LIM DT: A is for Automobile (#482)

We have a new type of theme at Less is More this week – working through the alphabet. Unsurprisingly, we start with A and the chosen item is ‘automobile’. I went through all my stamps and found just one featuring a car. I used that recently (actually not so recently I discover) and decided to look a little further. A quick internet search later, I found a suitable file I could edit and cut out with my Silhouette electronic cutter and came up with this:

automobile themed square card with black vinyl outlines of cars on nine coloured panels

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Glass Etching with Armour Etch

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I have learnt three things on this little project:

  1. Etching glass with Armour Etch through a vinyl stencil that I cut on my Silhouette Cameo is quick, simple and delightfully effective. This inexpensive Ikea glass is now carrying the branding that I use for my studio.
  2. Photographing glass, like mirrors, is incredibly tricky! I spent roughly 15 minutes etching the glass, and then the next hour learning how to take the photograph! I ended up lighting it from beneath with a small LED push-light with a sheet of paper between it and the glass to dim it slightly. All of this was in a blackout tent, with a small amount of light from above, and poking my phone through a small slit in the tent. The first attempts had so much reflection of both the lighting and the surroundings, the etching wasn’t visible.
  3. Cleaning the glass digitally was so much more effective than in real life. I’d done my best using alcohol and non-shedding cloths, but the pesky dust specks really showed up despite my best efforts. The Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop really came to the fore to remove them. Though not perfect, I think as a bit of amateur product photography I can get away with it 😉

All that’s left to do is the rest of my glasses!

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Cheap vinyl lettering for mixed media?

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I’ve been playing with an idea I had a while ago, but only just had chance to try. I was struck by how sticky some of the low tack tapes can be, and then happened to use some electrical insulation tape and realised that it was that perfect stickiness for peeling off things. And it was waterproof. And relatively cheap. And just the right width to fit a line of text in suitable for art journaling. Combining these thoughts with a Silhouette Cameo PixScan sheet led to the following experiment…

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