craftgrrl | Using glass paints on computers

Gallery Glass and other stained glass-effect paints are intended for glass... but they stick to basically anything smooth. Like an iBook.

That's my laptop; I call it Yoshimi, after "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" by The Flaming Lips. The design on it is based on the insert from a Silverstein album. The heart is positioned over the Apple logo, which glows when the iBook is turned on. (The iPod belongs to a friend of mine, who crocheted a case for it.)

Once you've glass paints dry, you can peal off your painting, and stick it to something else that's smooth. So to make this, I printed the image I wanted, taped it to a flat pane of plexiglass, and traced it with glass paints, drawing the leading first, and then filling in the color. When it dried, I pealed it off and stuck it to my iBook. (The white plastic Apple uses on all their products theses days is perfect for glass paints. They stick to it very well, and the colors show up really nicely. Plus, the paint protects the surface from getting dinged or scratched, and it the texture makes it easier to grip.) After about a month the paint hardens enough that it doesn't want to peal off as easily, but it still comes off quickly if you use the edge of a spoon.

I've found I can do easily-removeable collages using glass paints. I lay down a layer of transparent glass paint, and then stick something in it, so the paint becomes the 'glue.' Then, when it's dry, I paint a second transparent coat on top, to give it all the same finish and to protect what I collaged. The collaged bits stay on pretty well, but peal off easily if you put a little effort into it, and they don't permanently effect the surface. I'm planning to collage text onto my laptop, and turn it into the panel of a comic.