So this week i tried my hand at engraving – no a very steady hand i might add but nonetheless. I have always been fascinated at my sister who is a goldsmith and can make the most beautiful jewellery and work with all those fancy tools. Anyways, so when Chiswick sent me their gorgeous little engraving tool to work with I was beyond excited – if only it came in pink like their heat gun it would have been perfect (for girls at least). So here’s was a made – a recycled spoon keyring. Years ago my mom bought me a set of red and white dotted cutlery – and this was the back end of that set as they were really pretty but not functional at all. After the handles broke off i kept the metal parts like any good hoarder will do.

I used one of their stamps to get a pattern and then engraved it onto the spoon after my DH flattened it for me.

I love how it turned out – functional and recycled – just the way i like it!

Here’s a sxs of how i went about the process
step 1 – You will need a stamp with a fairly easy pattern on it, solvent based ink pad, and a flattened spoon. I ask my DH to hammer the end over to form a loop for the keyring to go onto.
Safety tip: Always wear protective eye gear when working with the engraving tool as well as hammering metal objects

step 2 – Ink your stamp with StazOn ink – this ink is made for metal, plastic, glass and shiny surfaces so it will dry and be permanent while i engrave my image. Press the metal spoon onto the stamp and lightly apply pressure to transfer the image onto the metal.

step 3 – Make sure you are happy with the image – if not you have a few seconds to wipe the image clean using a cloth and try again.

step 4 – Wearing your protective eye gear (for the sake of the photo I placed them in the frame but was wearing them when i did the actual engraving) trace over the stamped image lines. Depending on the settings you can regulate the depth of your lines.
TIP – Use light pressure when engraving while guiding the point over the surface.

step 5 – Once you are done wipe the image down with a soft cloth to remove any metal bits removed from the engraving. Add a layer of black acrylic paint and let the paint dry until almost fully cured. Use a cloth to wipe down the paint on the surface.

I really enjoyed playing with this fabulous little tool – and i can see loads more missed media projects happening using this baby!
Now if only i can colour mine pink….
This wonderful product is available from your local craft store – visit www.chiswick.co.za for products available in their range.