Feeling proud .....

I'm a very proud mother, so you'll have to excuse this rather self-indulgent post. Last Thursday the months of anxious waiting were finally over and Jen received her A-level results. It was a fantastic set of results and included a well deserved A* in Graphics. Final exams in arts A-level subjects compose of a project which will run over a couple of months. So we had seen Jen's exam project as it developed and knew that she had done a pretty special piece of work. But as we're her parents, we may be a little bit biased. 

Jen's exam project was to develop the brand for Kiln Inn, a fictional chain of hotels, designing posters and other branded items. In Jen interpretation of the brief, Kiln Inn included stylish hotels in secluded locations. The logo was a stylised mountain range, with echoes of a facets on a gem stone.

At point I should say that I'm not only a proud mother but also a proud wife. Over the last 18 months Graeme has designed and built a CNC router from scratch in our garage. He managed to get his machine to a working state just in time to produce some of the branded ideas Jen had come up with. These items were a tray showing the logo, door numbers and key rings. Jen produced the design files and Graeme's machine carved the design into the wood. Considering Graeme had only cut a couple of items on his machine before this, the results were stunning.

I was able to help out in a  small way as well. Jen designed a image that could be engraved on a tall glass. I used the image file to cut a vinyl stencil using my Silhouette Cameo.

Then Jen stuck the stencils on a pair of glasses and applied Amor Etch. The Amor Etch has to be rinsed carefully after ten minutes, giving a subtle but effective result.

The best way to photograph etched items is to fill the glass with black tissue paper. Unfortunately we didn't know that when these phots were taken.

To produce branded toiletries bottles, Jen repurposed bottles we had previously collected from Center Parcs.

Bringing it altogether, it certainly looked like a hotel I would like to stay at. With A levels out of the way, Jen will head off to Nottingham at the end of next month to study Architecture. It will be strange not to have her around but I am excited that she is able to take this fantastic opportunity.