Paper flower fun Friday, October 13, 2006

I must say... originally I was not a big fan of this paper packet (Just Chillin paper packet). But, I found that once I paired it with some favorite embellishments, I really loved this layout! So, that's a handy tip - use favorite embellishments to make a not-so-favorite paper come to life!

I used Just Blooms paper flowers here, and paired two together, attaching them with a sparkly brad. I inked the white flowers with a touch of Vineyard Berry ink using a sponge dauber. I love that trick! That's how I "antiqued" the Desert Sand cardstock too (using Desert Sand ink and a sponge dauber). Sponge daubers are so cheap, and so useful. You can get even more use out of them by cleaning them with the Spritz stamp cleaner (gets them way cleaner than just soap and water!).

To make sparkly brads, you can take any ordinary brad (any color too!) and heat it with a craft heater. Then, dip it in embossing powder and reheat. Quickly transfer it to your glitter, coating it well. I find it really helps to then reheat it a little more. It makes sure that the glitter doesn't flake off the brad. You can also use this trick to make any brad any color. Just use the embossing powder (with no glitter). You may find it works best to coat the brad 2 times with the embossing powder (heating and cooling in between). I love how this makes every brad so versatile!