Heat It Up! Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to our April blog hop! You may have arrived from visiting Miss Carrie. To continue the Hop, just follow the links from blog to blog until you get back to where you started. If you get lost, you can find a list of participants on Melissa's page. 

Spring has sprung and around here, we haven't even had the April showers yet, so as the weather warms, let's Heat It Up! with some heat embossing!

 I made this card with the new "Let's Stay Home" stamp set Close To My Heart has created for documenting the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of us are embracing the idea to "Stay Home and Create!" I've been sending extra cards to keep in touch with family and friends and I have an online crop starting April 15 (contact me for more info).

I also used the current Mix In paper pack and both the stamp set and paper from our "These Are My People" special. The patterns is #6 from Volume 4 in our How To series Make It From Your Heart.

Have you noticed that brads are back in our product line?? You'll need them for making spinner cards and some adorable new things coming in May. Right now, silver is the only option, but what if you want to use them in another color for artwork? Did you know...you can color brads with heat embossing?! Let Me Show You How...

One of the amazing things about embossing brads, is that you may not need ANY ink!  The most challenging part may be finding something to hold the brad so that you don't burn your fingers. I used reverse tweezers and this is the perfect application for them.  

A wooden clothes pin is another option. Does anyone beside me still use clothes pins??

STEP 1.  Hold the brad while your heat it with your Heat Tool. 

STEP 2. Dip the hot brad into the embossing powder. (Just barely. You really only want the head of the brad. The prongs don't need powder, and your tweezers don't either.) Since heat melts the powder, the heat from the brad will cause the powder to start to melt onto the brad.

STEP 3. Heat the brad a little more to get a nice finish and completely melt the powder. 

I made samples with two different powders then I played with some other options. If you want to match a color, use pigment ink and clear powder. I also tested StazOn and sealed those with clear. They are still metallic, almost a bronze/copper and pewter vs. brown and black. You can color the brads (and a lot of other things!) with the Tri-Blend Markers. You can emboss these with clear too, but I don't think it's necessary.

I used white brads for the center of my flowers. You can use the Piercing Tool and the soft side of a Versamat to poke a hole in your paper for the brad. 

Please leave a comment, or any questions, below then hop over and see what Scrappin Katy has to share!

Here's the list of products I used if you need a consultant for shopping:
These Are My People paper pack
Love These People stamp set - retired
Mix In paper pack (March/April) - retired
Mink Twine
Let's Stay Home stamp set - retired    
Sapphire Shimmer Brush
Silver Brads
Bluebird Ink
White Daisy Cardstock
Carnary Cardstock
Microtip Scissors
Tombow Adhesive
Micro Glue Dots
Thin 3-D Foam Dots
Card Bases & Envelopes

Distressed Much? CTMH Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to our blog hop for March! You may have arrived from Lauren's CTMH Craftings. To continue the Hop, just follow the links from blog to blog until you get back to where you started. If you get lost, you can find a list of participants on Melissa's page. 

This month's theme is ironically appropriate. We have over a dozen participants this month and I hope sharing our projects will distract and de-stress you! 

I used our new Cricut Collection, Everyday Moments, to create this card. It originally had a number of various colors, but I am getting ready for St. Patrick's Day. This design was perfect-once I changed the colors to greens and gold. 

How many shades of green do you see? Four?? Right, but I only used TWO colors of cardstock! With our two-toned solids, you get both a light and dark side for twice as many options!! The two darkest greens are the light and dark Clover. The lighter greens are light and dark Green Apple. Throwing in the Gold Glitter paper was a no brainer!

I added a little scrap of glitter paper behind the heart cut out and added a touch more bling with the Gold Glitter Gems. (These are expected to be back in stock soon! A good substitute is Golden Rod Stickles.) 

Our paper also has a white core which gives you several fun options for distressing. I sanded the outside edges of the cardstock pieces. Sometimes sanding or inking the edge of paper gets a little tricky because the paper is relatively flimsy. TIP:  Place the paper on the edge of a table to keep it stable. If your table isn't "craft friendly" (or it's curved), use the edge of the Versamat. It can be extended past the edge of the table for extra protection without losing its functionality. This is especially useful for full sheets like scrapbook pages.

You can use regular sand paper or even an emery board! The smaller shape makes those scallop edges easy!

If you don't have a CTMH consultant and want some shopping therapy, head over to my website.

The next stop on the Hop is the fabulous Miss Carrie!