Playing with Metal!!!

I love playing with metal...and my tools, lol.  Today I want to show you some ways you can use the Imagine Crafts Sheet Metal Tags & Vintaj Products.  Warning - photo heavy.  Click on photos to get a better look. Oh and don't mind the mess on my craft sheet (I didn't clean it up after my last tag/card creations since I knew I was going to get it dirty with this tutorial).


Using the Vintaj DecoEmboss Folders is easy.  Just put the metal piece in the folder and run through your machine, as you would a regular embossing folder..  

Here I've taken a Vintaj Metal Blank and embossed it with a "Moonlit Night" DecoEmboss Folder.  I swabbed "Black" Vintaj Patina all over it with a paint brush and then dabbed the excess off with a paper towel.  Note - You can also use different mediums on the metal pieces (like I did with Luminarte Silk Acrylic Glazes - here).

I sanded my piece with my Vintaj Metal Reliefing Block and then painted on Vintaj Glaze to seal and protect the piece.

I decided to make this into a necklace, but the hole was too tiny, so I enlarged it using the Idea-Ology Drill Press Two Hole Punch.  Simple to use - just put piece in and twist the lever to drill into the piece.

Here's my finished necklace.  Now I'm going to play with Imagine Crafts Sheet Metal Tags.

The metal tags work great with the Vintaj DecoEmboss Folders.  Here I've taken several tags and embossed with different DecoEmboss folders.  One easy way to decorate the tag after embossing is to rub StazOn jet Black ink over the raised portions of the piece.

Here I've put a few drops of various colored Alcohol Inks onto my tag.  I then took a paint brush to push the inks around to ensure coverage of the entire piece.  You can leave it this way or you can play more - on the right, I dabbed the excess ink off with a paper towel and sanded the raised portions.

Here, using my Tim Holtz Applicator Tool, I applied various Alcohol Inks to my pieces.  To the right, I then sponged on some black ink and then sanded the raised portions for effect. Note - the metal piece on the right was actually embossed with a Couture Creations Embossing Folder folder.  It does work on the metal - however, the Vintaj folder designs appear sharper/crisper and the designs are more detailed for teeny pieces.

And don't forget the obvious - you can simply stamp on the metal tags.  Here I've used one of my Hero Arts stamps and StazOn jet Black ink.

I had an idea of making a metal frame.  So I took a Premium Craft Foil sheet and used the backside (which is silver).  You can also use Inkssentials Metal Foil Tape Sheets.  I die cut a rectangle out of the piece using a Spellbinders Nestabilities Rectangle Die.  I then cut around the opening to create my frame.

I embossed the frame by using the Vintaj "Steampunk Parts" Folder and embossing different portions at a time.  You can also emboss the soft metal sheets using a regular embossing folder.  After embossing, I rubbed on a pink Alcohol Ink using my TH applicator tool.

After doing that, I rubbed on some black ink, then sanded the raised portions.

The resulting frame on the left.  Here's another one I did with blue alcohol ink.

Hope I've inspired you in some way.  Hope your week is fab and Thanks for stopping by!
I have a date now with my ScraPerfect Best Cleaner Ever, lol.
Lorraine