Craft-a-Board Blog Candy

Well, after some serious brainstorming, Craft-a-Board is the name we have selected for our new product. Why Craft-a-Board? It all comes back to what it is that we use it for - crafting Ü There are so many different ways to alter the surface of this material and "craft" with this board. Today I hope to share some of those with you. These are all VERY basic techniques and I know that you will each come up with your own ways of using Craft-a-Board - I am so excited to see how you use this product.

First, you can cut it - you can even use many of the Spellbinders detailed dies with this product. To test it thoroughly I used some of my extremely high detail dies in addition to the Nestabilties. Below are some of the results I would like to share with you.

I wanted to share this picture with you being I am going to state that not all highly detailed dies will work 100% effectively with this product. But as you will see in the following pictures I did end up with a beautiful end result using this die. Sometimes you just need to send it through more than once. After running it through my Wizard with the tan embossing mat you can see that I did get the beautiful cut and embossed detail you see below.

As you can see in this view the detail is outstanding after being passed through the Wizard

Secondly, you can emboss Craft-a-Board and achieve beautiful results. This is an up close view of the fronts of these pieces along with the die. The arrow is to point out the areas that I didn't realize I needed to remove the little bits from my first project - therefore it did not cut all the way through when I sent it through with my second test. Be certain to clean all little pieces of paper out of your detailed dies before using them to cut through the Craft-a-Board.

This next series of pictures is to share what the product looks like when you cut only and then the change that is added with embossing.

This is the new Nested Bird (to be released in September - sorry I just couldn't help myself - I love this little tweetie) shown after the Craft-a-Board was run through the Wizard using the cutting sandwich. There is some detail showing along the embossed edge on the front side right from the start.

This shows the back view. If you are looking to have a surface that is completely smooth then this product is not going to achieve those results. The back view is pretty smooth, but I can see just a hint of the impression from the embossing edge.

Once you send the product back through the Wizard with the tan embossing mats you will see a beautifully defined edge. Very crisp and clean.

As you can see I have been playing with a whole myriad of products to see what will work and what won't. I am thrilled to tell you that at this point I am absolutely tickled and thrilled with the results and the opportunity to bring out all sorts of supplies that I have had hidden in my drawers for some time now.

As you can see the color of this material is not quite white. I have taken these photos on a white sheet of paper so that you can see for yourself the difference in the color. The material itself is fairly even in color, but being it is a recycled product there is some variation in the color on the surface of the material. I am not too concerned about this being I will be doing all sorts of things to the Craft-a-Board to alter it and give it a finished look, but I wanted you to know that there may be some variation in the color.

I was absolutely thrilled with the results when I used both my Copic markers and airbrush system. I began by stamping this Lockhart image using my Memento Tuxedo Black. I waited for a few minutes for the ink to set and then picked up my Copic markers. Being that the surface of this material is somewhat porous I determined not to color the image by soaking it with ink, but rather to use a light hand in applying my color. I did add several layers of color to see how well it would hold up to additional ink. I am extremely pleased with the result - I did not have a lot of feathering occur outside my lines. Remember I did use a light hand in applying the color though. I topped it off with some Spica glitter and then airbrushed it. This was a quick, simple project to complete - now all I need to do is complete an actual project with it Ü

Thisleaf was just begging to be embossed with the "old-fashioned" embossing powder. OK, old-fashioned may not be the right choice of words, but it is a technique that I haven't used much lately. My tarnished gold embossing powder was calling my name though and so I applied some Versamark Ink and then applied the embossing powder, heat set it and voila - this leaf just pops!!! I can see an amazing piece of artwork collaged using this piece.

 

My curiosity was completely satisfied when I applied Memento ink directly to the surface of this little bird. When the ink dried it left an almost suede-like look as it's final result. I love how easy it was to put the ink pad directly to this material and give it a solid color!

Memento ink was also applied in the same manner to these two flowers. The larger flower I wanted to see how well it would pierce, the smaller flower I inked up one of my new ScrapBlocks using my Ranger Snow Cap pigment pad and applied the ink. I am absolutely tickled with the results of these different applications. I can totally see turning this little flower die into an adorable album with little pictures in the center of each flower - perhaps those pictures will be a series of baby pictures, or my daughters can each put together a little mini-album using their friends pictures. So many projects - so little time!!!

There are so many more things to test yet... acrylic paints, crackle paints, chalks, Prismacolor color pencils, Glossy Accents, ... Please - I need more time in my day! As I am able to achieve these tests I will most definitely share them with you.

Does the Craft-a-Board work with the Nestabilities dies in the Cuttlebug, Big Shot, Big Kick, etc.?

Unfortunately the jury is still out on the Cuttlebug - LOL! As you can see my already splintered plate just couldn't hold up to the pressure and broke into lots of pretty little pieces. Yes, it did cut and emboss this highly detailed die, but not without the major league negative side effect of a broken plate. I should have known better and purchased a new plate before trying though and so I'm not certain at this point how well it will work. So as I said - the jury is still out!

The Big Shot faired well. The embossed detail is not quite as dramatic, but you can't really expect it to be being the Wizard exerts so much more pressure than the Big Shot does. I was happy with these results and there were no ill side effects on the Big Shot plates. So I do believe that those with either a Big Shot or Big Kick will be able to achieve similar results.

Does Craft-a-Board work with other company dies? I still need to test that as well. So here is your opportunity to pitch in and share your questions. What would you like me to test? What other information would you find helpful? 

Now is your chance to win some Craft-a-Board of your own along with your very own set of Ticket Stub dies! All you need to do to participate is leave a comment in this post sharing with me what you would like to learn about the Craft-a-Board - be certain to do it before midnight August 2nd, 2008 being that will be the cut-off point for the drawing.

Also be certain to visit Splitcoaststampers special Splitcoast Non-Raffle For Midwest Flood Relief and make your contribution towards such a worthy cause. We have been so blessed this year not to have been ravaged by nature and it is such an honor to have been asked to participate in this event. So if you are in a position to help out other families whose homes have been destroyed by contributing to the Red Cross please head over to SCS before August 8th and participate in this fun event that will help others.

Comments

[Allison]

I would love to see it used with bookbinding projects -- I hate cutting bookboard!

[Jeaux]

First time visitor- i will be back! I love how labeled and organized your craft room is! I found you through a search on nesties and the cuttlebug :)

[Angela K]

I would love to know if you can score it and use it for 3-d items! What an exiting new product!!

[Cheryl Bennett]

Is it a glossy, mat, or coated surface? Is there a certain type of ink it works best with, or a type to avoid? Cheryl

[LuAnn]

Ellen this is such great stuff. Thanks for sharing your findings with us. Can't wait to try some for myself.

[Debra Abel]

How much will this run and when/where can we purchase this "board"? Looks very cool, I suppose if I wanted it in a "white" I could paint with gesso.

[SmilynStef]

How does it work with chalk inks? Does it absorb the ink or does it stay more on the surface? Looks like lots of fun.

[Ruth Earle]

Hi Ellen, I was wondering if this is as heavy/thick as chipboard? It looks smoother, but I can't really tell what the weight is?

[Sara]

I would love to try this out in my cuttlebug. It does look really neat.

[Lisa B.]

Can't wait to start playing! How does it work with water coloring? Can a cricut cut it?

[Etha]

As I asked before, is this comparable to the grungeboard? is it flexible like that? If it is, how is it different from grungeboard? hehe

[Lori A.]

VERY cool! I'm not as knowledgeable about all the products out there so this type of thing is new to me.

[JoAnn Burnham]

This looks like a great product. Is it like chipboard or grungeboard? I would love to play with it. You did a great job in your tutorial and answered a lot of questions already. Thanks for sharing and a chance to win.

[Willow]

How totally cool!!! I can't wait to play with some!!!I also think y'all chose the perfect name for it..Craft-A-Board...kinda says it all! Thanks for the drawing...would love to win some CAB!!

[Carrie]

My first thought was this has to be like grungeboard. Can this be distressed and altered using alcohol inks? Looking forward to seeing more great ideas on how to use it

[Diana G]

I'm impressed with how well this material takes the embossing from the dies. I wonder how it would work with a very fluid ink like Dr. Ph Martins. Those irridescent colors are beautiful.

[Laurie Hunt]

This looks really interesting. I know the wizard has such great detail dies and if you can get the architectural detail on the die cut it would go along way to provide excellent embellishments for scrapbookers and card makers alike.

[Hope Conerly]

You are such an enabler! Just what I need - another new gadget, but looks like one of those things I just have to have!

[Suzy]

I would love to know if the edges can be distressed, and how it actually feels to the touch. Does it feel like chipboard or grungeboard?

[Debbie Porter]

Way cool! I can't wait to try it.

Debbie
[email protected]

[Joan]

It will be good to know if it works with the Cuttlebug and will it be a good product to make book covers from? Also am interested in how it handles acrylic paint.

This looks like another great product.

[Nikki]

Wow..what an awesome product! I can't wait to get my hands on it! Does CS adhere to it well? Thanks for the tips on using it! {SMILES}

[edie]

Will the bind it all punch through it easily?

[tionya]

very neat!!!
Does it work the the Circut too?

[Katherine]

Craft board looks good. Does it work with cuttlebug dies or Quickuts dies through the wizard?