Faux Brad Instructions

I've had several people ask me about how I made the faux brads for the card in my last post, so I figured I better get busy and share the instructions.  It's very easy. For those of you who missed my last post, I make the faux brads, because they don't add extra weight or thickness to an envelope when mailing.  Thank you Lydia for "posing" so I could take photos for this little demo. :)

Materials Needed:

Card Stock
Small Round Punch
Crystal Lacquer, Aleene's Paper Glaze, or like product
Non-Stick Craft Sheet or Wax Paper

Instructions:
1. Punch circles from card stock with a round punch.  I use either 3/16" or 1/4" size punches, depending on what I'm doing.

2. Place circles on a non-stick surface.  Coat circles with Crystal Lacquer. Make sure you get it all the way to the edges.

3. Let dry.  It's humid here and usually takes overnight.
4. Using paper adhesive, adhere the flat side of the faux brad to your craft project where you would normally use a brad.

***Helpful Hints:

• Metallic or textured card stocks make very pretty faux brads.
• Thin sheets of craft metal can be punched & made into faux brads.
• I make up extra faux brads each time I make them, so that I have them ready to use when I need them.
• To make glittery brads use Stickles or adhesive and glitter, rather than Crystal Lacquer.
• Use shaped punches to make shaped faux brads such as hearts, stars, etc.

Edited to add: Several people have asked me what I'll do with all of my brads and other embellishments now that I'm trying to make flatter cards.  They will still be put to good use.  I'll use them on cards occasionally, but mostly I'll use them in my scrapbooks and on gifts and other dimensional projects.  I can't give up embellishments. :)

Here's the card I made with the faux brads shown being made in the above photos.  Wouldn't you know that these faux brads didn't turn out as nice as usual! But I used them anyhow seeing I wanted to get this on my blog for those who are interested.  So please don't let these faux brads make you decide you don't want to try this. Look at some of the ones I've used on past projects and you can see that they do look better. (In fact there are faux brads on the card in my previous post.) You can learn from my mistake today's post.  I put the Crystal Lacquer on way too thick and it dried with a dimple in the center of each faux brad.  :(

I wasn't sure if I liked the red brads on this card, so I just laid them on the card for my first photo.  Here's the card without the brads.  Which one do you like best?

Blessings

• Mark found a winter coat for me today at the thrift store.  I'm all set for cold weather & it's still in the high 80's each day. 
• Happy Mail :)

Have a terrific day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly