E is for EMBELLISHMENTS #AtoZChallenge @AprilA2Z

Hi and welcome to back my A-Z Blog Challenge! My topic this year is Scrapbooking.

I did a lot of non-edible baking for this letter, and so I present to you a piping hot – E is for Embellishments!

Embellishments are any add-on element that give character to your scrapbook page. This can be clay, plastic, or miscellaneous trimmings.

The creation of embellishments are half the fun, as they tend to be "projects within a project."

Let me 'splain- Embellishments are great craft activities to do with family and children, as they can help you create the art that you later put in your scrapbook.

The first embellishment example I choose for this post is a real blast from the past for me - Shrinky Dinks.

Shrinky Dinks, for those who aren’t familiar, are plastic paper that you decorate (color, draw, stamp, cut out etc.), and bake. The heat makes the designs shrink down to 1/3^rd of their original size. You can then adhere the small plastic as accents to your scrapbook page.

For this post, I bought a pack of the Shrinky Dink paper, and asked my loved ones to help me decorate.

The waves on the right were made using half a sheet of the Shrinky Dink paper.

My sister and I had such nostalgia when I told her about this post. As children of the 80’s, we both remember when Shrinky Dinks first came out. The original Shrinky Dinks issued were like coloring pages with popular cartoon characters pre-printed on them.

They were a huge novelty, and the packs tended to sell out quickly. We begged our Mom to drive us to our local Toys R Us,and buy us the Cabbage Patch Kids themed set.

When my sister got home, she eagerly colored and baked her Shrinky Dink set, but she was crestfallen when her Cabbage Patch image emerged from the oven. The result was super tiny. It put the “dink” in “dinky” for sure, but watching it shrink through the oven door window was a cool experience.

And our present-day Shrinky Dink project was just as fun. The shapes really did shrink! The finished product appeared smaller than 1/3^rd to me, more like 1/5^th, but I’m not the best at measuring size.

These are the Shrinky Dink baking instructions I followed:

-         Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 2-3 minutes.

-         Remove from oven and let cool and flatten with a smooth surface.

-         Bake for another 30 seconds.

The other embellishment I wanted to list requires a trip through the oven as well - polymer clay. Polymer Clay can shaped into any pattern. You can form letters, objects, characters, or carve designs for textured effect.

This embellishment also brought back fond memories for me– years ago I'd hosted a Halloween party, and one of the craft stations I had set up for the kids was making “Wizard’s Money” using polymer clay.

I'd laid out a bunch of polymer colors as well as plastic tools to use to form the clay. I let the children go to town creating the shapes, and everyone had such a great time. I also created little, draw-string leather bags for them to take their fortune home.

I still have my doubloons from that day. It was so much fun.

Looking back at the coins, I can see how easily that translates to scrapbooking. The clay is versatile, where you can make any shape you want. The clay comes in a variety of shades from metallic, neon, to earth-toned, and is available at most craft stores.

You simply shape and bake, then add your embellishment to your scrapbook page. J

Well, that sums up my E for the day. I thank-you, thank-you for stopping by.

I’d love to hear your feedback and suggestions on scrapbooking or my daily letters – please leave a comment if you’re so inclined.

Or, if you’re ready for more exceptional and extraordinary E-posts please check out my fellow A-Z Bloggers. You can find them on social media by searching for #AtoZChallenge and @AprilA2Z.

The challenge continues right here tomorrow with F is FOIL.

See you then!

-         SNG J