ask and you receive

My sister is in need of some tutorials for techniques that those of us who have been crafting for a while use without even thinking.... so, I am happy to introduce:

Back 2 Basics

This will be techniques and tutorials of things that I have learned on my creative journey. I know that these are nothing new to some of us, and I certainly didn't come up with these, but it will be a place to learn and refresh our memories.

Altering brads and buttons

I love taking ordinary things and customizing them to match my project.

for embossing on brads, you will need:

brads

embossing ink pad

embossing powder

heat gun

tweezers

using tweezers, tap your brad into the embossing ink

dip in the embossing powder

heat brad with heat gun. (this is why you use tweezers... the metal brads get HOT)

you may need more than one layer of embossing for a smooth coverage. simply dip the brad (while still hot) in the powder and heat again

now you have a customized brad!

you can also cover brads in glue (I like glue dots, or Glossy Accents) and dip in glitter... let dry

oohhh sparkly!

want fuzzy? add glue then dip in flocking!

Creative Inspirations Paint also works well... simply brush it on. (again, more than one layer will result in smoother coverage)

want a custom button? all of these techniques work on buttons!

try stamping an image on your button...

use embossing ink and stamp directly on button (rock your stamp to help cover the rounded surface, and be careful.. stamps like to slip on slick surfaces.)

cover with embossing powder and heat (make sure you use tweezers!)

when cooled...

Hope this gives you some ideas to try!

PS: let me know if there is anything YOU want to see here on the Back2Basics segments, and I'll see what I can do!