Scribble Nation:

Archives

We came up with a pretty snazzy idea for centerpieces for my upcoming 50's/rockabilly wedding. Feeling inspired, we decided to take on the challenge of etching glass vases with vintage tattoo designs. This project was a lot of fun. We started out by scanning some of our favorite images from the book, Vintage Tattoos by Carol Clerk.

We printed them up, traced the major lines with a fat, black marker, and began to carefully cut them from contact paper.

When we ran out of designs from the book, my Mom began sketching new designs by hand. She used the imagery from the book as inspiration and sketched out about 5 - 6 original designs, some of which are my favorites from the project. Wondering where my sisters and I got our creative genes? Well, wonder no more.

This lady may be modest, but she's a whiz when it comes to creative projects. I knew she'd come up with some great designs, and boy was I right. Check out this anchor design, one of my very favorites from the project. A Syndi original!

Heather was a real trooper, carefully trimming design after design with an exacto and a self healing mat. Long after I had given up, Heather continued to trim! Go Heather!

After the designs were cut out, we peeled the contact paper off of its backing and applied it to the freshly cleaned vases. This part was nearly as tricky as the trimming. We applied a double layer of masking tape all around the designs to give the glass a healthy buffer when it comes time to apply the etching creme. I can't wait to see these finished!

I have a feeling that these deigns could come in handy for future projects, so I've decided to save them on my Flickr Account. Check out the full collection there. I think they'd make great templates for silk screening, embroidery, or stenciling. Let me know if you make anything with them. I'd love to see it!