Filed under: jewelry, process by ramune

I am pretty excited about this week’s creative project. I recently started taking another Enameling on Metal class at the Torpedo Factory and I had all these grand plans for my projects this semester. I wanted to make the most of it and hopefully come out with enough pieces to sell on Etsy. If the pieces sold well, then I would really push working more with metals and trying to make a real business out of it. Unfortunately I was counting on certain techniques (mainly etching) being used in class and when I asked my teacher about it she said we would not be doing any etching in class this semester. I decided to do the etching step at home and then bring my pieces into class to enamel (since I can’t afford a kiln at the moment).

Unfortunately the search for ferric chloride (the etchant we used in class and that is commonly used to create circuit boards) was futile. According to my teacher and loads of websites, Radioshack was the only place you could buy ferric chloride, however they have stopped selling it and I needed to look for another solution, or order it online. When searching for ferric chloride I came upon the Stop using Ferric Chloride etchant! (A better etching solution.) tutorial on instructables.com that suggests using hydrogen peroxide and muriatic acid (pool acid) instead. Supposedly you can keep using the same solution over and over again which makes it more environmentally friendly.

I tried out this technique and am pretty happy with the results. I need to work on a better resist since the acid ate through some parts where it was too thin. The only downside is I had to buy two gallons of muriatic acid and only used around 1/2 cup. Luckily it was only $10.

Below are some photos of the process. To see more details you can check out the rest of the photos from this project and other creative projects here.

Step 1: After putting designs on the copper with a resist (DecoColor marker in this case), attach the copper pieces to a piece of foam with double-sided carpet tape.

Step 2: The chemicals! Mix 2 parts Hydrogen Peroxide and 1 part Muriatic Acid.

Step 3: Put the foam with the copper pieces in the solution and watch it turn green . . .

Step 4: Once the copper has been etched as deep as desired, remove from solution and put into water.
Step 5: Brush with baking soda to neutralize.

Step 6: Pour the solution into a glass bottle for next time. This is one bottle of Chimay you won’t want to drink!

Step 7: Use mineral spirits to remove the resist (DecoColor in this case) and any remaining double-stick tape on the back of the copper pieces. Rinse off and brush with more baking soda.

Unfortunately the resist was not on thick enough (or I should have reapplied in the middle of the process), so it’s not quite as clean as I would have liked, but I am still happy with the results. I can’t wait to enamel them!

Filed under: photography by ramune

I know it isn’t particularly creative to do the same project twice, but the flowers here have been fantastic. I don’t know when I last really enjoyed Spring and photographed the flowers. This year I was particularly excited because I bought tulips in Amsterdam last summer and could not wait to see how they looked. They popped up this past weekend and are all red, which is strange because one of the bags I bought was supposed to be mixed colors. Here are a few select photos and as usual you can see the rest on my Flickr page. I just made a Spring 2008 album so they are all in one place now.

One of my tulips from Amsterdam ready to bloom

Bleeding Hearts

One of my tulips from Amsterdam (altered a wee bit in Photoshop)

Dogwood

Cherry Blossom

Lily of the Valley about to bloom

Filed under: design by ramune

First off I want to thank everyone for your feedback on the Rusty Cabbages logo. After looking at the votes and the comments I decided that the full cabbage will be the main logo. I might still use the circular logo somewhere though, I am not sure. When I first thought of the logo I was set on the “rusty” color but realized that it does not have to be so literal and I like the idea of using three shades of the same color instead.

Of course the logo itself was not all. I had to come up with a typographic treatment for the name. Typography is something I have always had a bit of a hard time with and I have much admiration for designers who can do it well and make it look so effortless. Check out the documentary Helvetica to get an idea of how much people get into the little details of each letter you type . . . specifically Helvetica. I realize if you are not into design (or even if you are) this might sound boring, but it is really fascinating and each person interviewed is very entertaining and knowledgeable.

Below are six versions of the logo. Again, I would love to see your feedback in the comments. Let me know what stands out (good or bad) and what speaks to you. As a reminder Rusty Cabbages will be the name of the business I am starting, to sell the things I make (mostly jewelry, clothing and other accessories). To see how this logo has developed you can look back at the sketches and the color treatments.

Version 1 Type Options

Version 2 Type Options

Version 3 Type Options

Filed under: photography by ramune

Warning: The following entry has more pink in it than is usually allowed by the Every.Seven blog. Proceed with caution.

Now that you have been warned, let me start with an apology. Sorry for the cop out of a creative project earlier this week. I found the conversation rather humorous and thought it worth putting up as I got myself motivated to actually do something creative.

This week’s project was to take photos of Spring! It was a lovely today and I have been wanting to get photos of the magnolia trees down the street for a bit now. I wish I had got to them sooner as many of the petals have fallen off already. Here are a few select photos from my little photo shoot. Let’s start with the pinkest of them all. You can go on my Flickr site to see the rest.

Hyacinth

Dogwood bud

Spirea

Magnolia

Magnolia

Filed under: collaboration by ramune