What can I engrave? Can I engrave an orange? A pecan? An acorn? A cookie? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh the possibilities.
Photo description: pile of mandarin oranges in a wire bowl, the top orange has the faint but readable word Orange engraved in scriptPhoto description: pile of pecans in the shell in a white glass bowl, the top pecan has the word pecan engraved in the shell with no dark burn marks in a handwritten serif fontPhoto description: pile of acorns in a white glass bowl, the top acorn has the word acorn burned on the shell in a handwritten serif fontPhoto description: pile of undecorated sugar cookies, the star cookie on the top has the word Cookie burned in a whimsical curly font
And the bonus for today’s post, a leaf. Leaves are actually a material choice in the software’s menu, so I knew I could engrave those, although I did find that the leaf engraves better when it still has some moisture in it, the very dry and curly post oak leaves would not hold still for the laser. Those I’d have to press flat when fresh, then engrave.
Photo description: red oak leaf held up to the morning sun to let the light shine through the engraved words “oak leaf” in a bold san serif font, red oak tree and woods in the background
Engraving words was an easy way to experiment. I can now move on to designing my own fills and cuts.
My folks gave me a laser engraver, because I spent so much time at their house playing with their laser. My level of craft ability has now reached dangerous (on a scale of “beginner”, “how cute”, “nice”, “wow”, “dangerous”, “how?”, “mastery”). I started with my business logo on rock, painted brass, and a thin slice of purple heart wood that I sliced on my band saw.
Photo description: smooth river rock with a white mottled tree and roots logo for Caryn’s Creations
The rock ended up with a mottled white design that does not wash off. It has a pleasant texture but probably won’t survive a sealant (testing on that later).
Photo description: circle of purple heart wood engraved with the same burned logo.
I’m still experimenting with settings. The purple heart with logo was a little too intense and the burn carried outside the design.
Photo description: black painted brass with the paint burned away for the logo
I tried a circle of brass (I used a jeweler’s saw to cut it, the blue diode laser won’t cut brass). I originally did clean brass, but it only made a ghost image, so I spray painted the blank with black primer paint, let it dry, and ran it again. I quite like the result.
In March of 2011 I was experimenting with copper clay, which is fine particles of copper suspended in a fireable media that shapes like clay. When heated in a kiln, the organics burn away and the copper remains. I made this squirrel for my Dad, and after firing it measures about a half inch tall.
Photo description: copper squirrel sculpture with acorn side view
What I liked about this sculpture is the way I treated the tail. From the side it looks like a full fluffy tail, but the back shows that it is spoon shaped, which reduces the bulk and I feel was a nice design choice.
Photo description: back of the sculpture’s tail showing a spoon shape and lines indicating fur direction
I think “Rick Rolls” are hilarious. I loved Rick Astley’s song “Never Gonna Give You Up” when it came out (bass!), and it amuses me that it is now a cultural prank to deliver the ear worm in a sneak attack. I saw that someone used Minecraft blocks to build a QR code that went straight to the YouTube video. Nice. Since I have potholders on the brain, I thought maybe I could weave a QR code if it was a small one, like a Rick Roll. I didn’t want to buy black and white loops for an experiment, so I used the darkest and lightest loops I had on hand.
Photo description: Pro pot holder loom woven with brown and cream (and a couple of orange) loops into a QR code pattern
To get the right color options for each square, I strung all cream for the warp and all brown for the weft. There were some very, very long floats (floats are sections of weft that aren’t woven over under each warp thread). That made for a messy weave, and to lock in the sides I twisted the last loop. It didn’t really matter, the long floats made a messy grid and the picture didn’t scan. Bummer. When I took it off the loom the whole weave collapsed in shame at the audacity. (Ok, so not the impudence, it was the long uneven floats. I’m not a fan of floats.)
Photo description: potholder off the loom that has become a tangled mess due to the uneven and long floated weft loops
I did recover the loops for another project. The idea of weaving a QR code is not dead, I have some ideas on how to attempt future dastardly ear worm traps.
The only sugar container available at the store was a plastic bin. Sigh. Since it was a last minute run to the nearby market, to pick up what I forgot to put on my list, I bought it. All is not lost, though, since the flat sides of the container could be cut to make yarn bobbins.
I like these bobbins for knitting and weaving and holding scrap yarn. They don’t unwind far and don’t need half hitch knots to hang from a project. They are made from recycled materials that would otherwise go in the trash. Win. (And yes, I wrote about them last year too!)
Photo description: plastic sugar container cut into sections and marked with a bobbin patternPhoto description: 10 bobbins cut from one sugar container
