Morning friends! Today I have my second GSL DT post for February and this time, I thought I would show you three different ways of turning your chipboards into metallic embellishments. I’m using these chipboard pieces which are actually from three different sets as I wanted a bit of variety for the tutorial but you can do this with any chipboards you have.
Introduction
There are a few different ways of blinging up your chipboards but for the purpose of this tutorial, I have chosen the following three options.
1. Gold embossing powder
2. Gold Leaf
3. Gold metallic paint
I will go through each method one by one and then at the end compare them side by side for shininess since that is the main reason for doing this.
Gold Embossing Method
For this method, you will need a gold metallic embossing powder and embossing ink. I’m using Gold Rush from WOW and also their embossing ink pad.
Tap or press each of the chipboard pieces directly onto the embossing ink pad and make sure they are covered in embossing ink with no missed bits. Repeat as many times as necessary until they are covered then set them aside until you have done all your pieces.
Once they are all covered in powder, carefully pick them up using tweezers or similar tool, give them a little shake to get rid of the excess and very importantly, funnel all the powder back into the container before moving on to the next step! Working on one piece at a time, use a heat gun to melt the embossing powder. You will see it change colour as it melts so once it has completely changed colour it is ready. I use a Black and Decker (melt your face) DIY heat gun but it is very fast at melting embossing powder lol and does a better job than any craft heat tool I have used. So here are the four heat embossed pieces ready to use. These photos were taken under lights as it was too dark outside.
Gold Metallic Paint Method
For this method you will need a gold acrylic paint and some white gesso. It’s better to prime your pieces with gesso first to get a better, brighter result.
Give each of the pieces a coat of white gesso and set them aside to dry for a few minutes. Work on one of the other methods meantime or speed up drying time with a hairdryer.
Gold Leaf Method
For this method you will need some gold leaf (real or imitation), gold size fluid or you can also use any kind of glue that dries tacky. Drying tacky is key as the gold leaf needs something to stick to.
Carefully take a sheet of gold leaf and lay it on top of each piece and press down with fingers or with a dry brush. Use a brush for the fiddly bits or tricky areas and just smooth the gold leaf down in place.
Work slowly and carefully and it will soon be free of the excess leaf, leaving your piece shiny and ready to use.
Conclusion
So we have three sets of embellishments with a gold metallic finish, but which one is shinier?
Three gold metallic words top to bottom – embossing, gold leaf, gold paint
Three gold metallic birdcages left to right – embossing, gold leaf, gold paint
Three gold metallic stars (x 2 designs) left to right – embossing, gold leaf, gold paint
Next day, I managed to take more photos in the daylight, what little there is right now, so here’s another look at what was produced – embossed, gold leaf, metallic paint.
And here are all the embellishments together…
Embossed
Gold leaf
Gold metallic acrylic paint
I hope this gave you a few ideas to try out with your chipboard pieces. Now I have a lot of bling to use on future projects! Thanks for making it all the way to the end. Let me know what you think in the comments!
Project Recipe:
Ornamental Birdcages Shape Set D69C
Chevron Words
Deco Stars D88S
Method 1
Gold Rush embossing powder
Embossing ink
Method 2
Gold Leaf (real is pricey, imitation is cheaper)
Gold size (or glue that dries tacky)
Method 3
Sunset Gold metallic paint
White gesso
Thanks for visiting today. Your comment is really appreciated.