Coasting to Indigo

I've finished the staining and finishing processes for my coaster sets, one of the first set of items I will be featuring in the gift shop of Indigo Coffee and Tea, a new coffeehouse here in Verona, WI. I'm quite pleased with the Procion MX dyes I used to stain the boxes. There's some color variations, but they add character, so all's good!

There are four sets, examples are shown throughout this blog. I've thoroughly enjoyed putting the final touches on these boxed sets of coasters--after fretting about a number of the details regarding the boxes. The container boxes that I selected for these sets have a recessed box top, perfect for display of the customer's favorite coaster right on top of the box. My biggest concerns for displaying these items in a store was that potential customers would want to open the boxes and see the coasters within, so I fashioned a "strapping tape" and fabric ribbon temporary closure.

As a last minute addition, I selected brass corners for all 8 of the corners on each box. I'm pleased with how the corners add a little more character and shine to these stained boxes, especially when all 4 coasters would be in use and the box empty.

Voila! Abstract Coasters a la Edna M. Kunkel. : )

All Boxed Up

Today I resumed experimenting with dyes, this time with Procion MX dyes as stains for my wooden boxes. The experiments went so well that they will be used as the containers for my abstract marble coasters (see coaster image at left), and I'll continue using this staining technique on other wood projects. I'll do the finish work on the boxes tomorrow, and take photos of the boxed sets for posting tomorrow.

I also found out that the salt resist technique with my alcohol inks and PrintWorks Ultra Glossy Photo paper (the only type of photo paper I've found with a surface that will crackle) will actually exacerbate the crackling process, and will allow me to control how much. Cool! I recently stocked up on this paper, which has become increasingly difficult to find (only one online vendor actually had the paper in stock). I guess that these Crackle Boxes will be limited edition boxes, based on the fact that that this photo paper has a bad reputation for long dry times (which for my crackling process is actually a benefit).