Burnt Letters

I never got around to starting a second set of letters. Partially because I find it hard to jump right in when the first set is finished and also because July and August are very busy months for me. It wasn't because I lacked for ideas, but rather that I couldn't settle on one.

However, the other day I followed up a link in the sidebar here to Fiona's blog where she had used an incense stick to do some burning marks on paper. Funnily enough, I was thinking of doing some more burn mark work with my soldering iron. I use it in a similar way to a wood burning tool.

So, I decided to do the second set using the soldering iron. This time I chose to use calico - actually the back of some calico I used years ago when I was first learning pattern drafting. So, recycling!

The calico takes a bit longer to create a strong mark than silk and needs more heat. For silk or for cutting synthetics, I use my Margaret Beal soldering iron with a curved tip. But for the thick cotton, I use a fine tip soldering iron made by Drapers.

As you see, it isn't as fine as the M.B. one, but I find it gets hotter and so works better on the calico.

So, I am working on catching up. Here are the first 4 letters. These are lower case letters from a Celtic Design book

I am considering presentation options.