did you know you could SMOOCH a photo?

and no, i’m not talking about kissing a pic of your boyfriend or hubbie! LOL! i’m talking about embellishing a photo using Clearsnap’s SMOOCH!

desperation IS the mother of all invention!  i was trying “desperately” to get a photo that i WANTED to use to coordinate with the Smooch colors i NEEDED to use – but one of the colors in the photo was definitely “off”. so i wondered if i could “tint” the uncoordinating portion of the photo with the Smooch so that i WOULD match. well, the experiment was a failure as it was TOO obvious that i had doctored the photo, but it did lead to a discovery – i COULD use Smooch on photos. and it seemed to work well and dry on both glossy and matte.

so, here is a project that i came up with for the blog that shows you how to do it:

SUPPLIES:

Clearsnap: SMOOCH: Pool, Grape Soda and Green Apple Top Boss: Embossing Powder: black, Vivid Ink: Black and ColorBox Pigment Ink: Lime

Hero Arts: ClearDesign: Long Borders

Darice: Tub -o-Buttons

Other: Hobby Lobby: Chalkboard, Signo: Uniball Gel Pen: White and Lil Davis: Chip Art letters

Tools: Heat Gun

DIRECTIONS:

1) ink circle border stamp with black ink and stamp along right side of photo. add black embossing powder and heat set {see hints}.

2) fill in circles using Smooch inks {see hints}.

3) apply a strip of double sided tape to your work surface {a surface that won’t be hurt by ink or heat!}, and adhere buttons to it to hold them in place.

4) “paint” buttons with Smooch and heat set {see hints}.

5) ink edges of chalkboard using lime ink.

6) tear along bottom of photo and adhere to right side of chalkboard.

7) write “handsome” using white gel pen at upper left of chalkboard.

8) add chipboard “boy” letters underneath.

9) adhere buttons around frame.

HINTS:

1) it’s better to dab the ink on rather than to brush it on when working on non-porous surfaces. you’ll get a thicker coat with a bit of texture – which i like. if you want a smoother look, you can brush it on, but it will take a few coats.

2) i tried the Smooch on both glossy and matte photos, it dried on both in about 30 minutes WITHOUT heat setting. you can heat set if you want to speed up the process or if you applied it really thick. when you are setting it, you can see the ink go from a shiny wet look to a more dull, matte look. i recommend just letting the Smooch dry on it’s own when you are working on photos, but if you DO want to heat set it, try only partially heat setting, then letting it finish drying on it’s own.

2) when you apply Smooch to non-porous surfaces, you will usually need to heat set them in order to get the ink to dry. i tried it on buttons, metal and plastic, and the Smooch dried on all of them WHEN i heat set them. it also didn’t flake off when i scratched at it. notice i didn’t say i tried to SCRAPE it off! but it should be okay for light handling.

3) when heat setting photos or anything that might MELT, it is important that you don’t get the heat gun too close to the object and that you don’t get it too hot. keep the heat gun about 8″ away and keep it moving. heat for 15 -20 seconds, then remove the gun for a few seconds, then heat again. i was a little careless when heating and you can see some bubble pops in the ink, i think it looks kinda cool – just adds to the texture thing – but if you want to avoid those, don’t let the ink get too hot either!

Special thanks to CLEARSNAP, HERO ARTS and DARICE!

if you need a gift for grandparents day, or a back to school teach gift, this might work for you!