10 Things You Can Do With...Vellum

It goes without saying that looks can be deceiving, which holds true for our 10 things topic of the day--vellum. Vellum is delicate and dainty to the eyes, but in application it is durable, smooth and sturdy. While vellum is a great way to add interest to your project, it can be a bit tricky to to use due to it's nature.
 Here are some fun tips when working with vellum:

* Regular paper crafting adhesive has a way of showing through on vellum. Use adhesive (vellum tape runner or glue dot) when attaching it to your projects. If you happen to get a glue spot you can always consider covering it up with some other embellishment (flower, brad, journal box) to hide it. 

* Consider attaching vellum to your project by using brads, staples, eyelets, machine stitching.

* When cutting vellum by hand (with craft knife) first attach it to a craft mat with temporary adhesive and use short strokes when cutting. It will slide because of it's smooth texture.

* If cutting with a die-cutting machine, use a slower speed and a lighter pressure setting to avoid tearing (this is a trail and error process).

* Vellum is not absorbent like other papers so when printing on inkjet printers make sure your have your printer set on transparency setting (if no setting for vellum) because it uses less ink or use a heat gun to follow up printing to speed up the drying process to avoid smearing.

Let's take a look at what our designers came up with...

 

1.) Give it an ol' 1, 2, 3, ...punch!

 

Practical Scrapper Charity used border punches to turn strips of vellum into a sunburst. Sketch by Kerys Sharrock.

2.) It all starts with the base.

 

Practical Scrapper Charity used vellum as a card base for an elegant wedding card.

3.) Add layers to add interest.

 

Practical Scrapper Charissa used printed vellum to add layers of interest to her banner and just like a piece of patterned paper in her square embellishment cluster.

4.) Journal on it.

 

Practical Scrapper Linda used printed vellum as part of the background of the layout. She stamped on it using Stazon and wrote the journaling using a ball point pen.

5.) Create a water color effect.

Practical Scrapper Sarah colored a large background stamp with various colors of Copic markers and then stamped onto vellum to create a soft watercolor effect for the background on this card.  

6.) Create a frosted glass effect.

 

Practical Scrapper Kenya used vellum as frosted glass on the lantern. She also did some dry embossing on the lower portion and used vellum for the rolled flowers.

7.)When it's too loud, hit the mute.

 

Practical Scrapper Karen used vellum to cover a large section of brightly striped background paper to mute the colours for this cheerful Halloween layout.

8.) Tear it to create a  ruffle.

 

Practical Scrapper Kim added ruffle layers to this card with pieces of torn vellum.  Check out her blog for the details of how this card came together!

 

 

9.) Emboss it.

 

 Practical Scrapper Jenn C embossed vellum to add an extra layer to her card.  She stamped using Stazon Ink and then colored with markers on the vellum.

10.) Create a "pocket full of posies"...or confetti.

Practical Scrapper Malika Kelly use stitched vellum to her layout and added some confetti to create a pocket on her layout.