After two weeks of prepping files, I finally spent more time with the laser cutter last week. I booked 2 hours with a laser pro at ADX and bought wood, paper and fabric to test. I got it all laid out in anticipation of the class starting and was ready to go when Sean arrived for the Laser Lab.
The files were saved as PDFs so they were not exactly easy to turn into vector images so that was a bit frustrating to spend so much of the time working on the computer work and not on the laser. Ultimately, we did finally get to a point where we were ready to cut from my butterfly file. And it turned out so cool! I got four 4" squares from each sheet of paper and was super excited to see the butterflies as they came to life. We also experimented with a "I coffee heart Oregon" file and used the wood, canvas, and cotton batting.
The next day I spent several hours poking out the negative spaces that were still gently attached to the square and layering the butterflies into their color schemes. I ended up with 20 beautifully different butterflies.
Now I am framing them. I bought several different types of frames to see which I like the best with this technique. So far, the I like the brushed metal from Tiny Mighty Labs and the simple glass/clip frame. I really want people to be able to buy them individually or buy several to display together.
See the final products on Artwork page of my website!