Using Copper

Hi everyone! 

Today I'm sharing a technique that I've used on a couple of projects (though I can't show pictures of the projects just yet ;) ). 

I have some pieces of copper here that have been "printed" on and thought, "how can I incorporate these on a layout?". I've put together some photo collages to show you a super easy way of making them layout-ready.

1 & 2: So, you can see in pic 1 above, what the copper sheet looked like originally, and in pic 2 you can see that it is kind of raised in places, almost like it's embossed. 

3: I made my 'sandwich' to run it through my Big Shot to flatten it out.

4:Through we go! You'll see I've used a piece of cardboard in my 'sandwich' (which I think they call a shiv - when you use something extra in the 'sandwich'). This just makes the whole thing a bit thicker as it's going through and gives a little more padding to squash down when you're using thin materials.

1: You can see the copper is now completely flat.

2: I cut off the amount I needed, and...

3: ...placed it in a die to cut out some butterfly shapes.

4:Through it goes again, this time without the extra padding. 

1: So, the cuts and embossed patterns can now be seen in the copper. I used scissors to cut a split near the outline of a butterfly, and was then able to pull the shape carefully out. 

2: Here are the butterflies once they've been cut out. Very effective.

3: Next, I used the off-cut from the original piece I flattened, put it in an embossing folder, and ran it through the Big Shot.

4: The copper is now embossed!

Voilà! All done, and ready to use on my next project! 

I hope this has inspired you to try something a little different with things you might have lying around the house. 

Thanks for looking :) 

Catie xx