laser-cut Archives - LaserSister

Posted on 18 October 202218 October 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Lasercutting TikTok Video

TikTok lasercutting video of Christmas tree bauble decoration - M - LaserSister

Woo, get me – I’ve been trying out 21st-century technology today, and have discovered how to put a lasercutting video onto TikTok.

I’m not sure it was worth all of the effort, to be honest. I’m hoping that TikTok goes away, and that I never have to interact with it again. Either that, or I’m hoping that as more middle-aged people (like me) start using it, TikTok will realise how much people hate the bossiness of an app that immediately starts playing video and audio content as soon as you open it up. Ugh.

Anyway, in an attempt to train TikTok’s algorithms into at least showing me more relevant looping streams of video, today I’ve been trying to teach it that I like crafts and art – especially laser-cut and polymer clay art.

Below is the actual video I uploaded. My first ever attempt at uploading some content on TikTok. It was such a giant, convoluted hassle that I might never bother again. But just in case I do, I wrote a reminder to myself on my KayVincent.com website, vaguely showing how I managed it.

@kay_vincent
LaserSister – my laser cutter making an M Christmas decoration. #LaserCut #LaserCutter
♬ original sound – K

It was a speeded-up video clip showing my laser cutter in action, cutting this ‘M’ Christmas tree bauble decoration:

Maybe I’ll stick to YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram, and leave TikTok for the kids. Dunno.

Sander sadness…

In the meantime, the reason I’ve been making lasercutting TikTok videos instead of sanding the decorations is that my sander is broken. It’s the second sander this year that has spontaneously conked, so I’m going to hunt down the receipt to see if it’s still under warranty. In the meantime I’ve ordered another sander, but have gone for a more industrial model, rather than the (literal) home or garden version. Hopefully by Friday my little sanding station (in the garage) will be back up and running. Because I definitely don’t want to be hand-sanding hundreds of wooden Christmas decorations.

Posted on 5 November 201917 July 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Laser-Cut Porto Fridge Magnet

Even on holiday I always have my eye out for laser-y items. And better still if they happen to come in the form of my favourite souvenir…which is a fridge magnet. I like laser-cut fridge magnets so much that I’ve created a special category for them here. So last week when we were on holiday in Porto I was very happy to find a laser-cut fridge magnet.

I think this one shows the river and the Dom Luís I Bridge and the city very well. The typical rabelo boat (carrying its barrels down the Douro river) sort of gets lost in the background – but then compensates by physically standing out from the flat surface. (I’m not sure how the boat could be made to stand out better – maybe cut it from darker wood?) I couldn’t see any details of the artist or manufacturer, but if you know who it is, please let me know and I’ll credit them here.

Closer up:

Here’s the fridge magnet from a different angle – looking straight down at it:

The boat shows up a bit better in this one, but the Dom Luís I Bridge still looks like the star of the show. Mind you, it is a very impressive bridge! And it definitely does stand out in real life. Apparently it was designed by a student of Gustave Eiffel (as in the Eiffel Tower).

The picture is missing one of the key features of the bridge, though, because in real life it’s got two different levels for the different modes of transport across it. Top level: get a Metro tram-thing across the top of the bridge (or walk across as a pedestrian). Lower level: use the road for a car or bike (or walk across that one, as well).

Anyhoo – I like my new fridge magnet, even if it uses quite a bit of ‘artistic licence’. I like the way that they’ve made it into a serrated stamp-shape as well. It just screamed ‘souvenir!’ at me, so that’s another reason I chose it. And now I’ve got another laser-cut piece of artwork on my fridge door, plus some lovely memories of our holiday in Porto/Oporto.

In the meantime I’ve been having laser-cut-fridge-magnet adventures of my own, but more about that later…

Posted on 8 August 201917 July 2022 by keycraftscontact — Leave a comment

Fridge Magnet Shortage in UK Tourist Attractions!

Rob and I are on holiday in the UK at the moment, and I’m recharging my ‘creative batteries’ by going to lots of museums and lovely English towns and castles.

The other day we went to the town of Nantwich, and none of the shops or museums that we visited seemed to sell fridge magnets. There is surely a gap in the market for them, because I actually know quite a few people who collect fridge magnets.

Here are a couple of examples below of buildings that I think would look nice as fridge magnets:

Heck, you could even make your own mix-and-match village of cute little black and white buildings on your fridge or freezer if only you had a few of these buildings cut out as fridge magnets.

I am now on a mission to create some magnets for myself, to see if they come out as well as I imagine they will…

Posted on 11 October 201817 July 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Laser-Cut Filigree Heart Wedding Card

New Design: Laser-Cut Filigree Heart Wedding Card

Congratulations to my cousin Andrea! She got married last weekend to Dominic, so I made a laser-cut card for them:

I found the basic leafy design on Vectorstock.com (and here it is on Pinterest) and then tweaked it until it was heart-shaped.

Posted on 7 September 201817 July 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Decorative Vector Ornaments: Papercut 085

This is papercut 085 (only 15 more to go!) of my papercutting project (using the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book. I am adapting the designs for papercutting, and then practising by cutting out 100 designs in 100 days. Eventually I may may incorporate them in future papercuts that are made by laser and also by hand.)

Because of the many repetitive elements in this design I think it might be one of the designs that would look better if cut by laser.

However, I’m not too disappointed by the hand-cut version. The ‘sun ray’ bits are quite crisp, actually.

As well as the central sun/flower design, I can also see things in this design that remind me of fish. (Or sharks. Or maybe birds.) When I move onto my next epic papercutting project (of creating all of my own designs from scratch) then I might remember this one, and try to hide some fish or animals in an abstract-looking design.

Posted on 23 August 201816 July 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Laser-cut Personalised Jewellery Holders

Laser-Cut Jewellery Holder

Here is something I’ve been playing with this week – the design of a laser-cut jewellery holder.

I made one for my mum last Christmas…

As you can see, it can hold lots of different types of jewellery (rings, necklaces, bracelets, watches, earrings). However, it still needs some tweaks.

What I like about it is:

As mentioned above, it can hold nearly all types of jewellery. The only exceptions I can think of at the moment are hat pins, scarf pins or brooches.
You can see all of the jewellery in one place. It’s not in a drawer or box, so you get to enjoy your favourite pieces like mini artworks.
It’s personalised and therefore unique.
It’s versatile, so (e.g.) the same horizontal bar can take either hook-type earrings or post-type earrings, and the vertical side bits can hold either rings or bracelets or watches.

Things to improve on the design:

Create a way to hang it so that it is held away from the wall, to make it easier to hang earrings.
Have a way to store brooches and pin-type jewellery (e.g. a tray at the bottom)

As a very basic version though, this is the design that I used:

If you’ve got a laser cutter and you’d like to have a play with this design yourself, I’ve made a vector file available below.

(Click here for basic jewellery holder design for lasercutting)

Hope you found this post useful! If you think it might be of use to other makers/designers, please feel free to share the link to the post via Twitter (@LaserSister), Pinterest, Facebook (@LaserSister), etc…

Posted on 30 May 201816 July 2022 by keycraftscontact — Leave a comment

Favourite Laser Cut Souvenir from Venice

My favourite laser cut souvenir so far…

Wherever I go my eye is always drawn to laser-cut and laser-etched items, and (as I mentioned in the last post) I was really pleased to see plenty of good quality laser-y products while I was on holiday earlier this month. In fact I was so pleased to see them that I even bought a few laser cut souvenirs.

This is a card that I bought in the Doge’s Palace. It’s got a nice simple front…

…and then when you open it you get the “wow” of the pop-up effect:

Here is a close-up of the inside:

This is the back of the card:

The makers are a bit mysterious – I can’t find them anywhere via the usual search engines – so if you can point me to their website please let me know! You can do that via the contact us page or Twitter (@LaserSister), or Facebook or the comments section below. Thanks!

Posted on 28 May 201816 July 2022 by keycraftscontact — Leave a comment

Laser Cut Fridge Magnet Souvenir

Laser Cut Fridge Magnet Souvenir – Bucharest

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I’d come back from our recent holiday with a few laser-cut souvenirs that caught my eye while we were away. Here’s another one. We visited Ceaușescu‘s bonkers giant palace while we were in Bucharest, and it was amazing and frightening in equal parts.

This piece is a bit more complex than the previous fridge magnet, because it’s also coloured, somehow. I’m not sure how it’s made, to be honest, apart from the shape itself being laser-cut from a sheet of wood. Maybe it’s a transfer/decal applied to the surface of the wood?:

If you know what the process is, please give me a shout – I would be very interested to find out! You can use the contact us form, or Twitter or Facebook or the comments section below. Thanks!

Posted on 27 May 201816 July 2022 by keycraftscontact — Leave a comment

Laser Cut Souvenir Fridge Magnet

Laser Cut Souvenir Fridge Magnet – Belogradchik Rocks, Hungary

We got back from holiday last week and only just finished unpacking today – and I’d forgotten that while I was on holiday my eye had been caught by several laser-cut souvenirs.

This one is a laser cut souvenir fridge magnet from Belogradchik Rocks, in Bulgaria. Mmmm, laser-y!

I like the way that it has two layers to it. But whoever made it has left quite a bit of scorching/smoke-marking on the front, and I’d be really disappointed if I sold a piece like that. On the other hand, I’m too much of a perfectionist. Weird how it didn’t stop me buying a piece, but it would stop me selling one. Maybe I’ve got things the wrong way round?!

Posted on 2 May 201816 July 2022 by keycraftscontact — Leave a comment

Dover Books: Royalty-Free Laser Cutting Resources

Dover Books: Royalty-free laser cutting resources

Laser cutters are so versatile that sometimes it’s really easy to get sidetracked, and think “I wonder if I could…” and then start on a whole new series of experiments. That’s how I ended up the other day wondering if I could create a birthday card with fairies on it. I’m not brilliant at drawing though, so I needed to try to find some royalty-free images that I could use as a basis for the designs, where I wouldn’t be infringing copyright and/or stealing someone else’s idea. At times like this, I usually turn to the brilliant Dover Books. They might just as well have “Royalty-Free Laser Cutting Resources” written all over them.

These books are absolutely great to use with art and design projects, including (of course) laser-cut and laser-etched projects. The books are specifically created for artists and craftspeople, to allow them to use the designs in their own projects. Once you have bought the book you may use the designs without having to pay royalties, and – more importantly – without breaking copyright laws.

As it says in the front of most of their books, “You may use them for graphics and crafts applications, free and without special permission, provided that you include no more than ten in the same publication or project…However, republication or reproduction of any illustration by any other graphic service, whether it be in a book, electronic, or in any other design resource is strictly prohibited.”

In other words, you can make artworks which include these images, but you can’t (e.g.) copy the images and sell them as stock images yourself.

The books used to just be in physical format, but in recent years they have included CD-ROMs with the artwork on them digitised as vector images and ready for you to incorporate in your own projects. (And now an increasing number of the books are available in eBook format.)

So I ordered a copy of Fairies and Elves Vector Motifs (Dover Electronic Clip Art) from Amazon, and it arrived the next day.

I found three images where I liked different parts of the fairies, and then combined them into one single fairy and added some “Birthday Wishes” text: