Faced my fears

 So I mentioned that I had gotten some of the cups I ordered. They are Stanley dupes and have gold plating under the powder coating, so when you engrave them the gold shines through. So awesome. I was afraid of engraving them. Afraid that I would screw them up. But I realized that the only way I was going to figure them out was to do it. So I took a cup and did a test grid on it. By doing that I found the best settings for engraving nice and clean. So then I attempted to make Hubby a cup and ended up screwing the placement up. I had to figure out the placement of the design. These are the cups: 

I have them in this creamy white and in black. The handle is removable but getting the placement right is difficult. Using the cup I did the test grid on, I marked where I lined up the laser and then did a test run. I was able to figure out the placing and attempted another cup for Hubby. It came out amazing. 

It came out so nice. The gold on the black is amazing. I love them. 

Then, since I had faced my fears of messing up the cups, I decided to face my other fears. A while back I had ordered some acrylic with different color cores so that you can engrave it and a different color comes through. Saves you from having to paint the engraving. I tried to use some of it but struggled greatly. So I decided to do the adult thing and do a test grid on all of it. So I spent the afternoon doing test grids. They take about 40 minutes of each one and it is not that exciting. But I now have a good idea on what a good setting will be to engrave this material and get the inner core. 

So I'm being an adult and facing my fears and not letting little things jam me up. Very exciting day.