In this, the last session of the year, it seemed appropriate to take on a Christmas theme. In common with previous December layouts, I’ve chosen some shiny finishes to bring a bit of light into the dark moments. There are several new techniques that I have tried for the first time: foil-on-toner, cut and design stickers and a laser-engraved piece of MDF. Here’s my take on a Christmas porch:
I had a lovely weekend in London a couple of months ago, staying in a rather nice hotel. The said hotel had wooden keycards to get into the rooms, nicely engraved with the hotel name. Which got me thinking – could I make one of my own? I started researching possibilities, learning about NFC tags and working out the practicalities of making a ‘digital’ wooden business card. Here’s the result, and below, I focus on the process.
I have a friend (in fact, several) who is big into Pokémon. So much so that when we’re away with friends, we’ll often pause on walks for some sort of game interaction. There have also been trips abroad for various Pokémon events. So when it came time to wrap a birthday present, I raided my ‘to be altered’ stash, selected a papier-mâché suitcase and customised it:
If you’ve ever wanted to create your own authentic wax seal, I’ve finally cracked it using a laser-engraved brass stamp — and I’ll show you how.
They come and go out of fashion, but wax seals still evoke a sense of quality and authenticity that has survived for hundreds of years. Over a lesser number of years, I have attempted various ways of making my own version, from a faux wax seal using embossing powder, to another made from pewter and latterly engraving acrylic with the laser and painting over with a soft-touch varnish. None of those were authentic though
With the arrival of my xTool F1 Ultra fiber laser, the opportunity was there to finally create my own proper, customised, brass wax seal stamp and apply an authentic wax seal to my work.
In the first of a possibly occasional, but hopefully weekly, series I am going to focus in on a particular element of my work as a mixed media artist / designer / maker / tutor. I love the varied nature of my work and the projects I get to work on. This post is going to be about lasers, and specifically customising mugs.
Apologies for dropping the C-bomb in May! When creating things for sale at craft fairs, it is best to start early. You never know what might crop up between now and the end of the year, and to avoid a last-minute rush, I start early. The door hanger blanks arrived last week, and rather than keep moving them around the studio, I got on with my plan for them.
