X-Press It Adhesives--A Sticky Delight!

Hello X-Press It Fans, it's time for another tutorial and this week we are celebrating everything sticky... and the wonderful adhesive qualities of X-Press It Tripletac Glue and Double-Sided Adhesives.  They are used globally for adhering paper to all of our layouts, cards and projects but have so many other great uses... today I provide you with a set of 3 little glass jars, all ready to colour co-ordinate with my extensive button collection... here is what I started with today:

I wanted to colour co-ordinate the lids to my buttons, but keep the details on the actual glass jars subtle, as I like to be able to see through to what is inside, so opted for flocked lids and clear glittered jars.  Flock is a mystery to many but really a fun medium... the real trick of the trade is to use an adhesive that has a thorough coverage but is still pliable for a little while after application, which is Tripletac to a T... this picture shows the flock as a first coat, persist with this textile, you do need multiple coats to get a finish with good coverage, just keep adding the TripleTac to the dried layers... eventually you will finish with a good coverage of "fluff"!

Then it was time to move on to the 3 glass jars, I thought it would be good to have a little variety, so opted for a criss-cross design on one, a ring design on another, and then a bottom section on the third.  In this picture you can see where I have used Double-Sided Tape on two of the jars (ring and criss-cross) and then a ring of masking tape (I used washi tape) a third of the way up the last jar.

The washi tape was used as a mask for the jar below... simply apply a good even coverage of Tripletac to the jar, overlapping the tape, sprinkle with a mountain of glitter and roll the jar to have the glitter travel across the glue and adhere to the jar....from there it is a simple case of pulling off the washi tape to reveal a perfect finished line to the glitter bottom on the jar, set aside to dry for 10 minutes or so...

Then it was onto the taped lines... with the ring design, I used three different sizes of double-sided tape 12mm, 6mm and 3mm.  Pull off backing from all three strips of adhesive at the one time and sprinkle over the glitter, once again rolling the jar to obtain coverage.  Make sure there is good coverage and that you rub the glitter into the tape.  Test that you have full coverage by running your finger around each of the rings, you shouldn't feel any stickiness along the way, if you do, simply add more glitter and rub in with force...

The most important thing to remember when securing glitter with double-sided tape is that to "earn real shine" you need to "buff the glitter", this means that you need to dust off the excess glitter and with the full pad of a finger tip rub the glitter into the tape, the more you rub the shinier the glitter will shine, this is because the particles make full contact with the tape, they adhere well and it also rids the line of tape of any excess glitter, allowing what is left to gain full light reflection, a subtle effect with this clear like glitter, more dramatic with a coloured glitter... try it, it will make you smile!!

With the criss-cross design, you will notice in the first picture that I had only applied tape in one direction, it is important to add the glitter over all the tape that you apply to the jar at the one time, this way you will minimise the "bumps" where the tapes cross over... pull off the backing from the first set of tapes, and then apply a new set of tapes in the opposite direction before adding any glitter.  Once again I have used the 3 sizes of tapes, two of each size in each direction, but you can mix this up to your liking...

Try your adhesives on all sorts of surfaces, there is plenty of variety across the X-Press It range, something for every surface... try all sorts of glass, put the glitter on the inside or the outside, full or partial coverage... looks great on vases, and very special on the outside of votive candle holders, especially when the candle light shines on through... for me though I am very happy with my co-ordinated button jars!

Here is what I used in my project today:

X-Press It Tripletac Glue

X-Press It Double-Sided Tape 3mm

X-Press It Double-Sided Tape 6mm 

X-Press It Double-Sided Tape 12mm

Glass Jars with screw top lids (the ones pickles come in)

Ultra-fine clear glitter

Flocking Powder

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and try out this technique in your own creative space, enjoy!

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FabScraps Bunny Album...by Tarrah

Hello everyone!!

Tarrah here with you today to share a cute FabScraps Mini Bunny Album that I recently created.

I gathered supplies that I would need firstly.. 

I gave the bunny 2 coats of paint...

I then applied X-Press It Clear Gel Glue to the bunny's nose and feet....

in preparation for the Flower Soft to be applied on these areas....

Apply a generous amount of the Flower Soft for good coverage

 and to give the appearance of fluffiness..then allow to dry....

I then painted over the Flower Soft with white paint 

and allowed that to dry also...  

Trace the remaining album pieces onto your favourite FabScraps

patterned papers and cut these out....

Using the X-Press It Triple Tac, adhere the papers to the 

chipboard album pages and sand the excess off the edges..

For small chipboard embellishments like the FabScraps 

Baby Clothes Chipboard, the

 X-Press It Clear Gel Glue works a treat....

Decorate and arrange your photos and 

embellishments how you desire....

Here is my FabScraps Mini Bunny Album all finished

 with some ribbons tied through the rings for extra decoration and a white pen used to outline the features of the bunny face...

Thanks so much for stopping by the X-press It blog today, I do hope I have inspired you to pull out your X-Press It products and create something wonderful....stay tuned for more exciting and beautiful creations from the Design Team here at X-press It.

Bye for now...
Tarrah :)

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Collage Journal Page

Hi all,
Sharmaine here, sharing a page out of my X-Press It Blending Journal.
The very first thing I did was pulled out the supplies I wanted to play with.

I’ve used:
X-Press It Blending Journal
X-Press It Triple Tac Glue
FabScraps papers (from the Enchanted Garden range): Blue Heron, Blue Heron 2, Birds & Bees, Birds & Bees 2.
FabScraps chipboard: Decor Corner #1, Decor Corner #2

The first step was to cover a page with Triple Tac and stick down some paper



I then ripped off the excess paper, from around the edge of the page.

I repeated this for the other side of the journal.

I then cut out some of the birds, found on the pattern paper,

and some of the other winged creatures.
These were then added to the pages.

I used the Triple Tac as a Transfer Medium to add this bird,

so he was facing the way into the journal, rather than out.

You can read more on this process in Edna’s post, found HERE.



So now the base of my journal page was complete.



I then gave the 2 pages a wash with some diluted blue ink, making the pages uniform.

The next thing I did was use the FabScraps chipboard as a stamp

Which is simple done by coating the chipboard with paint and stamping.

The other chipboard I cut in half

and added to the side of each page, using the Triple Tac to adhere.



I also used the painted chipboard, cutting this up too.

I then added my “title” and the pages were finished.

Love the depth created by the layers

and the gorgeous images.

I hope this inspires you to pull out a journal, glue and papers.
I hope this inspires you to play with collage.
I hope this inspires you to be creative today.
Thanks for stopping by.
Sharmaine

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A Fabby Cup of Tea

This week's post focuses on the very lovely Teapot Chipboard Album by FabScraps, it's a great size for a little mini album, I have used mine to house recipes that are fit for a High Tea, a little gift for a friend of mine who is entering the world of baking... here is what I used in the recipe for this little book of loveliness:

 I used X-Press It TripleTac to secure the paper to the chipboard pages

I wanted a pretty shabby look, so I opted to file the excess paper from the edges of each album page, it's a little tricky on the curves, but the result is worth it

Then it was time to build some flowers from the fantastic pre-cut flower range from FabScraps, you can achieve a bucket load of looks with these flowers from flat to scrolled to scrunched, mine have a half rolled, half scrunched look.  For one flower I used all four sizes of the flower in a stack, and then one with the 3 smallest flowers and one with the 2 smallest flowers.  I rubbed the flowers into a foam mat to loosen the fibres and then added some curl and pinches to each layer

Then I built up the layers with X-Press It Clear Gel Glue, adding little beaded centres, the beads stack really nicely with the Clear Gel Glue, I love this technique.... and you can see the little leaves in the photo too, I coloured them with a Copic Marker... these come together really nicely thanks to the little sheet of petals and leaves from FabScraps, they come in a great array of colours, but the cream seemed perfect with the pink cover I chose...

Next it was on to a bit of Chipboard for the front of the album, the scrolls come with the Teapot Album and I added a matching Afternoon Tea word from the FabScraps Range... easily coloured with my trusty Copic Markers

To add to the shabby feel, I applied some paint with a rubber stamp, randomly across the cover, rubbing excess paint around the edges of the album front, and across the chipboard elements

Then it was a case of putting all the elements together with Clear Gel Glue, it's great to apply and then move into the exact spot, there is a little give time with this Glue and then it dries in a snap!!

Here are the products I used in my project today:

X-Press It TripleTac

X-Press It Clear Gel Glue

FabScraps Summer Teapot Album

FabScraps Afternoon Tea Word

FabScraps Paper Raspberry 

FabScraps Paper Strawberries

FabScraps Fresh Cream Roses

And here is my finished album, all ready for me to add my sweet recipes...

I hope you like the combination of the Fresh Cream Roses and the Teapot Album... now I'm off to eat some of the treats I made for the inside of this gift, enjoy!!

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Copic/Pencil Holder...using FabScraps Products....

Hi everyone!!

It's Tarrah here with you today! I wanted to create a different project this month, rather than create my usual layouts that I always create, I decided to create a pencil holder from a tin can.....here is how I created it...

Firstly I got some supplies together including a washed

 out tin can with the outside sticker peeled off also...

FabScraps products used:

FabScraps Christmas Star Sparkles paper 

FabScraps Vintage Baby Umbrella paper

FabScraps Milkshake Chic Strawberry paper 

FabScraps Roses in Blush, Sepia and Delicate Green

FabScraps Metal Flower 

FabScraps Decorative Brad

X-Press It products used:

X-Press It Triple Tac Glue
X-Press It 6mm Double Sided Tape

Trim the FabScraps Christmas Star Sparkles paper to fit the tin can....

Apply a generous amount of X-Press It Triple Tac to all

 the outside of the tin can using a paint brush....carefully adhere

 the FabScraps Christmas Star Sparkles paper white the Triple Tac is wet.  

Take the FabScraps Milkshake Strawberry paper and 

cut two strips measuring approximately 1 inch x 8 inches.

Scallop the edges of the Milkshake Strawberry strips using a border punch

Using some X-Press It Double Sided Tape, adhere one 

of these pieces with some around the very

 top of the tin can with the scallops pointing down..

Adhere the other piece to the bottom of the

 can with the scallops pointing upwards...

Trim a strip of paper from the 

FabScraps Vintage Baby Umbrella Paper 

measuring approximately 2 inches x 8 inches,

adhere this piece around the middle of the can

Take a large rose from the FabScraps Blush Roses and

 a slightly smaller one from the Sepia Roses also get 4 of the

 leaves from the Delicate Green Roses pack also...

Assemble a flower embellishment using the two roses, 

once you add the metal flower and brad, curve the edges

of the petals for more definition.  

Tuck the leaves behind the flower and you

 have a lovely embellishment ready for any project... 

Finally adhere the flower embellishment to the centre

 of the tin can overlapping the Milkshake Strawberry strip of paper

This is the finished project... 

it is perfect to hold some craft tools, pencils, Copics,

whatever you choose!!

See how easy it was to create something useful and pretty all at once!!
I hope you use your X-Press It adhesives and FabScraps products for your next project!
Thanks so much for stopping by the X-Press It blog today...take care...
Tarrah x

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