supplies: metal foil tape, craft sheet, paint dabbers (asst. colors), glossy accents, glossy cardstock, distress ink (walnut stain), distress embossing ink, ink blending tool, heat tool, clear embossing powder, #8 tag; drill punch, holiday adornments, charm clip; texture fade (merry christmas & vintage); ribbon; burnishing block
step 1: cut a piece of gloss cardstock 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” to fit metal foil tape.
step 2: carefully begin to remove the paper backing of the foil tape (do not remove the entire backing).
step 3: place glossy cardstock gloss side down on the exposed edge of the foil tape.
step 4: continue peeling off paper backing from foil tape as you gently press down the cardstock.
step 5: once the back is off, burnish the paper with your hand and flip over to se a perfectly smooth piece of foil “cardstock”. *i prefer using glossy cardstock since it creates a very crisp embossed texture vs. plain cardstock.
step 6: place foil cardstock in texture fade with metal side up and emboss.
step 7: remove cardstock from the embossing folder and check out that detail (see i told you glossy carstock is by far the best to emboss since it’s coated).
step 8: select several colors of paint dabbers and get a small paint brush. *note: not all paints work well on metal, i prefer to use the paint dabbers since they work great on all surfaces.
step 9: begin painting the metal with paints.
step 10: continue painting all of the details making sure you paint all of the recessed areas as well.
step 11: as you continue to paint, dry wet paint with a heat too to avoid mixing the colors to mud.
step 12: once the entire surface is painted dry completely with a heat tool. (i know right now it’s not looking so good, but trust me, the next step makes it all good).
step 13: place painted metal on scrap chipboard and begin sanding the entire area with a burnishing block. *note: these types of blocks can be found here.
step 14: once you’ve burnished away as much of the paint as you want, wipe away the excess dust with a dry towel.
step 15: ink the entire metal surface with distress ink (walnut stain) using an ink blending tool. usually distress ink does not stick to metal…i said usually.
step 16: since distress ink is embossable, cover the entire inked surface with regular clear embossing powder and remove excess.
step 17: heat emboss using a heat tool until area turns shiny and clear.
step 18: continue until entire surface is covered and allow the metal to cool – it’s gonna be hot! *note: the distress ink is now sealed to the metal under the clear embossing powder.
step 19: apply glossy accents to one half of the back of the finished piece.
step 20: adhere the metal to the tag and hold in place to dry.
step 21: trim excess with scissors.
step 22: adhere remaining piece, trim with scissors, and punch a hole back in the tag.
step 23: antique the edges of the tag by lightly dragging a black paint dabber along the edges.
today i wanted to share a video on how to use my idea-ology drill punch. it’s a great tool for creating holes in soft metal up to 1/16” like most of the idea-ology elements. it’s so convenient to create multiple uses for charms and other metal embellishments from one simple tool…
step 24: choose a seasonal adornment, drill punch a hole, and paint with paint dabbers.
step 25: add detail as well with paint – be sure to dry in between layers.
step 26: burnished raised areas.
step 27: apply clear distress embossing ink over charm. *note: if you want to antique the metal, you can ink with distress ink like we did previously.
step 28: cover with clear embossing powder.
step 29: emboss with heat tool and allow to cool completely! *note: use a craft pick to poke out any embossing powder that melted in the hole punched.
step 30: attach the finished adornment to a charm clip using the included jump rings.
step 31: the charm clips are cool since they allow you to clip a charm on to the edge of a page, photo, etc….but we’re not using them that way for this tag.
step 32: instead, fold a piece of ribbon for the top of the tag and insert the fold through the charm clip hole.
step 33: insert the fold of the ribbon through the hole of the tag and secure to tag by inserting ends of the ribbon through the loop of the ribbon and pull tight.
step 34: check out how perfectly flat our charm lays on the tag…bravo!
the details: sure there are several ways to continue to embellish this tag, but i really like the enameled metal embossing so why cover it up? the worn painted finished, and shiny enamel coating make this a great technique for embellishing all type of projects.
other variations: here are a couple of cards i created using the same technique, but different texture fades – oh the possibilities…
i sure hope this simple technique to create enameled embossed metal will give your embossing folders a whole new use as well as your paint dabbers and embossing powder. this is one of those tags where the photos simply don’t do it justice so i sure hope you try this one for yourself. well 6 more tags to go – hope you’re still having some festive fun…t!m
