Strength & beauty of G&P products

Hello again! Tracy here and one of my favorite things I love about doing Product Design and Development for Globecraft & Piccolo is seeing how far products can perform. By now you are familar with the beauty and ease of use of  G&P products but did you know that by using their products you are also adding durability to your artwork?




Their bookboard frames, bezels, charms, and embellishments are stronger and thinner than chipboard. But how strong?

In this strength test a G&P raw bookboard bezel withstood 3 pounds of weight without tearing or showing stress.

The addition of their embossing powders and Glastique Flexible Finishing Glazes adds even more strength.

Next we have a G&P bezel coated in G&P embossing powder and one coat of Glastique Flexible Finishing Glaze withstanding 5 pounds of weight without tearing or showing stress.

With the addition of the new Piccolo Instant UV Resin to their line of products it gets even better.

Here we have a G&P bezel coated in G&P embossing powder and one coat of the Piccolo Instant UV Resin withstanding 8 pounds of weight without tearing or showing stress! If you apply the UV Resin to the G&P acrylic bezels it makes it even stronger than the bookboard pieces.

The faux metal bezel above is made out of G&P bookboard and coated in their new Piccolo Instant UV Resin, making it not just beautiful but more durable. See how you can enhance your artwork with G&P products!

Until next time, safe travels!

Unlocking the secret to faux metal

It's no secret I absolutely love our Piccolo Embossing Powders. I especially enjoy all the different looks that can be achieved with them - like the faux metal look of the door lock and key on this tag. I'm Linda, and if you would to like follow along, I'll explain how you can also achieve this look. Read on ...

Linda Neff
linda-neff.com

I started with a simple little book board piece from our extensive collection of Piccolo Accents and Charms. These pieces are from our Vintage Lock & Keys. After removing the pieces from their backing coat them with our Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive, which comes in a dabber bottle for easy application and great coverage.

Place your book board piece on a scrap of paper that you have creased in the middle (for easy pouring back into the jar). Roll the jar of Piccolo Embossing Powder a few times to blend all the granules (shaking can make the larger particles sink to the bottom so rolling the jar will give you greater success). Gently sprinkle the powder on top of the coated book board piece and tip off excess.

The different sizes of granules and color variations will give you a luscious look.

Place your covered piece onto a non-stick craft sheet and heat set till your finish is fairly smooth and shiny.

This is how it will look after setting the first coating. I prefer to add two to three layers, heat setting between each to create a rustic and aged appearance. When the piece is cool to the touch dab on another coating of the Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive and gently sprinkle another coating of Piccolo Embossing Powder on it. Gently tip the excess off (tapping the excess off may cause your larger granules to fall off and you'll lose all that great dimension and texture so I simple tip the excess off) and heat set.

On this second coating do not heat set till smooth. When you see the granules begin to melt move onto another area; heat set it just enough to hold but not till it is smooth. It may take a couple practice runs but this method really gives your the old-world look of metal. We call this the heat-flash technique and there is a video on the web site.

Second coat of Piccolo Embossing Powder using the heat-flash technique.

Once this is done (I did the key the same way) add a coating of Glastique Gloss and let it dry thoroughly. The Glastique has a chemical reaction with the Piccolo Embossing Powder and speeds up the patina finish.

A coat of Glastique Gloss added to the embossed pieces to create a patina.

I used Piccolo Vintage Copper Embossing Powder on these pieces and the Glastique will cause the green to turn almost black - really cool look! It's a quick, easy and very inexpensive technique for creating faux metal pieces from nothing more than compressed book board.

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These pieces were used on a tag that is attached to a scrapbook page. If you like this and would like to see another use of Globecraft & Piccolo products, hop on over to my personal blog to check it out! 

Supplies:

• Piccolo Vintage Copper Embossing Powder
• Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive
• Vintage Lock & Keys Accents
• Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze
• heat tool

Check your local scrapbook or stamp for our Piccolo products or click the link below to shop if you can't find them locally. 

3D Enamel - give it a swirl!

Hello all, Kristie here to share a tip with you.

Did you know that you can swirl Globecraft 3D Enamels to get even more awesome color and interest in your jewlery peices? You can!

 

Just apply one color of Globecraft 3D Enamel Gel on top of another and Swirl.

You can even add decorative pieces, and glitter to the wet enamels

And when it dries, you get amazing effects and color!  

Adding a bit of Irish bling

The celebration of the luck of the Irish is almost upon us and before you sink your teeth into the salty and savory goodness of corned beef and cabbage and peasant bread, you need to frost yourself with a little handmade St. Patty's Day bling. I would hardly call myself a veteran jewelry maker, but with the help of Globecraft and Piccolo's new Shamrock Dreams Embossing Powder and Glastique Gloss, I was able to turn an ordinary ring base and chipboard into a fun piece of wearable art in no time flat. Hopefully this fun and festive ring will pinch proof this Irish lass.

Arin Flynn
A Piece of Life's Pie

Material List:

• Globecraft and Piccolo Shamrock Dreams Embossing Powder
• Globecraft and Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive
• Globecraft and Piccolo Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze 
• Globecraft and Piccolo Easy Grip Tweezers
• Cousin Silver Plate Ring (can be found at Michael's)
• Heat Gun
• Silhouette, die cut machine or punch using a Shamrock Image (or if you can find a plain shamrock book board charm)
• Chipboard 
• Sand Paper
• Harbor Freight Epoxy Mix
• Rubbing Alcohol 
• Toothpick

Step 1: Making the Charm 
Using my Silhouette Cameo, I purchased "Lucky Irish Charms" by SnapDragon Snippets from the Silhouette store. I deleted all but the three sided shamrock and modified it to no longer have the charm bracket. I cut it using chipboard at around 3/4 inches.

Once you have your image cut, apply Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive to the charm and dust with Piccolo Shamrock Dreams Embossing Powder. Using Piccolo Easy Grip Tweezers, remove and shake off charm from the excess embossing powder and apply heat from a heat gun. Set aside to cool and set. Once cool and set, repeat process three more times (with each new layer of embossing powder a new level of depth and dimension is added). Once one side is complete, flip over the charm and repeat the same steps from the previous side.

Once both sides are cool and complete add Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze to one side, let set and dry and repeat on the other side. This will add not only protection to the charm, but an additional layer of depth and dimension!

Step 2: Mounting the Charm

Using sand paper, rough up the plate of the base ring. Once area is sanded, apply rubbing alcohol to the ring to remove any oils or dirt the ring may have on it.

Set aside and mix up a small batch of epoxy. Using a toothpick apply epoxy to the base plate of the ring and then add the charm and position quickly. Apply pressure to set the charm to the ring and hold for a 30 seconds to a minute. Set aside and allow to fully set.

The fun thing about this project is that any type of charm or embellishment can be used. Globecraft and Piccolo has a wonderful inventory of book board charms and embellishments that would make any boring base ring come to life in the form a great piece of wearable art!  Head over to my blog and see what I easily made to pair with this fun project!

Doodling with 3D Enamel Gels

Hi everyone, Rebecca here with a cool 3D Enamel Gel tip. They look fabulous as doodles on a scrapbook layout, card, or mixed-media piece.

Here's how to do it. Begin by lightly doodling your lines and shapes with pencil. This way, if you don't like them, you can easily erase them and start over.

Then grab some G&P 3D Enamel Gels and carefully go over your designs. Once dry, you have cool and unique doodles!

Framing a Mother's Day card

Hello, Steph  here. I recently posted a tip about ways to use all the bookboard that is included in the Globecraft & Piccolo Card Decor & More! sets.

Supplies:

• Vintage holiday Flourishes Card Decor & More
• Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive
• Brownstone Embossing Powder
• Enchanted Aubergine Embossing Powder
• Mars Black 3D Enamel Gel
• Glastique

Using the exterior frame from the Vintage Holiday Flourishes Card Décor & More! set. I dabbed the frame with the Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive then sprinkled it with a mixture of Brownstone and Enchanted Aubergine embossing powders. I heat set the powders allowing the coats to cool between applications.

The frame turned out to be a perfect fit for my stamped image and looks stunning on this card. Glastique is the perfect adhesive to hold the stamped image to the frame. I coated one of the small flourishes from this set with Mars Black 3D Enamel Gel and adhered it to the bottom of the frame with a drop of Glastique.

Thanks for stopping by today. Pop on over to my blog to see what else I've been creating with G&P products!

Etching with embossing powder

Hi everyone, Monica here again to share another Globecraft & Piccolo project. Today I am sharing an angel wing bezel jewelry piece made with Victorian Bronze Embossing Powder and a rubber stamp.

Monica Edwards
Simply Monica

Supplies:

• G&P Victorian Bronze Embossing Powder
• G&P Assorted Bezels
• Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive
• Baroque rubber stamp - Judikins
• Heat tool

Apply Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive to the to the bezel.

Sprinkle on the Victorian Bronze Embossing Powder; heat set.

Repeat the layer by applying a second coat of Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive then sprinkle on a second coating of the Victorian Bronze Embossing Powder.

 

While the embossing powder is still warm and juicy press your rubber stamp in to it.

You can see the stamped design in the embossing powder on the bezel. The thicker the layers of powder the deeper it will etch.

Finished piece.

I added a charm piece to the end for some additional flair.