Last month (or could it have been longer?!) I participated in a scor pal blog hop with a group of angels...I had so much fun that I immediately signed up again to participate in the Home Decor blog hop.
What was I thinking?! No, really, it's been a lot of fun and I'm going to first show you my original project...stamping on fabrics! I love Palette inks because once you heat set them with an iron, they stay wonderfully! Here I prewashed a Martha Stewart white kitchen towel from KMart...then I used Deco Designs (retiring this month so it's on sale now - this is one set that is an absolute MUST have. I normally don't say, "buy this or that" but this set is one you'll reach for over and over). The nice thing about palette inks is that they come in 36 colors and I've bought the 4 spot packs as a quick and more affordable way to collect all of the colors. As I mentioned, once I stamped my design, all I had to do was heat set it with an iron. This works on aprons, pillowcases, onesies and even a white T shirt.
Since I had previously done this project, I wanted to "challenge" myself. So, I decided that I was going to etch glass! Phew...it looked simple enough, at least when the pros did it! Here is my first attempt, and I am embarrassed to say I'm going to post it - flaws and all! - so that you'll learn from my mistakes. And, because I just don't have time to redo the project!!
Materials:
Etch Bath (you can find this at Michaels but use a coupon!)Glass Jar or vaseEmbossing padClear embossing powderPainter's tapeCentering ruler (optional if you have a good eye!)solid rubber stamp image
My first step is to tape off the area (two sides in this case) that I wanted to have frosted in the end...that's how I had seen it done. I will probably skip this procedure in the future OR try regular masking tape!
Wipe off your glass with a static remover, ink up image with embossing ink and carefully and with some pressure, stamp your images on the glass. Try not to slide across the surface - it happened to me the first time and I wiped it clean and started over. Sprinkle with embossing powder - I had to still use a small paint brush to clean off the stray powder - do this very carefully!
Heat emboss and repeat on the other side.
At this point I followed the manufacturer's instructions, sortta kinda! I brushed the solution on my area and let it sit a bit longer than called for. When I washed away the solution...the embossed area peeled right off and everything looked great. Until I removed the tape!
To my shock and dismay, the etching had seeped under some of the tape. Not sure if that's because I left it on too long or if it was the tape.
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After sleeping on it, I realized that my tape probably loosened up from the heat gun when I melted the embossing powder. Since this was now my practice piece, I decided to follow the directions on the bottle (tee hee) and planned on submerging my glass jar two-thirds of the way down into the etching liquid "bath". I embossed the two untouched sides with a new and busier pattern and then went outside to begin etching.
I set the jar down into my empty bucket and began to pour the etching liquid in. Darn it, it splashed up on the jar and even thoughI pulled it right out and hosed it off...but it had already begun to "frost" the glass.
Be sure to wear the rubber gloves they warn about!! I had to go grab mine at this point.
So, I filled up the container and set the glass jar down into the bucket. It sat real nice and flat, but as soon as I let go, suddenly, like a cork, the jar popped up and flipped over on it's side!
Are you feeling my pain at this point? Okay - on to plan #3!! Frost the entire jar...
It worked! I just kept turning it and flipping it (and some of the liquid seeped inside and frosted parts of the inside as well) for 10 minutes. I rinsed it off and let it dry...ta da...
