Light-up keepsakes for volunteers, friends, & soldering workshops
Custom-designed circuit boards in collaboration with my dear friend, Andrew. Initially, we only intended to make a single design for a soldering workshop, but it swiftly turned into a tradition.
The designs feature LEDs soldered behind a window of bare circuit board, diffusing the light so it glows like the inside a lantern. That meant designing both sides at once: dodging circuits, tucking the battery somewhere inconspicuous, and leaving room for every LED so nothing on the back got in the way of the art on the front.
Circuit boards only come in a handful of colors and finishes, so each design had to work within a few set combinations. By luck, both boards from 2026 turned out to be UV reactive and glow under black light.
2025
Lantern A flickering LED glows through the board like candlelight. We made 100 and gave them away to friends. Blue board, white silkscreen, silver.
Trillium Made for a How to Solder workshop, where participants soldered their own PCB and took it home. Three RGB LEDs light each petal. Green board, white silkscreen, gold.
2026
Vibrant Resonance Gifted to volunteers who gave more than 100 hours. Two RGB LEDs. Purple board, yellow silkscreen, gold.
Quartz Crystal Made for the 2026 soldering workshop. Two RGB LEDs, with moon phases in gold across the top. Black board, white silkscreen, gold.
