Welcome Back to Seattle Rekoj!

I have been away to the Oregon coast for one wonderful week - long walks on the beach and of course, salt water taffy!

What do I find the weekend of my return? Oh yeah - the Capitol Hill Block Party...
Which coincidentally just about marks the one year anniversary of this here blog! Cheers!

This time last year found me sitting on the side of Pike Street, sharing a booth with Friend or Faux, drinking overpriced juice, playing cards and watching all of the non-customers drunkenly stagger by. Good times... good times... sigh...
This year, coincidentally does NOT find me at the Capitol Hill Block Party.
Actually, I'm avoiding it. And that makes me a happy Rekoj. Here's to you Capitol Hill Block Party - may you be having a better time than I did.

After deciding to take on this project, I felt overwhelmed and a little let down by the lack of knowledge out there in tutorial land - so as a way to say thanks for all the help I've gotten in the past I've put together a little how to of my own:

TUTORIAL: DIY ETCHED GLASS

So you want a little more privacy in your bathroom shower? How bout giving a nice frosted look to the oh so exposing window - better yet - while you're at it why not add a spiffy Rekoj motif!



Supplies:
glass or mirror to be etched
source of running water (preferably with a hose for large projects)
contact laminate paper
squeegee or rubber spatula
x-acto knife
sharpie
paper towels
glass cleaner
rubber gloves
etching cream (I used Armour Etch)
disposable paint brush
Respirator (if you will be covering a large surface)

1. Prep your surface - thoroughly clean with glass cleaner and paper towels and allow to dry.

2. Apply the contact laminate - Cover the glass with enough laminate for the spiffy design of your choice. The laminate can be purchased in a roll for large projects - I got mine from Home Depot. It can be a little tricky to apply over a large area however. Best to have extra on-hand. Smooth the laminate over the glass adhering slowly with the squeegee pushing the air bubbles and creases out as you go. Get it as close as you can - mine still had a few air bubbles and creases that I just couldn't get and it still turned out okay. Once your laminate is covering the area where you want the design you are ready to draw on the design.

3. Cut Time - Wherever the laminate is adhered to the glass is where the etching will NOT be. Draw you design appropriately for the look you want. For this project I wanted the design to be the negative - the bamboo would appear wherever the glass was not frosted. Using your x-acto knife, carefully cut out your design.




4. Prep Yourself - Etching cream can be very dangerous! Please heed all cautions on the label of the cream you will be using. To our right Rekoj is modeling her safety fashion: full clothing coverage, a $25 ventilator, goggles and she is about to don her oh so hip rubber gloves. Even with the ventilator make sure that the space you are in is well ventilated - this assures not only your health but the health of anyone passing by your work area as well! I had the bathroom vent going as well as a box fan in the doorway.

5. Apply the Etching Cream - using the paint brush apply the etching cream generally to the glass and over the design. You want a nice thick coverage to lessen the chance of any streaking. Work as fast you possibly can - this stuff will solidify quick and will not allow for spreading around. Just galosh it up there as thick as you can manage without running out. (The window pictured used up almost a full 24 oz jar)


6. Wait - Follow instructions for the cream you are using. I left mine on for a few minutes extra than the recommended time. I used this wait time to rinse the etching cream off my gloves and brush.

7. Rinse - I attached a small hose by removing the shower head. I then stood on a chair outside of the shower doors to protect myself from splatter. Rinse completely until all traces of the etching cream is gone. I gave a nice thorough rinse to the shower itself as well.

8. Finis! - Remove the laminate and dry off the glass with a towel. Clean the glass a second time with glass cleaner and then stand back and marvel at just how cool that looks.


Yep. Made of Awesome.

My oh my did I fall off into the sunshine abandon that is summer! Here it is, the first real rainy day in what seems like forever which made me think hmmm... when was the last time I posted to the blog? Yikes!
For a couple weeks I got quite hung up on a house project. A house project that I made sure to get lots of pictures of. It was quite a learning process! A fun filled picture post tutorial will be coming shortly - stay tuned!

It has been a week since I last posted... oops!

My excuse this time though is that I almost forgot that I was supposed to be preparing to show at the Urban Art Festival in Tacoma. How silly of me!

Coming with me will be a whole batch of shiny little new pendants which I'm rather excited about. Along with the usual heap of bags, cuffs, checkbook covers and clothing for young and old. If you're planning on being there I'll be at the I Heart Rummage booth - come on by and say hi!

I actually had quite the attempt a couple days ago to get some pictures of the pendants to put up for sale in my shop but sadly I was having such digital camera trouble that I got frustrated and gave up. I ended up reading a pretty great book instead. This was of course, before I remembered that I was supposed to be getting ready for the show...

UPDATE: I did not make it to the show afterall. To any of you who came by to check out the new pendants or to say hi I sincerely apologize. I hope you had a marvelous time despite the lack of REkoj!

Pendant Update - Loved my new pendants so much after I got them painted and sealed that I couldn't help but wear one today.

Here be a quick shot of a Rekoj wearing her favorite spring jacket with the mandarin collar and her new favorite little bird.

Currently on the studio table:
Three little pendants in progress! Last night I finally started playing with my new wood burner (acquired on Sunday) and these characters are what came of it. I will be embellishing these little wood pendants with stain, paint and varnishing before listing them in the shop.
Finally! After months and months of thinking about Rekoj pendants they are finally on their way! Could I be any more excited?

Octopurse!

Newly updated in my etsy shop is this darling little Octopus purse. I've got a few of these to list and I had taken a whole slew of pictures some time ago only to find out that I actually quite suck at photography and I needed to redo them all. That's how we learn I suppose! So this picture turned out a lot less blurry but I'm still not certain I like my composition. Loving the colors but the angle of the shot is still not what I want.
Keep practicing Rekoj!

Funny how one can have such a steady hand for fine detail hand painting with thick screen printing ink but when it comes to holding a camera I get the odd sensation of having two left feet ... or er, eyes? Anyone have any suggestions or advice?

It's just something I have to keep at and I know it will get better. Better get better that is - if I've got any chance at all to Make It in this craft world I got to figure out how to take better pictures!