Tips and Techniques Tuesday: Writing with Stickles

Welcome to Tips and Techniques Tuesday at All That Stickles. Cathy here with you today showing you how to add Stickles Sparkles to the words on your creations. I’m a visual gal so I’ve created several photo collages of my process for you.  I use LOTS of digital images and always fill a page when I’m going to print some off. For this project, I used word images from Kaboodle Bug Designs (one of the awesome sponsors at ATS). I used Copics for my coloring and noted which colors on the photos. Click on the photos to see

One of the main things to keep in mind when working with Stickles Glitter Glue on any project is that the color comes from the actual glitter suspended in the glue. Why does this matter? It means once the glue is dried, the color of your paper may show through in between the glitter bits.

Example 1: Like Stickles Colors over Like Ink Colors

I colored my words with Copics and then added on the Stickles. To ‘write’ with Stickles, just hold your bottle like a pen and squeeze. Try not to get too worried about staying in the lines 100% or you’ll drive yourself batty. Focus on any stray bits as one-of-a-kind FEATURES. I filled in the Orange Peel Stickles first and went right back with the Yellow Stickles. You can wait for the first to dry, but it’s not necessary since the glue tends to form its own barrier. The end “You Stole My Heart” is VERY glittery and would make a nice scrapbook page header.

Examples 2 & 3: Various Stickles Colors over a Solid Base

I colored my words with a solid marker base and wrote in with 2 different colored Stickles and 1 same colored Stickles. You can see when the glue is still wet; it looks like the words will be nice and solid. Look down to the ‘once dried’ photo and you can see that the base colors peek through in between the bits of glitter. This gives your project a different look than if the colors match.

 

Example 4: Colored Stickles over White Cardstock

In this sample I colored in the bubble part of the words and left the actual words untouched. Then I took my Turquoise Stickles and filled in the letters. The result is some letters that are somewhat solid, and some that have white showing through where the glue dried clear.

Example 5: Like Stickles Colors over Like Ink Colors + Freestyle

For this sample I mixed techniques. I free-handed the word ‘you’ in my frame and did the Like-Over-Like technique. I free-styled the arrows for extra emphasis on the word ‘you’.  You can see by writing the word before adding Glam Pink Stickles it looks almost bolded. That’s because there’s a solid layer of color beneath. The arrows are a bit airier since there are random spots without color behind the glitter lines. At the last minute I added some random swipes of Distressed Straw Stickles around the frame to give it a more aged, rough look of an actual Wanted Poster.

Example 6: Extreme Glittered Words + Images

This sample has words and images in the digi. Again I colored everything with Copics and used Like over Like for all but the outline. I didn’t wait for any of the colors to dry. I filled in the Xmas Red first, then the Gold, and then the Silver. I could have used Cotton Candy Stickles if I wanted to stay true to the Like over Like technique, but I went for the extreme sparkle of Stardust. Stardust Stickles is one of several ‘clear’ options in the Stickles line. The glitter used in Stardust is actually multi-colored with some pale pinks, yellows, greens and blues that will show. Layered over the pink base, I achieved an EXTREME sparkle outline.

Example 7: Clear Stickles over White Cardstock

I’m always on the lookout for a bargain that I can use for crafting outside the crafting aisles at the store. I picked up a box of 12 ready-made cards in the stationary aisle at Target. They came with matching envelopes and are a solid color with white words. For this example I used the hello card. All I did was add an image and accent with Stardust Stickles. I glitzed up the image ‘wrote’ over the Hello.

I hope you are inspired to get writing with your Stickles. If you try any of these techniques, please come back and link your project in the comment sections. I’d love to see how you mix and match colors.

~ Cathy DT