Here's a photo of the same 2 ATCs at a different angle, so you can see how transparent the material is (you can see the shadow of the image from the flipside of the ATC). Above uses See No Evil, Paramount and Fleur-de-lis Rubber Stamps.
Metal-Etching Kits —
in Two Sizes

Easy (really!) kit with instructions for etching computer circuit board material. The boards are pre-cut to ATC size (2-1/2" x 3-1/2" — playing card size) OR 4-3/4" x 7" (12cm x 18cm — Art Money size) and the kit comes with dry etchant (so it can be mailed safely) that you mix with water.

In a nutshell: the book covers/ATCs in these photos were made using copper-clad fiberglass computer circuit boards (they're solid copper-colored until you etch them. aka not like the green boards in your computer that are already etched).

Here's what's in the kit:

- Either one pre-cut Art Money-sized board OR four pre-cut ATCs (2-1/2" x 3-1/2"). Both sizes are doubled-sided, copper-clad fiberglass/resin circuit boards. One of the beauties of etching this material is the coating of copper is very thin, so they etch really fast (just enough time for the etchant to remove the thin copper coating and leave the underlying green fiberglass or resin) and you can get thin lines of detail (the etchant doesn't have time to undercut).

- 1/4 lb of iron perchloride (in an air-tight plastic container, that I've made doubly sealed by taping shut). That is enough etchant to make 1 cup liquid (which will etch approx 10-12 boards of similar size... probably more). You can also buy additional boards or just the etchant below.

- A step-by-step instruction sheet. Just so you're aware of what other materials you'll need to provide: latex or rubber gloves, a glass or plastic dish (that will be dedicated to this use; not to be used for cooking in the future), marking pens and/or a StazOn solvent ink pad — if you'll be using rubber stamps for your images. You can just doodle with pens as the mask (I use Sharpie brand pens). The mask part is what is hidden from the etchant, so what will remain copper in the finished piece.

You can also use the etchant mix to strip finishes off metal objects and corrode (rust) them. Above rusty things are hinges and ball chain. Here's another photo using a brass label holder. The rainbow colors occurred as the etchant solution was previously used to etch copper and some of the copper particles were deposited onto the brass surface.

Note: boards are available in green or a beigy-yellow color (the color of the underlying board is not important to a circuit-board designer). The samples shown here were actually the beigy-yellow color, but I dyed them using blue Memories dye ink (directly from the ink pad), heat set the ink with a heat gun, then rubbed with a paper towel/lightly sanded any spots where the blue ink stayed on the copper areas. (A light coating of the blue ink + the underlying yellow = green.) I'm buying boards from the cheapest source so I can't guarantee you'll get green... if you want the resin background to appear green, you'll need to dye it like I did.

Also, copper will corrode after being handled (from the acid in your fingerprints), so when you're happy with the background color (and the pieces are finished & dry), give them a light spray with clear acrylic spray paint (the ATC samples with copper foil or dresden added as edgings were sprayed (and let dry) before adding the trims). But you might want to let them corrode and get that greenish patina color. Also, the resulting etched pieces are real copper (not a metallic rub-on or paint) so you can use liver of sulphur or other metal-working chemicals to color them.

Some of these photos of finished samples are at an odd angle so you can see through them (so you're seeing the shadow of the image from the other side). Samples by Wendy Anderson & moi.

Here's a photo of the same 2 ATCs at a different angle, so you can see how transparent the material is (you can see the shadow of the image from the flipside of the ATC). Above uses Anne Warwick, Cherub Crown and Fleur-de-lis Rubber Stamps.

Sample Art

Inspiration

Simply Soldered

The Altered Object:
Techniques, Projects,
Inspiration

Here's a photo of the same 2 ATCs at a different angle, so you can see how transparent the material is (you can see the shadow of the image from the flipside of the ATC). Above uses See No Evil, Paramount and Fleur-de-lis Rubber Stamps. Metal-Etching Kits —in Two Sizes

- 1/4 lb of iron perchloride (in an air-tight plastic container, that I've made doubly sealed by taping shut). That is enough etchant to make 1 cup liquid (which will etch approx 10-12 boards of similar size... probably more). You can also buy additional boards or just the etchant below.

Sample Art

Inspiration

Here's a photo of the same 2 ATCs at a different angle, so you can see how transparent the material is (you can see the shadow of the image from the flipside of the ATC). Above uses See No Evil, Paramount and Fleur-de-lis Rubber Stamps.
Metal-Etching Kits —
in Two Sizes