Working with Digitals – Part 3
We’ve made it part 3! I have a lot to cover in this part, but there are some great ideas for you, so I hope you’ll read on.
If you haven’t seen the other parts of this series, you can check them out here:
In part 3 we are adding “heavy metal” – and other things to add dimension. You can check out the video below.
Heavy Metals
Some of the most common metal findings you can add to your printables are brads, eyelets and grommets.
Brads
Brads are great to use for adding dimension and decoration. They can frame something on your digital or be used to attach other things together on your digital. Because they come in a large variety of colors, shapes, and styles, they also can add color and weight – depending on the brads you have.
I used brads on the digital below to create a frame around the image, and I even created a “hidden” journaling spot by attaching one of the brads to the cardstock on the back!
Eyelets and Grommets
Eyelets and grommets are similar, in that they both give you a metal ring with a hole – to add more things! Eyelets are 1 piece of metal which gets crimped around a piece (or pieces) of paper, where a grommet has 2 pieces which sandwich the paper inbetween. They both look very similar from the front, and only a bit different on the back. The grommet, because it has 2 pieces, almost looks the same on the front and the back, where the eyelet is a little more rough on the back, due to the crimping process.
Whether you use eyelets or grommets, though, you can have a ton of fun with them! You can add elements that hang from, sew through or connect things with these beauties. See the picture below for the many options of using eyelets on your printables.
Buttons
As I’m sure you can imagine – buttons are very similar to using metal findings. You can sew or glue them on, add them to hold ion other things (like fabric, flowers or other ephemera!), all which will just add depth to the digital.
Wax Seals
I admit – I’m new to wax seals, but friends. Gah! I love them. It took me a few tries to get the hang of it, but I made a few with my fleur de lis stamp on a silicone sheet so I could just glue them down anywhere. And I just might!
As you can see, the gold wax color gave a lot of contrast to the tag, and with the ribbon underneath, it made the perfect tag topper!
I used another seal to create a little tuck spot for the back on an envelope, and I really like the way this one turned out too. The marbled wax matched the colors on this envelope perfectly! My mind is now filled with a ton of different ideas for using them. And since I currently only have 1 design, I’ll definitely be looking for more!
Altered Paperclips
Using the little pieces of a digital kit or even starting from a collage page to make altered paper clips is a brilliant way to make your pieces look unique. There are a lot of way to create altered paperclips, and then adding these new pieces to your journal really look great on a page!
If you’d like to see a tutorial on making them, click here.
The kit I’m using has stamps included, and I took two of the small ones and attached them to some cardboard. Then I glued them together with a small gold paper clip and some purple thread and viola! A shabby addition that looks great on a page or a pocket or even on another note card!
Napkin Decoupage
I don’t know if you’ve tried this yet, but I think this technique as so, like SO much. Because you can add color and images without fully covering your paper – napkin decoupage is often translucent, this is a great way to add things you feel would bring a more cohesive look to your overall project.
I added 2 small pieces of napkin with a little bit of diluted Mod Podge to the digital below and look how it just pops! And it brings together the other purples I have throughout these pieces.
Stamping and Emossing
If you are like me, you probably have a bunch of stamps somewhere in your creative space. Maybe they’ve been sitting there for months – not being used. Well, here’s your chance to break them out and see what a difference they can make on your digitals!
Often times, digitals have enough going on that you may not want to add more, but sometimes you might think adding some words, or an additional image or even some background texture would make your tag or notecard “just right”! Get those stamps out and see what they can do!
You can also add some texture by embossing on your digitals. I’ve used an embossing pen and clear embossing powder to create a tactile experience on the notcard below. The beetles backs now shine and are so fun to touch!
The main digital kit I used in this post is Shiver from my Etsy shop.
Thanks so much for joining me on this series! I’ve had such a good time experimenting with the different things you can do with digitals, and have even given myself some new ideas.
Get it in ebook form!
If you’d like to have this entire series in one place for you to use as a reference or refresher when you are feeling a little stuck, click here to download my free e-book with everything in it!
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