Make an impression!

Carol and I decided to dry emboss our Tando chipboard for our technique pieces this week. Do pop over to the Tando blog to see what Carol has made too!

I have two projects to share with you, a little jewellery piece one at one end of the size spectrum and a notebook at the other!

The domino pieces are a nice scale for jewellery, being 1" x 2". I put this one in the Cuttlebug Jamara folder, lining it up against the bit of the design I wanted before I closed the folder and ran it through the Big Shot. I ran it through a couple of times for good measure but you don't need to do anything special to get a good embossed impression.

I coated the piece with Rub n Buff and then with acrylic paint to accentuate the design. I wiped most of the paint off and then dabbed a little more RnB over the high spots.

The bail to thread the chain through is, believe it or not, a piece from a video cassette! I dismantled an old one a while ago to see if there were any "useful" bits and pieces in there. A little Krylon pen to key the surface and then a little RnB to match the pendant et voila! If you wanted it silver it would be good to go with no effort at all.

Materials:
Domino chipboard by Tando Creative
Jamara embossing folder
Rub n Buff by Amaco (Gold Leaf)
Acrylic paint (Raw Umber)
Divided tube from an old video cassette
Krylon pen (Pale Gold)

At 7" x 5" the notebook is less detailed but lots of fun to work with! As it's bigger than the embossing folder I turned the folder sideways to emboss the top part then turned the whole lot around and embossed the bottom part. Adding a band across the design hides the "join" in the embossed areas.

I then used a technique I saw a while ago on somebody's blog but I'm afraid I can't remember whose - let me know if it was you and I can pop a link in!

Wax pastels are soft enough that they lay colour down really easily on the raised part of the embossing. I used several shades of blue and green for this. You then add gesso over the whole surface and leave it to dry thoroughly. Gently sanding back the gesso exposes the colour and gives a shabby, weathered effect. I sprayed mine with some matt sealant to make sure the colour wouldn't rub off and the notebook would stand up to being handled.

I covered a piece of cardstock and a Dymo strip with aluminium tape, "tarnished" it with some black acrylic paint and stamped a fountain pen before adding a couple of screw head brads that have been in my stash forever!

I don't have anything like a Bind it All or Cinch, for the few projects I do that would need it it's not worth either the expense or the storage space. For something like this, I just punch holes with a Crop a Dile and use a coil from an old notebook (use the covers of the old book to line up where to punch holes in your new cover).

Materials:
Chipboard sheet from Tando Creative
Tim Holtz Texture Fade (Retro Circles)
Wax pastels
Gesso
Dymo
Aluminium tape
Black acrylic paint
Pen from On the Desk stamp set (CHF, retired)
Stazon by Tsukineko (Jet Black)
Screw head brads
Krylon Matt spray sealant

Thanks for stopping by!