Glossy Chipboard Tutorial for The Robin's Nest

Hello everyone!  I am doing a tutorial on taking your naked chipboard and making it super glossy.  I admit that chipboard has not always been a friend to me and that some times it fought back, but no more!  I have learned a way that I can make plain chipboard beautiful!

Items Used

Gesso, both black and white

Plain Chipboard

Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE)

Embossing Ink

Distress Ink

Pearl Ex Powder

Blending Tool

Paint Brush

Heat Tool

                        

The first step is to paint the chipboard with the gesso.  I used the white gesso on the sign and the black gesso on the wrought iron sign holder.  Let those dry before proceeding.

PART ONE

Take the sign and apply distress ink with the blending tool.  I used weathered wood and bundled sage.

Then I stamped an image onto the sign with black soot.  I actually stamped the image twice, overlapping a bit.  Precision is not mandatory with the stamped image.

After stamping, apply your embossing ink to the chipboard.

    

      Cover the chipboard with UTEE.  Heat the UTEE to melt, then let cool.      

                                                                                                       

  Add more Distress Ink to the sign.  The ink will bead up, but this is not a problem!  Here's the MAGIC!  The properties of the Distress Ink and the UTEE are what make this technique fun.  Re-ink your chipboard with embossing ink and apply more UTEE.  When you use the heat gun, watch the Distress Ink.  You can see it moving as the UTEE melts.  Repeat with more Distress Ink and UTEE layers until you achieve your desired result.

PART TWO

Take the black gesso covered sign holder and apply embossing ink.  While the embossing ink is tacky, brush Pearl Ex powder to highlight areas of the sign holder.

Cover the sign holder with UTEE and heat.  You do not need to repeat steps with the sign holder.  If you are happy with the result you have gotten, you're ready to start putting your sign together.

I used paper letters that I cut with my Cricut, using the old standby, the Plantain font.  I mixed upper and lower case letters, both plain and italic for extra interest.  One last layer of UTEE covers the letters.

Here's a close up.

Thanks for looking!