Showing posts with label lantern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lantern. Show all posts

Saturday, July 29, 2017

DIY Boho Teapot Lantern Project: LED Lights

For the past few years, when trying to explain this project, what it was, and what I as doing/,making, I often met with bewildered blank stairs... probably because people don't move I the same circles or spheres which I do, including other artist friends I have & know. Also, a major setback with completing this project was poverty. Yet, the inspiration was still STRONGLY within me, and I never gave up!

One thing that was often told to me was:
Well, I want to see that when it's finished! Send me a photo of that when you're done!


Even tho' people were very familiar with using LED string/wire lights in decor is a very popular practice for the past few years, which you can see all over any craft store, and even Wal-mart, Target, Kohl's, Marshall's, and even sometimes at CVS or Walgreen's, and people were familiar with my other lantern works, nobody really understood me when i trued to explain this.

Anyways, I wet to Michael's craft store and I saw a full display on sale of a wide variety of these, and even tho' I was originally thinking of white or warm gold, I was really drawn to the blues. I as also tempted to get a purple, but didn't.

Something about the blues really drew me to them. They are 2 different types of blue, and have a really brilliant glow, so I think that have magnesium in them but also they don;t quite show true to color as the human eye can see them when photographed. Actually, they're both a variation of cyan or turquoise blue, but the one is slightly indigo colored.





I had to unravel the lights, then coil them back up and insert them within the pot/lantern. The other string has to be forced through the spout.







The lantern appears to be pouring light. there's a lot of symbolism & metaphors in this symbology I used here.







I have also been video documenting this process of creating this project.

And I have also shot some SLR photography with my new camera.


DIY Boho Teapot Lantern Project: Crystal Wire Wrapping

Over the process of wire wrapping the crystals, I got sick from sinusitis, and also was trying to juggle some research at the same time. Much of this process didn't get video documented, but I will still try to video edit the footage I got.



See that broken handle on the vintage pewter pot? The main reason no one wanted it, and cast it off as "a piece of junk" was the sole reason why I wanted it. (It also has a big dent in it. But, to me, it shall be a figurative "Persian Flaw".) Well, that broken handle is what will make this a major piece of whimsical art!


A post shared by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A post shared by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A post shared by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on








A post shared by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on


In my original design concept I only wanted a small crystal to be wire wrapped to the handle, and then reinforced. But, I ended up having 3 crystals thanks to Jet International due to a mistake which changed to generosity & kindness. 

So, It evolved into 3 crystals... but, when I as at Michael's Craft Store I saw some drilled crystal point beads, and that also became part of the mix.


A post shared by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on








After I was done with the wire wrapping, I had to do some spray paint retouch-ups, and I had to cover the crystals with plastic wrap in layers. Then, after that I had to spray it with layers of shellac.

I couldn't do it while it was raining, nor while it was ultra humid, because it would mess up the process. And, I was also sick, so I had to be careful as to not harm myself.

Once the paint and the shellac were all set, I could move onto the LED lights, but I had to wait until the following day to be completely sure the layers of paint and shellac were totally set.

I also put the knob back on.

Oh, and by the way: It's rather heavy from all the wire.