Etching Glass

This isn't a scrapbooking craft, but I did use some of my scrapbooking tools to do this. I've seen so many wonderful glass etching projects and had really been wanted to try it myself.  Then along cam an opportunity. My sister was getting married this past summer and I wanted to make something special for her shower gift. The shower theme was to stock the pantry. I decided to make her a customized casserole dish. This way when she makes all her yummy food to share at parties and gatherings, everyone will know which dish is hers!

I didn't think to take photos as I was doing this. So I just have a few that I took with my cell phone.  I bought a glass casserole dish that had a fairly flat bottom with not much writing or impressions on it. Then I took a measurement of the space I had to work with on the bottom of the dish.

I used my Silhouette Cameo for this project.I laid out my design in the software, being certain to constrain myself to the measurement of the casserole dish bottom. 

 Before cutting the design, I mirrored it in the Silhouette software. I then cut it out of vinyl. And weeded out the portions where I wanted the glass etching to take place.  This part can trip you up. Typically you weed out the waste areas and keep the design. But for this type of project you'll actually weed out the design elements so that those areas of the glass are exposed.

Using transfer tape, I applied the vinyl to the bottom of the casserole. I used a squeegee to make sure the vinyl was tightly adhered. The bubbles in the vinyl are fine. The vinyl will not be staying on the dish. It is just acting as a stencil.

Once the vinyl is in place, you apply the glass etching cream. There are a few on the market. I used Etchall. I only had a small jar and it was more than enough for this project. Plus you can gather the excess and put it back in the jar to be reused.

Spread the cream liberally to cover ONLY the areas that you want etched.  Be very careful to not get it on any other areas.

Now you just wait.  15 minutes. Then you can scrape the cream off the project and put it back in the jar.  Then remove the adhesive vinyl under running water.  And enjoy your permanently etched glass!

The vinyl left a bit of residue on the glass. I used some Goo-Gone to take that off.

I was so happy with the results. Especially since this was my very first time using this technique. Now I'm thinking of lots ideas for using etching cream!

Another Way to "Color" Digital Stamps

Hi everyone! It's Cathy here with a post for you today!  It's been a while!!  Life has taken on some new directions for me and crafting has not had very much time in my life. It feels so good to be getting some creative time again!  And for that I am really thankful!  I got to play with a brand new digital stamp by ArtyPants Digital Stamps called Butterflies and Filigrees, come on that name alone shouts "beautiful"!!  There are so many things that you can do with her digital stamps. She includes a layered file too! So you can clip digital papers or colors to them. You can incorporate them right into your scrapbook or photos designs!

I chose to make a card with this stamp. I brought the .png image into my Silhouette Designer software and resized it for a 4.25"x5.5" card.  I offset it to allow an area for the ribbon. Then I print and cut the card.

So. I'm not so great at using markers to color in digital stamps. But I thought I would share some things I did with this stamp to create a shiny (wish I could photograph the glitter better so you could see just how shiny!) card with texture, color and a bit of grunge.  I got out my copics, glitter and embossing materials.  I used some transparent glitter on the main filigree frame in the design. I wanted to keep it kind of grungy, but add a little dressy to it.

I also traced the 2 butterflies and created cutting shapes for those. I cut them out of vellum.

Each of the butterflies got a sparing layer of glitter on the card face and a rim of opaque glitter on the edge of the cut vellum. I set the vellum on the card with the wings lifted.  The greenery in the stamp was enhanced with color and texture from some gritty moss embossing sand.

Hope this gives you some ideas of how you can use digital stamps in your designs!

Creating a layout using a color scheme and sketch!

Good Morning everyone!  TGIF!  Sharon here to share with you an easy way to make a great scrapbook page.  I have found that using sketches really helps me with my creativity and is a great source of inspiration. There are so many wonderful sketches just waiting for you to check them out!  I know you can find awesome sketches and templates right here at Ideas for Scrapbookers by clicking on the sidebar under "LINKS TO PAM'S SPECIFIC TEMPLATES."  Pam's templates/sketches are really cool and so easy to use!

But today, I would like to share a sketch and color scheme from a different source, a challenge blog.  There are lots of them out there, and here is just one that has lots of inspiration:  Color Me Scrappy. They have a challenge going on right now using the following color scheme:

 

and sketch:

I loved the sketch and used it to make the following layout:

I used bricks instead of stitching for my border, and burlap to frame my photos.  As you can see, you can use the sketch as loosely or specifically as you like.  Check out the Color Me Scrappy blog to see what others have done with this sketch and color palette!

P.S.  You can use your creations as gifts, too.  I gave this layout to my sister for her birthday on September 30th!

VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S BLOGS/GALLERIES

Cathy Dippolito

Dolores Schaeffer

Cindy deRosier

Marlene Murphy

Lesley Walker

Gael Spence

Sarah Routledge

Sharon Fritchman

Tanya Ham

Sheila Burns

Pam Callaghan