acrylik bus - Stampbord Pendant Class

I love creating jewellery with Stampbord. Basically just about any technique you can use on paper, you can use on Stampbord. Get your kit together and play!

You will need:
Stampbord (I'm using the assorted rounds and oval pack), rubber stamp of your choice, a permanent ink pad, a dye inkpad, jewellery findings, Crop-a-Dile or hand drill, scratch tool, sponge, sandpaper, heat gun, clear embossing powder, Versamark inkpad, Krylon Leafing pen.

Taking your sponge, dab on some ink from your inkpad, and then dab lightly on to the Stampbord. Start off with a light application of colour, and then build it up gradually. If you have several different colours of ink, then select contrasting or co-ordinating colours to make your background that little bit special. The great thing about the clay coated surface of the Stampbord is that the ink will blend well on it. If you use a gentle circular motion when applying the ink you will be able to blend the colours together.

Using the permanent ink, stamp your chosen image on to the Stampbord. I prefer to use permanent ink for this step, as it prevents smudging when scratching in to the surface later, but any ink is fine. In fact, using normal dye ink can create some interesting effects if you decide to use Dimensional Magic to highlight areas of your image, as the ink will tend to bleed. This can be a good thing!

Here's the bit I love - scratching out the detail. Take your scratch tool and hold the blade at a 90 degree angle to the surface of the Stampbord, as shown in the picture. You're going to use the very tip of the tool to scratch with, this gives the most control over the tool. Practice on a spare piece of Stampbord first, so that you get the hang of it. You're going to be scratching through the inked surface to get to the clay underneath. Either scratch out highlights, or use the tool to "colour in" with white. You can also buff out softer areas of white with sandpaper, roll the paper up into a point to use it.

Now we'll create a protective sheen over the top of the pendant by heat embossing it. Take your Versamark inkpad and tap it over the entire surface of the Stampbord. Then cover the Stampbord with clear embossing powder. Using the heat gun, heat up the embossing powder until it all melts. You can even use Ultra Thick Embossing Powder on Stampbord - it can take that triple embossing!

Now we can start putting the finishing touches to the pendant. If you have a Crop-a-Dile, fantastic, it will punch a hole through Stampbord without any problems at all. You can also use it to add an eyelet to the punched hole just to finish it off. If you don't have a Crop-a-Dile then you will have to use a pin vice or a hand held drill to make the hole. The final step is to edge the Stampbord with a Krylon pen or metallic paint. This hides the wooden edge and gives that final finishing touch.