Burning Aleene's Tacky Glue to Make Paper Look Like Metal

     I came across this video (link below) on YouTube while looking for a new craft to try. I did a couple of things a little different from the video. The first difference is that I used white card stock since it was what I had on hand. The second difference is that I did not have gold paste to bring out the texture so I used a gold mica powder. A shiny Dollar Tree eye shadow like L.A. Colors would give the same effect.

     One problem I had was finding the right candle that was not burned down too far. If your candle is not brand new it is difficult to generate the heat to get the glue to burn. Possibly I'm just impatient, but I didn't have all day to sit and wait for the glue to heat up. I resorted to using a small lighter which worked since I could get the flame right on the glue, but I kept burning my fingers no matter how careful I was. The lighter also made it difficult to hold the butterfly glue-side down as I had to turn it on it's side to keep from burning my hand holding the lighter and to see what I was doing. Your best option would be a candle stick in a holder or possibly even a tea-light candle. Your next best option would be a long lighter if you don't have a candle (used for lighting your outdoor grill) or of course a new candle in a jar, but even my newer candles had the wick too low to get the glue to burn.

     I consider the first butterfly I did (the one on the right) as a fail. I put too much Aleene's Original Tacky Glue on the paper thinking I would be able to get more texture from it. Instead, due to the extra glue, the glue was able to settle flat. No matter how many times I pinched and pushed it into the shape it would return to flat with no texture what-so-ever. Another problem I had was using too little glue. With too little glue you can not get any texture and just end up scorching the paper. The plus side of having too little glue is that you can always add a little more to that spot and that is exactly what I did.

     I'm currently making a canister and decided to try the burned glue technique on the lid. I'm extremely happy with the result (above). I would recommend to people who love to craft to try this technique because it's an inexpensive way to get some beautiful texture.

Note: To get my butterfly shape I typed in Black and White Butterfly Templates in Google images, picked a shape I liked, copied and pasted the image into Word, made it the size I wanted and then printed it out. I then used the template to cut the shape out on card stock. Of course if you have a paper punch and it's the size you want then you're good to go.

Creating the Look of Metal using Aleene's Original Tacky Glue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGsefNXGmCw

Fun with Polymer Clay: First Try

     If I can do it, you can do it. You can free hand the shapes or use cookie cutters. You can push your rubber stamps into it to make an image or just about anything with texture. You can mix the clays to make a swirling looks or roll different colors together to make a design. You can make figurines, jewelry, beads, decor, embellishments for crafts, decorate picture frames, anything you can think up. I love working with polymer clay. These are some of the first pendants I made. I chose jewelry so I would have some new things to wear and also because I lacked the imagination to think of anything else. Oh well.

     When I revisit making things from polymer clay I look forward to making my own shapes as I didn't really go beyond the cookie cutter shapes I had at the time.

Polymer clay is a wonderful medium to work with since it does not air dry quickly, crack when dry, holds it's shape when working with it and is very smooth. Plus it becomes quite hard after it's baked and it takes mica powders and paint beautifully, although there are some precautions.

     I had a few charms which were my inspiration for the design of my necklaces and hair clips.

Copyright © 2010 Angela Conklin - Heartedly Handcrafted
All Rights Reserved

I have worn the center pendant quite a few times and it always gets compliments.

Dragonflies are beautiful and I wanted to incorporate one on a colorful and interesting background. After some thought it seemed my best bet for making the larger background I wanted was to do a hair clip.

I got an offer for this necklace, but didn't want to give it up since it was the first one that I had ever made.

I would like to try this one again as it was not easy trying to roll the clay, loop it and twist it without deforming it, but I think it turned out okay

I love coming up with new designs and textures

I wasn't sure what I was going to get when I rolled some bits of clay into the black clay background. To me it looks like a shell.

I love trees. This is one of my favorite pendants.

The necklace above was some left over clay I had from another project, The black clay had groves in it and I had some rolled silver clay. So I stuck the silver clay in the grooves, rolled over it carefully and then cut the heart shape.

I was excited that a woman liked the earthiness of this pendant and wanted to buy it. Sold!