Mica Flakes and Stencils

Mica flakes are beautiful sparkly things, but what do you DO with them?  Here’s a handy tutorial showing two different ways to use mica flakes and stencils in your fusing projects.

Materials:

Fine Mica Flakes

Stencil

Flat Glass (we’re using float)

silicone tip tools

flat ended X-acto knife

Hairspray

N95 particulate mask

We’ll be doing two different versions of the same design using one stencil.  Ready?

Step 1:

Put your glass on a sheet of paper to catch the extra mica as we sprinkle, and place the stencil on the glass in a place that seems pleasing to you.  Put on your particulate mask and carefully sprinkle mica flakes over the stencil.  A thin even coat is best.

Step 2:

Carefully lift off the stencil and shake extra mica back into the container.

Spray the glass with hairspray to keep mica in place.  You’ll need to spray from a distance so the force of the hairspray doesn’t blow the mica flakes around.

Step 3:

Mica is an inert material, which means it won’t fuse with your glass.  Therefore it needs to be capped, and for best results, a narrow edge around the glass needs to be left clear to ensure the mica is fully encapsulated during the fuse firing.  To do this, use your silicone tipped tool to wipe the mica from around the outside edge of the glass.

If the hairspray gets too dry and you can’t wipe off the mica, use the flat tipped X-acto knife to finish.

The last step is to cap the glass with another sheet of compatible glass.  Now we fuse this to a full fuse, with extra time at the bubble squeeze to help keep things bubble free.