Vegetable Countdown

I got a Glowforge for my birthday. It's got so much potential I don't even know what to do first.  So, rather than debate about it, I decided to make the first thing that came into my head, which oddly enough was a vegetable advent calendar for my mom. Here are the veggies.

Up they go!

Here's the backboard, with and without vegetables.

This book binding is called Secret Belgian Binding (without the pages). You can see step-by-step binding instructions here, but I learned it from Nathalie Kalbach's Time Travelers mixed media online class. 

First, I drew the vegetables and the gardening tools that you see on the backboard, drawing some on paper and some on my iPad (using Procreate). Next, I uploaded them to the computer, and used Adobe Illustrator to create the cut line around the edge. Then, I put the Glowforge to work.

First I told it to engrave the drawings.

Then I told it to cut them out.

After quite a bit of trial and error involving no fewer than four little wooden artichokes, I settled on using Windsor Newton Drawing Ink as stain, together with a spray-on matte polyurethane finish. The ink worked really nicely painted straight onto the unfinished wood, and did not bleed when I sprayed it with the wood finish (unlike other inks I tried), though I sprayed the finish on very lightly for the first layer, to encourage the color to stay put. It used surprisingly little ink to paint each one. I dripped the a few drops of the vibrant colors onto an ink palette, and painted away.

To finish it off, I engraved a title and my signature (and some carrots) on the back.

Since I know all y'all are going to want to construct your own, here's my materials list:

• 1/8" wood board. I used draft board, but if I made another one, I think I'd use birch plywood.
• Knobs (perfect for a 3/16" hole): Mini jewelry box knobs 
• Screws (perfect for 1/8" board with these knobs): M3x7 mm Button head screws 
• The thread is linen book binding thread that I waxed by pulling it across a block of beeswax. I got the thread on Etsy from TheOliveSparrow.  
• The ink is Windsor Newton's Drawing Ink. I have the Vibrant Tones set and the Rich Tones set.
• The wood finish I used is MinWax's Polycrylic matte water-based Polyurethane spray.

Thanks for looking!