Altering Metal Brads with Alcohol Inks

August 11, 2011

Altering Metal Brads with Alcohol Inks

When I consider how my tastes in colors and design has changed, say- over the past three or four years, I notice big changes. I must have been a very optimistic person back then because I have a lot of whimsical colored and happy motifs I purchased at the time. Flash forward today, and I am more attracted to more antique looks and colors.

These cuties have been in my stash for a long time and I have to say, I don't remember using one of them. So- enter in Jacquard Products Pinata Inks and we can make them more mixed media looking.

I started by sanding the surface of each brad by running them across the surface of a sanding block. This will make the colors stick better.

I then used long jewelry tweezers to apply pinata inks over the open end of a small cup. I have also learned that it is not a bad idea to wear latex gloves when working with these inks. Additionally, make sure your working surface is covered with something sturdy like a plastic table cloth or foil. They will easily eat through wax or kraft paper. I experimented with the colors by mixing them together, layering them one on top of each other, applying one color, heat setting, then another. The sky is the limit here so have fun!

Here are my "new" mixed media brads-

You can use them as is or take it a step or two further...

I adore vintage book pages so I decided to layer the brads with punched circles and wool felt circles, cut by hand.

And of course, I have to add a bling center.

Layered brads

I can already imagine these adorning my cards and gifts!

Instead of tucking these away someplace where I will forget about them by tomorrow (out of sight- out of mind), I dry brushed some manilla shipping tags with Lumiere in Metallic Copper and placed the brads on them. These would make sweet gifts as well!

Drop me a note and tell me how you used an "old embellishment" and other craft supplies to create a new look...