Taking out-of-date to chic

Hi! Candy here to show you how easy it is to re-purpose old, out-of-style items in to chic home decor.

This candle holder, from Home Interiors, looked like this ... dated and boring. It is made to either sit on a table or hang on the wall. I like it because it has a nautical feel, but the brass was so old-fashioned ...

So, I decided to cover it with Globecraft & Piccolo Embossing Powders. 

Supplies: 

• Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive
• Heat Tool
• Vintage Silver Embossing Powder
• Siam Silver Embossing Powder
• Glastique Matte
• Tweezers
• Sandpaper
• White Acrylic Paint
• Brown ink

First, I took the pieces apart, sanded the wood section, painted it and then let it dry. Once dry, I sanded it a bit more and then dabbed on a bit of brown ink until I got the look of weathered wood.

Then, I turned my attention to the metal pieces. It took some time to cover all of the metal areas. Some sections heated quickly and got so hot they burned my fingers. (Tweezers come in handy here ...) Other parts took forever to heat. I worked in small sections applying embossing powder adhesive and embossing powder in Vintage Silver until it was almost all the way covered.

Then I decided I wanted a little more depth to the color than just Vintage Silver. So I went in randomly and added Siam Silver. It is the powder that is more blue in the photo below.

I love the final patina of the two powders mixed together.

Once finished, I coated the entire piece in Glastique to seal and protect it. I used the Matte version because I didn't want to add any shine.

I transformed a little dragonfly candle holder, as well. Click on to my blog to see how it turned out.

Saving the Pieces....

....from other projects! Good morning crafters!

Chirstina Colón
The Twisted Muse

Chrissy here to share a quick tip on how to get the most bang for your buck. Remember that Steampunk Watch Ornament I showed you a couple weeks ago?

Well, I hope you saved that beautiful oval piece that you had to pop out of the frame because it makes the perfect little background for a little charm.

I saved the oval pop-out and made this little piece using it. I simply embossed it using my Sizzix Vintaj machine and added some embellishments.

Heat emboss a little Piccolo butterfly with some new Piccolo Turquoise Lagoon Embossing Powder for a bit of whimsy. Coat a couple Piccolo flourishes with some Piccolo Metallic Gold 3D Enamel Gel.

Add some small alphabet letters and a thin coat of Glastique to a resin flower and VOILA! You have a nice little charm to attach to a card or gift in no time flat. Not to mention, you cut down on your waste from a previous project!

Thanks for taking a look and remember to look at every piece with a creative eye!

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.

I 

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!