Tutorial: Melt Art Tissue Wrap Jeweled Leaves

Happy Tuesday!  Here we are again with another Tuesday Tutorial!

Several years ago at CHA I was absolutely enthralled at the displays in the ICE Resin booth.  The samples were by Susan Lenart Kazmer.  The sample I loved the most was a book with translucent pages created by spreading ICE Resin on paper.  I have thought about that amazing book with its clear pages many times since I first saw it.  I wondered if I could get a similar look with something I might already have on hand.  Today’s tutorial shares my result using Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap dipped in UTEE.

Begin by die cutting shapes from Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap.  I chose one of the leaves from the Tim Holtz Mini Tattered Leaves set.

Mist the die cut Tissue Wrap pieces with Peeled Paint Distress Stain.  (I keep a mister bottle of stain for each color.  If you love stain, you will LOVE using it as a mist.)  Allow the pieces to sit for a minute or so in the stain to soak up the color.

To cut down on any waste, grab some Crinkle Ribbon to soak up any excess mist.

Blot each die cut on a dry cloth.  (I use cloth diapers for my art towels. They are super absorbent!)

Use a heat tool to dry the die cuts.  The die cuts are super light so they will blow away so you may have to chase a few down!

Use an ink blending tool to apply Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the tips and edges of the die cuts.

Melt clear UTEE in a melting pot.  Hold the die cut with a pair of tweezers.  Non-stick tweezers like Tweezer Bees (not shown) are the best choice.

Dip the die cut into the melted UTEE keeping ahold of it with the tweezers.  Make sure both sides of the paper get coated with the UTEE.  You may have to dip one side and then flip it over and dip the other.  After dipping the die cut, hold it up over the hot melting pot with the tweezers while the excess UTEE drips off.  Hold the piece with the tweezers until it has cooled enough to touch.  WARNING- Melted UTEE is HOT and will cling to your skin.  Do not touch the piece until it has cooled.  Once the piece has cooled, gently remove it from the tweezers (it may stick slightly).  Continue to the cool the piece on a craft sheet.

To add jewels or glitter, place a project sheet into a clean hot melting pot.  Place the UTEE coated die cut on the project sheet.  Place the lid on the pot until the UTEE on the die cut has re-melted.

Sprinkle the die cut with micro beads, micro glitter, or embossing powders.

You can even press crystals into the hot UTEE.  Use a pair of tweezers to place and press the crystals into the HOT UTEE.  (Really, trust me here, avoid touching the melted UTEE with your fingers…)

Lift the project sheet out of the melting pot.  Allow the die cut to cool completely.

After the piece has cooled, gently peel it off of the project sheet.  Once the piece is completely cooled, you can gently bend it to add cracks in the UTEE if desired.

To create flowers to go with the leaves, paint several metal Foliage Flowers with Distress Paint.

Use a heat tool to dry the paint.

Use an ink blending tool to apply Vintage Photo Distress Ink to paint on the flowers to vintage them up a bit.  Use a heat tool to dry the ink.

To add a bit of shine and sparkle, place the metal flowers on a project sheet in a hot melting pot.  Sprinkle UTEE onto the flowers.  When the UTEE has melted, sprinkle micro beads or glitters onto the flowers as desired.

Use Picket Fence Distress Stain to paint the front of a Word Band.  Use a heat tool to dry the paint.

Use a dry cloth to wipe the surface of the Word Band to wipe away most of the paint.  If desired, place the painted Word Band in the melting pot and sprinkled with UTEE and micro beads like the flowers.

Add more colors of stain to the ribbon.  Mist the ribbon with water to blend the colors.

Blot the ribbon with a dry cloth.

Dry the ribbon with a heat tool.  After drying, tap over the ribbon with an ink blending tool with Vintage Photo Distress Ink to mute the colors and add a vintage look.

Emboss a #8 manila tag with the Tim Holtz Bubble Texture Fade.  Use an ink blending tool to apply Peeled Paint Distress Ink to the lower left corner and side of the tag.  (Need help applying and blending Distress Ink?  Be sure to check out my tutorial: https://www.tammytutterow.com/2012/12/tuesday-tutorial-applying-and-blending-distress-ink/.)

Use an ink blending tool to apply Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink to the of the tag.

Use an ink blending tool to apply Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to the upper right side of the tag.

Use an ink blending tool to apply Salty Ocean Distress Ink to the lower right side of the tag.

Mist water into your hand and flick it onto the tag.  Blot the excess water with a dry cloth.  Dry the tag with a heat tool.

Use an ink blending tool to apply a thin border of Salty Ocean Distress Ink to the edges of the tag.

Use an ink blending tool to apply a thin border of Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the edges of the tag.  To apply a super thin border, hold the tag and rake the edge of the tag with the ink blending tool lightly.

Scribble Salty Ocean Distress Stain onto a script stamp (Hero Arts La Letter).

Lightly stamp the script onto the tag, transferring the image to just the raised areas.

Dry the ink with a heat tool.

There was a huge thunderstorm while I was working on this tag.  As I looked at it, I realized that the UTEE, micro beads, the colors, and the circles on the tag reminded me of rain drops.  I decided that it would be nice to accent a few of the embossed circles with clear embossing powder.  I used an embossing ink pen to apply embossing ink to selected circles.

Sprinkle clear embossing powder onto the embossing ink.  Use a heat tool to melt the powder.

Feed the Word Band onto the ribbon.  Wrap the ribbon around the tag.  Tie the ribbon into a simple bow on the front of the tag next to the word band.

Adhere two of the UTEE leaves above and two leaves below the ribbon and band.  Tuck the tips stem part of the leaves under the bow.

Place several brads on a clean project sheet in a hot melting pot.  After a few minutes, the brads will be hot.  Pick up a brad using tweezers.  Dip the head of the brad into colored embossing powder.  The hot brad will pick up powder.  Place the brad back on the project sheet for a few minutes to melt the powder.  Remove the brads from the melting pot using tweezers.  Place the brads on a craft sheet to cool.

Layer the flower pieces together with brads.  Adhere the assembled flowers around the bow on top of the leaves.

Mixing embellished leaves with plain leaves makes the embellished leaves really stand out.  I love the way the UTEE makes the Tissue Wrap transparent.  I love how you can see the edge of the tag through the leaf on the left.

I love the way the micro beads look like little drops of water on the flowers.

The ribbon is covering most of the second jeweled leaf on this tag.  I kind of like it that way though, because it is like a hidden treasure that you find when you look closer.  I absolutely love how vivid the colors on this tag turned out.  I see a rainbow in it, which is perfect with the rain drop theme it took on.

I love the message on this Word Band!  I really believe that when we let them, the experiences we have along the way in life can awaken our spirits and push us to go farther and dream more.  I have been day dreaming a lot lately about some new adventures and new dreams.  I have been reflecting on the experiences I have had that have brought me to where I am.  I am awake and ready to chase down a dream or two…

Ok, that is all for today!  I will be back Thursday with a Take Two Thursday where I will re-visit this tutorial with a different project.  I hope to see you then!

sss: Simon Says Stamp  ie: Inspiration Emporium sb.com: Scrapbook.com

Feel free to pin this project on Pinterest!  While you are there, I would love for you to check out my boards!