniques a bit more, and try out some more colours of paint too!

Be Inspired:

Get some porcelain or glass paints and decorate some tableware

Use one of the phrases I used as inspiration for your project

Add some gold or blue stipples or splatters to you card, layout, etc

What would you write on your mug or plate?

Remember that commenting on this post, and any post that goes live during November 2015, will count as another entry into the Grand Giveaway {NOW CLOSED}, but only if you’ve registered your interest in winning that prize right HERE!

I’ll be back tomorrow morning with the next Frosty Festivities 2015 post – there aren’t many left now!

I hope you have a great day,

Jennifer x