Sparkling Chipboard Sun Tutorial ~ ScrapThat! March Kit

I enjoy repurposing my supplies for unexpected uses. I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted my "Movin' On" page to look like. That vision included a sparkly sun. I was so blessed that our ScrapThat! March Kit included the Maya Road Chipboard frame pieces. My set included a flower frame. I kept the center circle in place and transformed it into my sun using the following steps. For the tutorial below, I used a flower chippie from my stash, so if your kit includes different shapes than mine, try checking your chippie stash to find something that will work. 

This is a technique that would work with a number of different products, so I have included some ideas that may work if you don't have the exact products I used. I am a firm believer in using what you have on hand when possible. 

Sparkling Chipboard Sun Tutorial

Supplies:

Supply List:

1. Flower or sun shaped chipboard piece.

2. Big Shot or other machine that will emboss. 

3. Darice Swirls embossing folder or any embossing folder with texture you like for your sun.

4. DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Paint or other yellow/gold colorant.

5. Ranger Crackle Accents or other clear crackle or non-crackle medium.

6. Mini Marbles or microbeads. While microbeads are smaller, they would still catch light for the sparking effect. 

Step 1. Run chipboard through a textured embossing folder. I used the Swirl folder by Darice. Any embossing folder with dots or swirled texture should work. The raised portion of the embossing is on the top of the "sun". 

Because the chipboard is thick, you may need to shim with cardstock in place of one of your normal embossing plates. I was OK with the plates for my Big Shot, but it was a tight fit.

Step 2. Paint with gold metallic paint. Because my chipboard is bare, it took two coats for good coverage. I used DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Splendid Gold. 

If you don’t have gold metallic paint, you could try, ink, mist, yellow paint or other colorant.

Step 3. Cover with a clear crackle medium dropping clear mini marbles or microbeads into the wet crackle. I used Ranger Crackle Accents and Beadies Mini Marbles. Allow to air dry.

Ranger Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint should work as well. If you don’t have either, you could also use Glossy Accents or other clear medium. Although a clear medium won't have the crackles, it will adhere the microbeads for the sparking effect. The result would look much like the first photo below.

Wet Crackle with Mini Marbles:

When Dry:

Step 4. To create the rays I penciled in lines of different lengths extending from the sun with a ruler. I used my Tim Holtz Design Ruler and piercing tool to create holes every 1/8 inch. I erased the lines, then hand stitched with yellow embroidery thread, randomly adding yellow seed beads as I stitched. Depending on the beads, you may need a beading needle. Fortunately mine had large enough holes that a "sharps" needle worked fine. 

If you don't have a ruler with piercing holes, you could simply pierce the holes down the lines, not worrying if the spacing is exactly even. 

"Movin' On"

ScrapThat! Main Kit

See how easy this charming sun is to create? I hope you have been inspired to give it a try. Please stop by and leave a link for your project if you do. I'd love to see your sunny project. 

Thanks for stopping by, I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~