Etched Copper...Personalized

I worked on a project last week, and am kicking myself 

that I didn't take more photos of each of the steps.  

But I enjoyed it so much, that I plan on doing more 

ETCHED COPPER 

projects very soon, and will snap more pics of the process.

Our GodDaughter was confirmed this past Sunday, and I wanted to give her something

that had to do with her faith journey, and also something personalized just for her.

I toyed with making a piece of jewelry, but wanted to steer away from that 

because I've done that with past gifts for her.

I called her mom and asked what her "Confirmation Verse" was ~ each Confirmand chose a verse from Scripture that was meaningful to them.  So, the phrase I used in the project was the first part of that verse.  I decided to make an etched copper cross, and played around with some lettering:

Then (in the steps I failed to photograph), I cut a cross out of copper, filed the edges,

and drew the design directly on the copper with a black fine-point Sharpie.  

The Sharpie ink acts as a resist when the piece is put into the etching acid.

(Side note ~ with the bankruptcy of RadioShack, many of their stores ~~not all~~ are closing and liquidating their inventory.  I got a bottle of etching acid for  $1.40!  Everything was 90% off....they only had one bottle left, or I definitely would have stocked up on those $14 bottles.  So, be on the lookout for closing stores.)

Next, I needed to add a patina to darken my etched metal.  But all I had was some Novacan Black, 

which really only works well on silver soldered stuff.  Since it did very little to darken my copper, I resorted to just using a black Sharpie since I was in a time crunch (what else is new...).

 

Not ideal for permanency, but it worked okay.

Then I used 0000 steel wool to polish off the raised layer, to bring up all the etched detail.

My plan was to add the cross to a journal, so I bought a plain black Moleskin and tried it out:

 ...but it just looked kind of blah, flat, and maybe too much like a Bible.  

Plus, that elastic band was bugging me.

Then I came upon this gorgeous little journal!  It looks like a treasured antique, 

and has a neat little clasp on the side ~

I just love how it turned out, like a relic from the past, and hopefully our GodDaughter loves it, too!

We were on our way to church that day for the Confirmation service, 

and snapped a quick family pic in the backyard.

So glad my girl is home from college for the summer!

More  
etched copper
on the horizon for me.  I love the process.  It's really pretty easy, with great results.
And perfect for a personalized gift!