Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Leafing Flakes on Acrylic Shapes & Video!!

Today I wanted to share a VERY quick and easy technique to help use up some of those acrylic shapes you might have lying around. Some companies call them sheers, other ghost shapes but no matter what the name, shape or color they will all work for this technique!

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Now even if you don't have any of these pre-made shapes on hand, you can hand-cut or die-cut transparency sheets or even product packaging!

I know some of these shapes are self stick but most will need to have adhesive added. To do so the easiest way I know of is to simply run it through your Xyron. If you don't have a Xyron handy you could substitute any of the adhesives I shared yesterday.

You need the adhesive on the back side of the letter if it's clear. For the sheer or opaque shapes I would suggest applying the adhesive to the front side but that's totally up to you. Just depends on the finished look you're going for.

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After you've run your shapes through the machine, you're ready to begin!

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Place the acrylic piece sticky side up on your work area and sprinkle with the leafing flakes.

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Rub the flakes into the adhesive until you can't feel any more sticky areas. It only takes a few seconds and what's great is the smaller flakes you've rubbed from the larger flakes will help cover the rest of the shape.

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Here is a little video showing just how quick and easy this technique is....

And here are a couple examples of how the finished acrylic piece looks on a project. To adhere them to both the card and ATC I used Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue.

(flakes applied to the backs)

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(flakes applied to the front) Please excuse the glue holding the watch parts...I couldn't wait for it to dry any longer.

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Very quick and very easy just like I promised :)

Tomorrow I'll share another fun technique to use those flakes up!

7 comments:

  1. Thank you thank you thank you... I am headed out to shop tomorrow. I love this technique... I have some of those left over pieces and after using the perfect pearls on the back, and coloring the backs with my copic markers, this will be the new technique du jour... :)

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  2. awesome works! i have some mica flakes which i think would work out the same way like the leafing flakes.

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  3. Hi!

    I posted an entry on my blog with a link to all the ATC posts on my blog.

    Would you let me know if that's OK?

    Thanks,

    Nancy Ward
    http://paperfriendly.blogspot.com

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  4. Thanks for the video, Roni. I love, love, love to see things in videos. You did a great job and I hope you do more! (*hint hint* lol)

    You know what you said about each manufacturer telling us that we need to buy their particular brand of adhesive to use with flakes or foil? *raises hand* Yup - I fell for it, too. I have so many different kinds it's embarrassing. Then I recently saw a tutorial (I don't remember where) where the artist applied them with a plain old glue stick! Sheesh. I tried it out myself and sure enough it worked. So I am gonna be smarter next time - before I load up on a whole bunch of products I don't need.

    The glue stick is not the best thing to use, btw. But I have the fancy Duo and the adhesive that comes in the packs so I am good to go.

    Hey - I'm sure you will cover this, but I was playing around a couple of week ago and I have a new favorite technique to use with leafing or foils. I brush the liquid adhesive onto my rubber stamp, stamp my paper and then immediately clean my rubber stamp. I wait until the adhesive is slightly dry and nice and tacky and then I rub the leafing or foil over top. I've created some really cool designs that way!

    Great tutorials this week, Roni. Thanks!!

    P.S. Since I've being so talkative today, did that article in your local newspaper about you and your book get published yet? If so, how about a little shameless self promotion? Would you scan it and post it on Ink Stains or e-mail it to me? I want to keep it for my scrapbook and be able to say, "Oh sure, but I knew her when..." *wink*

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  5. Those are beautiful.

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  6. What a unique look, I love it. I'm almost tempted to buy some leafing flakes now that you made it look so easy!

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Thanks for your thoughts and comments!