I admit to a certain obsessive/compuslive-ness in my nature (I think the post about giving up Aikos proved that). I may have been known to freak over socks wrinkling under my feet, or stray hairs on my blouse. I may even force the seven year old in the house to fold down the collar of her shirt cause it drives me crazy, but some things are just right and some things are not. Socks should be flat beneath your feet, hair should be attached to your head, and collars should be neatly folded. Etching should be called etching, and embossing should be called embossing!
I have been experimenting with metal for a while now. A year or so ago I got to take a metalsmithing class at the local community college and LOVED it. So I have bought some metal blanks and been futzing with them at home to see what they would become. I have run some through an embosser, and others I have drawn on with sharpie and dipped in PCB etchant (an acid sold at Radio Shack to etch computer boards). So I know what is etching, and what is embossing. Vintaj has recently come out with some new products that I am very excited about. They have a new line of folders and plates made to run through a scapbook type embossing machine with their metal blanks to emboss the metal. They seem to have some cool patterns, I will definately be picking some up. My problem?
The embossing folders with the thicker lines they have dubbed DecoEmboss folders. The plates with the thin lines, they are calling DecoEtch plates. THAT IS NOT ETCHING! Etching involves acids and removing metals to create a design. They are embossing. Not etching.
Did I mention it isn't etching? It is still very cool though. You should try it.
Oh, and on the note of etching - if you are going to try chemical etching, get the Vintaj blanks not the cheapies! The Vintaj blanks are bronze all the way through, the cheapies are not. They are something else - no idea what. But for me, they wouldn't take the etch at ALL! Now if only Vintaj made blanks in a silver color material... or maybe gun metal...
Quote: Obsessions and fixations are not really my field. All I know, when the mind really grabs hold of something, look out.
Martin Sage and Sybil Adelman, Northern Exposure, The Bumpy Road to Love, 1991
the jewelry, art, and life of me
