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Sarah Holbrook
01-21-2010, 7:03 PM
Hello Creekers!

It's my husband's birthday today and I just have to share the project I made for him. It's an 11x14 paper cutout (illustrated by me) to go above our dictionary shelf.

I've had my machine for over four months now and I'm loving it! Already I'm thinking of the day when my business grows enough to afford another laser.

Happy Thursday!

http://img50.yfrog.com/img50/7083/mrs.jpg

James Jaragosky
01-21-2010, 7:08 PM
Hello Creekers!

It's my husband's birthday today and I just have to share the project I made for him. It's an 11x14 paper cutout (illustrated by me) to go above our dictionary shelf.

I've had my machine for over four months now and I'm loving it! Already I'm thinking of the day when my business grows enough to afford another laser.

Happy Thursday!

http://img50.yfrog.com/img50/7083/mrs.jpg
Very nice design and execution.
I am thinking that this would look nice in acrylic with the right color fill.
Maybe even a led base.
Jim J.

donald bugansky
01-21-2010, 7:09 PM
WOW!

It's beautiful!

Frank Corker
01-21-2010, 7:48 PM
Nice job Sarah. Looks really pretty! What do all the letters mean in the tree? Secret message maybe?

Sarah Holbrook
01-21-2010, 7:54 PM
Nice job Sarah. Looks really pretty! What do all the letters mean in the tree? Secret message maybe?

Thanks :). No secret message. There's one of each letters in upper and lowercase. I wanted to have something with the alphabet to fit in with the dictionaries below.

Sarah Holbrook
01-21-2010, 7:58 PM
Very nice design and execution.
I am thinking that this would look nice in acrylic with the right color fill.
Maybe even a led base.
Jim J.

That's a thought. Honestly I haven't cut very much acrylic because I don't like the smell, and I can recycle all of my paper scraps. It's fun to be able to cut really fine details with the paper.

James Jaragosky
01-21-2010, 9:56 PM
That's a thought. Honestly I haven't cut very much acrylic because I don't like the smell, and I can recycle all of my paper scraps. It's fun to be able to cut really fine details with the paper.
If your exhaust system is working properly you shouldn't get much odor if any until you open the hood. If you leave the exhaust run for a short time after the job finishes you can even reduce that.
Jim J.

Ray Uebner
01-22-2010, 3:47 PM
Nice Job that took some design work, I am sure he will love it.

Ron Chapellaz
01-22-2010, 5:17 PM
Very nice work Sarah. These jobs sometimes give us inspiration to create works of art of our own!

Scott Balboa
01-22-2010, 8:15 PM
Sarah,

Beautiful work! I agree that this done on acrylic could look really amazing, and maybe be a piece you could hang in the window and let the light shine through it!

It would be as simple as stripping the protective sheet off of one side of 1/8" clear acrylic, spray-painting it with 2-3 coats of matte black (or other dark color) paint, letting it dry, then raster-engraving the parts you want to appear light/clear/white. You'd be amazed how nice the final result can look.

Well done.

David Sacks
02-01-2010, 9:01 PM
Would you mind sharing your setup? - how do you hold the paper down? - what weight stock are you using? what are the settings? - what do you have behind the paper - just the grid?
Thanks!

Sarah Holbrook
02-04-2010, 2:04 AM
Would you mind sharing your setup? - how do you hold the paper down? - what weight stock are you using? what are the settings? - what do you have behind the paper - just the grid?
Thanks!

Hi David,

Sorry I didn't see this; I've been very busy with Valentine's cards :). I don't need to hold the paper down; it's heavy 100# card stock. Yes, I just have the grid behind the paper. The settings I use for my ULS 4.60 50W are 3 power/5 speed. I'm very picky when it comes to jagged curves which is why I run the laser so slow. If it doesn't bug you then you could run this thickness of paper (0.015") at ~45 power/100 speed.

I decided to put this design up for sale and sold my first one today! It's a good feeling since it's the first "wall art" piece I've put in my shop.

Emily Wilson
02-05-2010, 12:35 PM
Hi Sarah,

I was excited to see your beautiful tree cut out . I do a lot of paper cuts too.
I am a Corel user and enjoy using it for design.

I have been in the debate with myself of using more expensive materials or paper to use with the laser. The use of the laser itself for cutting a card or valentine brings up the notion of just what to charge for a card when it is up for sale?

For most laserists, I think that charging for the actual cutting time is what is done ? The cost of paper is usually far less than acrylic or other specialty materials. Still, vector cutting is vector cutting and wear and tear on a laser unit.

I have had my Epilog mini 18/ 25 for over a year and originally bought it to make intricate airbrush masks for my sculpture. This was worth the price of a laser to me at the time. So many other things to make with it though and I want to be able to afford to replace it by making it pay for itself.

Emily Wilson, Sculptor

Emily Wilson
02-05-2010, 1:29 PM
So far from what I have just read in this forum archive tells good story that one should use the laser regularly to help extend the lifespan of the laser tube.
I had thought that tubes had a lifespan of a set number of hours whether it was used or not. Looks like using it actually extends the lifespan. I think I will build a giant house of paper cuts outs sans my laser anxiety!

Emily Wilson, Sculptor

Dee Gallo
02-05-2010, 2:00 PM
I recently made these cards, inspired by Belinda to use some cork. If you were to buy these at a Chinese stationery store, you would pay from $7-15 each. I've seen some on line for as much as $20, which is crazy.

The cork, BTW, is superthin, like 1mm and I got it at Yankee Dollar, two 12" x 12" pieces for a buck! I was able to cut 9 cards from one piece, so that's a pretty cheap card to make.

cheers, dee

Emily Wilson
02-05-2010, 2:24 PM
I Really like the card, looks great!
The cork is a nice texture to add in and has a good contrast.

THe cards I had been making have been time consuming vector cuts.
Some of my more intricate cards took up to 7-8 mins each.
I am learning though and have found ways to reduce vector time while still keeping the design to my liking. I have sold on Etsy some but fell off the wagon for a while. I had been using poster board and then adding some airbrushing. This was a sturdy material and I would etch the fold line of he card.

Your card is inspirational~ I will have to consider the possibility of using
other non-paper thin materials.

I have etched some watercolor paper and found it to be translucent in the etched areas when held to the light. Would make nice little lampshades perhaps or additions to cards.

Emily Wilson, Sculptor

Dee Gallo
02-05-2010, 3:47 PM
Emily,

Search on-line for laser engraved/cut lampshades and you will be inspired more!

I like the layered look for cards and it makes it easy to use up small scraps too. It's a good technique for embellishing frames and plaques as well.

Have fun, dee

Scott Balboa
02-05-2010, 8:24 PM
"...I'm very picky when it comes to jagged curves which is why I run the laser so slow..."


Ditto! Nothing is worse than the stair-stepped curves a laser will do when running at even a medium pace!