A friend from work brought me some gifts today. Snail bait. That’s right, snail bait. She thought of me (ha ha, I know where you’re going with that one…) and got an idea for scrapbook or card embellishments. The larger roll to the left that you see here is the snail bait; a very thin copper with adhesive backing that is easily manipulated and cut, plus with the adhesive makes wonderful stickers. The other roll is 1/2″ wide and, if I can remember correctly, is an edger for art work, that she got at an art supply store. The smaller roll would be really nice for a border on a card or layout, and I’ll show you what she suggested to me to do with the other.
I gathered together a few paper punches, and the 4×6″ piece of cardstock she gave me. To see how the copper embellishment would look, I got out a tag and stamp with ink to make a decorative tag. I was told to put the copper on the cardstock to punch, but I discovered that it wasn’t really needed. I simply cut a small piece of copper, inserted it into the punch, and out came a nicely shaped piece of copper, ready to stick onto something. You could also just pull out a long piece without cutting it before for an easier time punching.
Cutting a piece of copper with your scissors nicely will also give you another embellishment as well. Once I punched the pieces (very easy to do), I stamped my tag, then chose a shape of copper, removed the adhesive (also very easy to do), and stuck it onto the tag. Now, sticking it to something can be tricky; it is metal, and it wants to wrinkle and stick to itself, so be careful. I gently smoothed out the wrinkles and bubbles with my fingernail, without any problem. A brayer would also work.
And here you are, a pretty little copper touch on an otherwise ordinary tag. I personally think the copper is a nice and unique touch; I see silver or gold accents on paper crafts, but I don’t often see copper, which I do like. If you like it as well, look for rolls of snail bait next time you need to visit your local Lowe’s, Home Depot, OSH, etc. I’m going to go look for it this weekend; I’m not certain how much it costs, but my coworker told me that it’s inexpensive (less than $5 a roll). I also like the fact that it’s homemade; I’m all for that. I not only enjoy making things by hand, but I like the fact that I can custom make whatever shape I want to compliment whatever project I am working on, and running out doesn’t have to mean fighting traffic and spending money to replenish. For more information, please feel free to contact me. I will be making cards this weekend, and I’ll be sure to use some copper; I’ll add more photos of finished cards when I do. Until then, happy crafting!
