Etched Glass Wedding Plate

What a day!  After getting off work at 1:00 (I love having a part time job!) I went to the high school to work with some kids getting ready for choir competition.  This is the 3rd year that I've gotten to be the  accompanist for some of these kids.  It's fun to get to know them and help encourage them.  Anyway, I was there until 5:00, got home and fed and watered the horses, spent 1 1/2 hours mowing just the front yard (and that was just with the riding mower-no push mowing yet), ordered pizza and went back to town to pick it up and then finally got to sit down and relax! Just wondering--is the Ozarks the only place you can need to mow so very badly, mow in a sweatshirt on a sunny day and still be freezing?  Man that wind was cold!!

Anyway, on to another project....
Here is a plate that I etched for a wedding gift for some very good friends.

It's hard to get a good picture of a clear glass plate.  To design this I used my Gypsy and first placed a circle on my mat the size of the plate to designate my design area.  I used Ashlyn's Alphabet font cartridge, with the letters cut at 1".  The flourishes are from the Wedding cart., turned on their side and cut at 1.2" which made them 3" long.  I cut these all on sticky back vinyl to easily hold them on the plate for etching.  After I had the templates cut in the vinyl, I cut each section apart, making sure to leave a pretty generous bit of vinyl around each cut to allow for etching cream to overflow.  Place the vinyl templates where you want them on the plate, smooth down completely, rubbing all edges and making sure you have no air pockets or puckers.  Dab etching cream on generously, let sit according to instructions on cream and rinse off with water.  The cream I use only takes 5 minutes.  When I first rinse it off I always think it didn't work because when the glass is wet, the etching doesn't show up.  Give it a second or two to dry and you'll see your design.  It's really such an easy thing to do and can look so great.  This couple was really please with their plate and used it to decorate their gift table at the wedding reception.  Give etching a try, you'll find it's a great help when you need a special gift.

Hope you have a great weekend!