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Embossing works best with good quality paper, but with the embossing tool ANY paper or card may be used. The best way to find out if the paper or card will be suitable is to try embossing it.
1. Place the stencil of your choice on the front of your card in the position you wish it to appear. You may find it helpful to use stencil tape to hold the stencil in position while you emboss and or colour. Don’t use regular sticky tape this will tear the paper.
2. Turn the card and the stencil over together so that the stencil is under the paper on a light box. Rub over the design with a dry hard soap (I find that the soap that is made with vegetable oil is by far the best.) This allows the embossing tool to slide easily. Then with your embossing tool just trace around the edges of your design, thus stretching the card down into the stencil. So the order is Light, Stencil, Paper/ Card, Soap, Emboss.
3. You don’t have to worry if you go over the lines, as an error will not show. Isn’t this great finally a Craft that no-one will know if you’ve made a mistake. Remember you only need to go around the edges no need to fill in the whole area. At this stage you may wish to colour your design or maybe do some double embossing.
4. If you would like to double emboss leave your original stencil in position take a second stencil and place it under the first stencil so that you can emboss through your original stencil. Thus patterning your first design. So know the order is Light, Background Stencil, Original Stencil, Paper/Card Soap and Emboss. Leaving the first stencil in place means that once again you cannot make a mistake.
5. For easy and effective colouring leave your original stencil in place, turn to the front of your card and decide which colours you are going to use. Now starting with the lightest colour first using a Dabba dab into the pigment ink stamp pad and gently dab on your card. Do not press hard as you will end up with circle marks on you card. If you want more colour go over it more often keep dabbing. Changing colours when you want to. Always start with the lightest colour and go darker this protects your colour palette.
6. If you like for a different effect you can gently circle your work with the dabba. Gently or you will wear out the sponge on your dabba. This is especially good with double embossing as it tends to highlight the background designs. I like the effect it gives. But remember to be gentle.
7. A stencil brush can be used instead of dabbas. This is your personal taste. Don’t dab with your stencil brush as it will damage the bristles. Just swirl around and around once again starting with the lightest colour and working darker. It is easier to add more colour than remove it so make it darker gently.
8. You can also overlay your stencils. So emboss as per the first step, don’t double emboss here. Do your colouring lightly and place a second stencil over the top of your coloured work. With a darker colour gently dab your overlay design. I dab first and then finish it off with the brush for a crisper finish.
9. A word of warning Dabbas will not get into your fine areas of the stencil so you will need to colour in those areas with a brush. You will quickly find what works for you and what doesn’t. Just try it you will enjoy being creative. And remember there is no right and wrong way if you like it then its right.
10. Now if you like, you can keep your original stencil in position, place the lot in a sparkle tray, dab PVA glue on the card. Remove the stencil and sprinkle some reflective sparkles over your card. Shake off the excess sparkles. Leave to dry a few minutes and your own original card is ready to give to someone you love. Don’t throw your excess sparkles away. The hole in the corner of your sparkle tray is there to help you pour your sparkles back into the container. No mess, no waste. Brilliant.
11. Cleaning your stencil brushes and dabbas is easy, just use a bit of dish liquid, rinse and make sure it is perfectly dry before you use it again. Remember that every time you wash a dabba or brush you are washing ink down the sink.
12. Remember if you use thin paper use the large end of the tool, and if the card is thick use the small end and press harder.
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Tags: craft
Posted in Crafts · March 11th, 2010 · Comments (0)
There are some people who become quite bored with the same bar of soap they use in their bathrooms. It can be a little tiring to make use of the same thing everyday for washing hands or bathing. It can be a little more exciting if you can create your very own soaps which are crafted and smells just the way you want it. These days, more and more people are discovering the fun and possible income opportunities of soap making activities, but many are simply enjoying this as their hobby. Carefully crafted and sweet smelling soaps are not just for washing or cleaning because they can also be used for decorating and beautifying your bathrooms.
Before you start off, you have to know that the two main ingredients in soap making are fats and lye. Other additional ingredients are dyes for coloring and fragrance oils for the scent. Fats are the ones responsible for the essential qualities of soaps so it is considered as a major ingredient. Fat is responsible for the lather produced which is mild for the skin whether it is a soft or hard soap. Lye, one the other hand is the ingredient which hydrolizes the fat to turn it into soap. The other ingredients such as fragrance oils and dye are only to add art and scent to the product.
Fats are converted into soap through two simple methods – hot and cold. Cold method is done by adding the fat into a previously made lye water mixture. Everything is mixed and poured into melts which have been dipped in cold water. Hot method is much like the cold method except that the fat is heated before it is mixed with lye water mixture and is further heated for 2 hours before it can be used. Of these two, the cold method is known to produce a longer lasting soap.
After the soap mixture is set, you can add other ingredients to make more aesthetically pleasing. When using dyes and molds, you have to do it properly so that you can create perfect miniatures of food, animals and other items. You may need to practice more before you can actually perfect the art of using different soap ingredients with the molds. Fragrance oils are added into the soap mixture for your product to have that scent you want, whether it is sweet, clean or flowery smells.
When engaged with soap making activities, always remember that lye is a hazardous ingredient. It should not be handled with your bare hands because it has corrosive properties which can injure your skin. Lye also gives off fumes when mixed with water. This can also be dangerous when inhaled. Despite the ease of making soaps, the harmful properties of lye should not be overlooked and precautions should be observed when starting the project.
Making soaps is a fun and productive hobby to spend your free time. It might be quite hard to perfect your projects at first, but you only need to practice through trial and error and soon you will be producing beautifully crafted home made soaps.
Jen Hopkins has worked in the skin care industry for years. She maintains websites about natural soap making, and make soaps. If you want to contact her, you can use the contact form at one of her sites.
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Tags: natural soap making
Posted in Crafts · March 6th, 2010 · Comments (0)