Thursday, March 22, 2012

Clear Vintage Page Charm Tutorial



Lately I’ve been thinking about cracks. Noooo, not the kind where you spot some dude bent over and he forgot to wear a belt…the kind where you appreciate them for the item’s age. So, lovely cracks!
I also have been trying to find a good use for these German stickers I have in my stash. So, decided to pair them up with some metal pieces I had and apply a crackle finish.  You may have spotted my hand made embellishment on my last page at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge.

These are pretty simple, just the drying time takes a bit so be prepared to wait overnight.
Assemble your ingredients.

As you can see here, I have a clear shaped back that I punched (you can easily hand cut as well) to sit behind the sticker. I using a bit of some Tim Holtz packaging but really any clear heavier plastic will do. 

Next, stick the sticker to the top of the clear piece and assemble for glue.

I like to tape my back in. After making about 10 of these, I have determined that packing tape is better. Some glue will creep under the metal, but the tape does a good job of keeping most of where it is supposed to be.


Now, the Crackle Accents glue I am using from Ranger makes larger sized cracks. I do have some new glue I am trying that is more like a paint that makes smaller crackles. 

Basically fill the entire metal bracket with a mound of glue. Like LOTS. It won't look pretty as it will be sitting all lumpy in the middle. Here comes my secret which I completely discovered by accident. 

Now, the secret ingredient here for BIG crackles is adding a bit of rubbing alcohol to urge the glue to flow better. I like to add enough where it looks nice and smooth. You can add it via a dropper or an empty glue bottle. See, I was adding a bit more glue at one point and accidentally added alcohol which was in a similar bottle. Those turned out the best! ;-)

Also, you can add a bit of color with glimmermist and add sparkles at this point. I threw in a couple of pearls while I was at it. 

After it dried, I inked it up a bit with ink. 

This same concept will also work for clear heavier chip board using the same concept. 


If you give this a try, let me know! 

Of course, you could play along with the two challenges that are running and use it there! ;-)


8 comments:

  1. Hi there.. you have been busy blogging.. I have had to go down 3 posts to catch up... Thanks for sharing your crackling.. these badges look wonderful.. and the wedding tin is amazing.. you certainly CAN make a silk purse out of a sows ear...that is a saying in Australia by the way...your new lamp looks fabulous...and your morning photo is stunning... and your journalling always brings a smile to my face.. you write so light heartedly about everyday life!! xx

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  2. Hey, thanks VERY much, Mitralee ~ I'm gonna have to buy some crackle accents. I love how you've done these, so I'm going to have a go... it might just replace my bottle tops as my embellie-of-the-moment!!!!!!

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  3. Fabulous! Love what you've shown us here!

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  4. This is amazing love it will have to try it!!
    thanks for the tutorial!!
    hugz
    irini

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  5. Wow, these are awesome! And what a great discovery. I don't have Crackle Accents, got to go get some. I wonder if you would have the same effect with Rock Candy crackle paint. Thank you for sharing!

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  6. Great tutorial - can't wait to give it a try - need to buy me some crackle accents first though - I have clear rock candy crackle paint by TH - don't know if that will work...and what is rubbing alcohol - is it the same as Benzine?

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