Woodware UK: Memories in Metal

My Woodware UK post is making me feel sentimental this week. I'm remembering how much fun I had in the UK in February when I had the wonderful opportunity to travel over with Lynell Harlow of Dreamweaver Stencils. We were there to teach some projects and demonstrate new product and techniques at the "Stitches" show in Birmingham. What a treat to visit a show dedicated to all things crafty in the UK, and to be with, and make great friends along the way!

One of the items we were demonstrating was the Mercart metals which come in a wide variety of colored aluminum...silver on one side, and a color on the opposite. I chose black for my Thistle design here. Mercart also provides a wide variety of tools for working the metal and adding your unique touch to your artistic endeavors.

Embossing on metal can be as simple or as involved as you want to make it. This one was fairly involved as I was working on it occasionally over a few days. I started by placing the metal piece color side down on top of the stencil design (Long Thistle), adding a small piece of removable tape to hold in place. Then you use a large paper "stump" (available at most art supply stores), rubbing over the surface to get the general impression of the design. Now you can switch over to the Teflon tool to add more precise delineation to the design, and if desired, you can use the large ball end tool to really push the metal as far as it will go. You can also use the fine tip of the Teflon tool to delineate the design on the opposite side (without the stencil in place). I used another tool to add the tiny, swirly design in the background for more texture, and one of the design wheels to finish off the edge all the way around.

When you have just the amount of embossing that you want, you can use a sanding block to remove the color from the raised surface, or you can use a cotton swab (Q-Tip) to remove color with the Color Solutions Blender/Cleaner. When dry, you can use Ranger Cut and Dry Pen Nibs to apply Color Solutions to the plain areas. I used Citron and Sugarplum for my punches of color.

To finish my card, I ran the white cardstock through the embossing machine with the Stripes stencil for a soft embossed texture, a border punched from the Woodware Craft Collection's Crafty Edger. This is a fabulous gadget! A huge variety of great design borders in cartridge form can be purchased to go with, for infinite possibilities.

For more ideas on working with the Mercart metals, visit the Woodware UK blog, and click on the sidebar for all the wonderful posts from this past week!

Remember, in the UK, these products can be purchased through any of the stores listed on the Woodware UK website HERE.

In the USA, most of these products can be purchased through stores that carry Dreamweaver and Mercart products, or through the Stencil with Style site.