Enameling Tutorial

Hi there
As promised; here is the tutorial for the coloured enameled look I used on my book cover panels on the previous post HERE. There's quite a lot of steps but I hope you give it a go yourselves as the effect is so much better in real life!

 I'll begin with a materials list, most products are Ranger, with the exception of the Treasure Gold.

Tag ( or whatever substrate you want to use but for this tutorial I'm using a tag)
Embossing Folder
Distress Paint -  I used Salty Ocean, Vintage Photo, Barn Door and Mustard Seed
Perfect Medium
Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel - Clear
Black Acrylic paint.

 Start off by embossing the tag with an embossing folder.

Cover the whole tag with Distress Paint. Brighter shades work best for this if you want the colour to shine through. Though experimenting with different tones and colours gives you a different effect.

 Once the tag has been painted it is important to dry it properly.

 For the next step you want to add some metallic shine to areas of the tag, so take some Treasure Gold on a brush and begin to lightly add it to the tag using a selection of colours. You can add some solid areas but keep some of the colour showing though.  (If you wanted to you could skip the paint and cover the whole tag with Treasure Gold which gives a great effect too.)

 Treasure Gold is solvent based so dries quickly. You can buff it up to a shine too before the next stage.

 For the next stage, cover the whole tag with Perfect Medium and

 cover with  clear UTEE

 Once you've covered it you want to tap a fair bit of it off leaving plenty covered but also some gaps. Heat it up with the heat gun to melt.

 Once it's cool it's time for the scary bit.

 Cover the hole tag with black acrylic paint getting into all the cracks and then rub it off before it's dry. You can add a spritz of water to make it easier. The paint comes off the UTEE easily but covers the non enameled  areas

 As a final touch use a finger to add further metallic highlights to the piece and you're done.

The finished effect is simply amazing. All the layers work together to create amazing depth and richness. Do give it a go, you know you want to!