Enamelling Letters - How I Did It

Hello Everyone,


I recently mentioned in a WOYWW post (Week 478) that I'd been shown a way to give old letters a new look ... you know the ones, bought on a whim but never been used! I should say that although it's new to me, I'm sure many of you have seen it/done it before. This is what the letters looked like after the makeover.

For the record, just in case, like me, you haven't tried it before, here's how it's done.

First, I chose a set of flocked letters that I didn't love - American Crafts Thickers Emerald - how inappropriate is that name! Look at them - they don't stick to the backing sheet anymore, in fact I don't think they ever did, and, in truth, there's never been any call for that colour in any of the scrapbook layouts I've made.

I picked out the letters for the title I wanted then did a colour tester on a letter 'z' - there's not much call for 'z's making them pretty disposable.

Next I coloured the letters using two Promarkers in the colours I wanted, Cardinal Red and Cobalt Blue.

This proved to be more tricky than I thought because of the flocking - I pressed too hard with the pen to begin with - something to bear in mind next time I do this.

The letters were left to dry before I covered them with embossing fluid using an American Crafts brush tip pen. These pens come in a pack of three, all with different tips - the others are broad tip and medium tip but I found the brush tip the best for this job.

The final stage is to cover them with clear embossing powder - I used Stamps Away powder but any clear EP will do - and use a heat tool to melt the powder. This is the really fiddly stage - I found I needed a pair of tweezers to stop the letters scooting all over the place.

Also, it took several reapplications of both the embossing fluid and the powder before I got the high gloss finish I was looking for but the end result is well worth the effort. One thing to note is that the affect of embossing was to deepen and enrich the two shades chosen as can be seen in this photo. This turned out to be a happy accident!

Here's the page with the finished title and as can be seen the colours are perfect.The photo was taken at the Artist Textiles Exhibition - Picasso to Warhol at New Lanark in April this year.

I was delighted with the result - I love the glossy finish - and changing the colour extended the use of letters I might have eventually consigned to the bin.

Take care and have a great day tomorrow.