PROJECT: Etched & Stamped Slides

By Kathy Cano-Murillo
May 17, 2008
Special for the Republic

The fun of crafting is experimenting. If you keep an open mind, ideas are everywhere. This project comes from the need to clean. Recently I used a craft store coupon to buy a huge jar of glass-etching cream. Two projects later, I didn’t know what to do with the excess, but couldn’t dare throw it away. I came across some glass slides tucked away in my treasure box and married the two concepts to make all kinds of glass-etched magnets and pins.

Take this lead and run with it, see what else you can do to make it your own. That’s what making art is all about!
Etched Glass Stamped Pins or Magnets

Supplies:

2 glass slides

Stickers or rub-ons

Glass-etching cream, Popsicle stick or chopstick

Rubber gloves

Rubber stamps

Stamp pad for glass surfaces

Acrylic or glass paint

Foil tape

Pinback or magnet

Extra strength adhesive

Directions: Take one glass slide and apply sticker or rub-on to the front of it. Put on the gloves. Apply the etching cream in a thick layer over the slide. Let it set for 10-15 minutes. Take the slide to the sink and rinse off the cream, gently rubbing off the sticker or rub-on as well. Let dry. Take a blank slide, paint it if desired, and then add a rubber stamp design, let dry. Stack the two slides together so the etched design is on top. Seal the edges with foil tape. Use adhesive to apply pinback or magnet.

Variations: you can use copper wire, flux and solder wire to solder the edges. If you go that route, add a jump ring to the top and make it a necklace or charm. You can also embed the etched slide sandwich into air-dry clay. If you do not want to use rubber-stamps and ink, you can substitute with clear stickers or rub-on decals.

Crafty fiction readers take note! There is a new scrapbook-themed novel out on bookstores! A Page Out of Life, by Kathleen Reid ($14, Berkley Trade, 320 pages, paperback), centers on a group of diverse women who come together for the sake of scrap booking. Drama ensues! It’s fun read, and will even get you choked up in spots. And it’s crafty! More on this coming soon…