My first guest designer post!

Hey everyone~Happy Tuesday to you~

This is Stacy from Lovethatbug!
Well, here it is. My first day as a guest designer at Sheila's blog. Thank you so much Sheila for having me over today!
I am a lil nervous, so I am coming in with my tail between my legs. LOL
Anyway, today I thought we would do a lil glass etching. It is really easy and you only need a few things to get started!

Just some vinyl, Armour Etch, Foam Brush and some transfer tape.

The design I chose was a flourish from the Cindy Loo cartridge. I find it works best with a design that isn't very intricate. Once you find a design you like lay your vinyl onto mat and load in the Cricut. You need to adjust your settings at this point. For my machine it was 3-3-3. You might want to do a test cut first. You want the Cricut to cut the vinyl but not thru the backing. (this is called a kiss cut)
I cut out as many as I thought I needed (6). Then you want to peel the vinyl off your mat.
Then you want to remove the inner part of the design, as if you were making a stencil.

Once the design is removed, apply your transfer tape to to the top of the design. Make sure you burnish once the tape is applied. Remove the backing of your design, making sure the vinyl sticks to the tape.

The next step is a lil tricky if you are working on a curved surface. If this is your first time I recommend trying a flat surface first. Take your design and apply it to whatever you want to etch. You want to burnish again, really well here. Make sure there are no bumps around the design. Bubbles on the vinyl are ok, just make sure they are not near the design. Once you have your design in place, remove the tape making sure the design sticks to the surface.


Next comes the fun part, the actual etching! Shake the container really well before you start to make sure it is thoroughly mixed. Working in small amounts, carefully apply the etching cream using the foam brush. Apply a thick and even coat, but make sure it isn't to thick to where it is going to run. I think the bottle says around 5 mins, but I usually allow the cream to stay on about 20-25 minutes.

Now it is time to rinse away the cream. I just use warm tap water and rub the cream off while the vinyl is still attached. I continue to rinse until there is no more white left. Once it is thoroughly rinsed off, remove the vinyl, and then wash with soapy water.

And Ta-da, that is it! Pretty easy right? Oh, there is one more thing, just sit back and enjoy what you created :)
These make great gifts, and the possibities of what you can etch are endless.
Hope you had fun!

Here is a close up of the design of the etching,

Ok, now I am off to go fill this up with a pretty chocolate cake! Once again, thank you so much Sheila for having me visit today, I had a lot of fun
Hugs, Stacy