make it monday - no outline watercolor
make it market: county fair kit

make your own epoxy embellishments

I have always loved browsing at my local craft store at the fun little embellishments that are in the scrapbooking supplies. All of the little badges and cut outs designed to coordinate with the different lines are so fun, so tempting, and well, sometimes a little expensive too. One of my favorites are the little epoxy embellishments. I have used the store bought epoxy shapes to create my own custom embellishments, but this time I went a step further and created my own custom epoxy shapes that coordinate with supplies that I already have at home. The only thing that I purchased was some gloss medium - something that most of us already have in our stamping supplies!

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Here's how to get started. I used the acetate sheets that your stamps come on, but any acetate/transparency sheet will work that you have on hand, and a gloss medium - I used glossy accents for my project.

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Then, I used my circle punches to punch out circles from the acetate sheets and die cut shapes with the Monthly Moments: Tabbed die and the A Few Pointers die.

A great tip is that when you are doing your own acetate shapes, make as many as you can! That way you will have a bunch of pre-done shapes on hand to use for future projects.

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Next, make sure that you have your acetate shapes on a level surface that can be left undisturbed for at least 24 hours. Squeeze the glossy accents onto each shape and fill it all in. The glossy accents will flow right ot edge of the shape. As it dries, it will level itself out, so don't worry to much about things looking uneven. Also, you might have some bubbles as you add the glossy accents. I kept a pin near me and got rid of the bubbles as I saw them.

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Now, just walk away and let the shapes dry completely - at least 24 hours. When they are wet, the shapes have a milky appearance to them.

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And this is what they look like when they are dry - nice and clear!

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Next I started putting together the pieces to fit behind the epoxy shapes. The great part about using the dies and punches that you have is that everything coordinates just perfectly. And how about the shapes like the arrows and tabs? You can't buy those in a store!

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To adhere the paper pieces to the coordinating epoxy shape, I ran the stamped piece through my sticker machine so that the adhesive adhered to the front (stamped) side. Then I just stick them to the epoxy shapes. How awesome do they look?!

They are all set to use on projects and how fun would these be as a gift for a crafty friend?

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Keeping with the travel theme, I put together a card and some journal cards for my Monthly Moments layouts.

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The epoxy embellishments just bring your projects up a notch and they really look like the ones that you can purchase at the craft store - except better!

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Here's a card to wish someone well on their big trip. For the focal piece on the card, I used the Monthly Moments: Journal Card 1 die, stamped the arrow image from Monthly Moments: July and a few sentiment from the Get Lost sets. The map print on the bottom edge of the card is cut from one of the journal cards in the Monthly Moments: July journal card collection.

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The epoxy shapes just give this card a classy look and feel.

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Here's a little collection of journal cards that I added the epoxy shape embellishments to. I love making up journal cards so they are ready to go when I am putting layouts together (you might see some of the cards and embellishments in action very soon!)

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This journal card perfect for documenting a photo opportunity that happened on a trip that you took. My family loves some of the fun roadside statues and scenic views that we come across on our adventures.

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How about a journal card for jotting down some of your travel plans? You can even reveal if things went according to plan... or not!

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I used the United States die on this card along with the "we were here" epoxy embellishment that I stapled right to the top of the card. My plan is to use a geotag on the map of where we were for the layout that I create.

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So, how great are these custom embellishments? Besides taking just a little bit of extra time to dry, they are so easy to create and so easy to customize to your projects. And I think they are almost better than what you can find at the craft store.

Supplies:

all supplies from Papertrey Ink unless noted

Wonderful Adventure Card

size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

stamps: Monthly Moments: July, Get Lost

ink: True Black, Fine Linen Enchanted Evening, Simply Chartreuse

cardstock: Rustic White, Fine Linen, Monthly Moments: July journal card collection

other: Monthly Moments: Journal Card 1 die, A Few Pointers die, acetate sheet, Glossy Accents, 1 1/8" circle punch (EK Success)

Travel Journal Cards

size: just under 3" x 4"

stamps: Monthly Moments: July, Monthly Moments: June, Monthly Moments: Travel Plans, Get Lost

ink: True Black, Classic Kraft, Fine Linen, Soft Stone, Fresh Snow, Simply Chartreuse

cardstock: Fine Linen, Rustic White, Soft Stone, kraft, Monthly Moments: July journal card collection

other: Monthly Moments: Journal Card 1 die, Monthly Moments: Tabbed die, United States die, A Few Pointers die,acetate sheets, Glossy Accents, 1 1/8" & 3/4" circle punches (EK Success), tiny attacher (Ranger)

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