There are many styles, designs, and even colours for transparencies, available in scrapbook supply stores but you can also make your own transparency designs. I’ll show you how to emboss them, print text and add colours on it, make rub-ons of it and add mixed media to create a colorful layer for your project like I did to add snow and ice effects to this Basic Grey (Oh boy) background and photo.

First we do the embossing part. It’s an easy way to add texture to the transparency in the same way you do with paper. You can use any kind of embossing machine and folder. I used my Zip E’mate and the Cuttlebug snowflake folder. Take care which side (smooth or rough) you want to be embossed. After embossing you can sand the transparency like I did to get a more snowy effect or you can add acrylic paint to give it more expression and colour.

You can also print on your own transparencies. Print journaling, images or create your own designs like brushes in Photoshop.
There are some important things to know before you try this!
Make sure you have the right kind of transparency for the printer you are using. If you’re using an inkjet printer, be sure you have transparencies made for an inkjet and set your printer to “transparency quality”.
If there is a “rough” side to the transparency that is the side that you want to print on because it will adhere better. You can print backwards (mirror image) on the rough side. This way, you can have the smooth side up and provide additional protection for the ink on the transparency.

So I created a part of my title in Wordart and a journaling list in Word. Printed this mirror image on the rough side of my inkjet transparency.

Let it dry for a couple of minutes and then I added some orange paint to the part of my text (also the rough side). You can easily color your images, letters, frames, etc. by using paint or ink.

In stead of printing you can also stamp on the transparencies to create your own frame and images. I prefer Stazon stamping ink which you can use on either side of the transparency.

This way you can stamp a bird stamp on the smooth side and the bird a little further on the rough side so that they are looking to each other!

I stamped the snowflake on the smooth side and gave it a black accent with a permanent marker on the rough side.

To adhere transparency parts on your project you can glue them best with transparent glue like paper glaze or you staple or sew them. After putting my American crafts title on the transparency I glued the back of the letters.

Always wanted to create you own rub-ons? When you have a inkjet printer and follow these steps you will be surpised by the versatile possibilities of transparencies.

* The most important thing for creating rub-ons is that your print is now on the SMOOTH side. So insert the transparency into your inkjet printer with that smooth side down.

* Print your creation by format your printer settings on “plain paper”, “best quality” and “mirror image”. The image needs to be reversed especially when you are printing text like I did with my big rub-on word ‘Sölden’.

* Let the print dry for 5 minutes and please take care not to smear it when you take it out of the printer…

* Then place the smooth side down on your project and rub it with a popsicle stick on your project.

* Remove the transparency and let the rubbed-on ink dry for another 5 minutes before touching.

* Clean you transparency with a damp paper towel and you can re-use your sheet over and over again!

! Drying times may very by printer type.

Heat embossing is also possible on transparency.

You can sprinkle embossing powder on printed text or images while the ink is still wet (rough side). Or use embossing powder on your versamarked stamped images (smooth side). When heat embossing on a transparency take care to move your heat tool in vertical motion (slowly up and down movement) above the embossing powder to avoid melting the sheet.

And last but not least alcohol inks!

When you’re an owner of alcohol ink and use them (believe me that’s not a self-evident combination ;)), you know to use it on smooth surfaces. So let’s try!

I planned to make a circle in which I would combine ’denim’, ’stonewashed’ and the ‘mixatives silver’. By adding the alcohol blending solution and moving the sheet a little sidewards and up and down, the products will mix and the silver mixatives will show some lines. To make sure my mix will end up in a circle I first created a round border with cheap photo glue that you can easily pull of when finished. Finally I cut this part of my sheet  round and I must say that I like his type of frosty globe with the ‘hole in the ice’

I stapled two Hambly transparant parts + a stamped snowflake + the alcohol ink circle stamped + the heat embossed snowflakes to add a frosty depth on my layout.

Finished the layout with a layer of snow (Aleene’s) on my title and a extra stamp on the photo.

I hope these techniques will encourage you to make your own transparency creations and I look forward to see your projects in the gallery. Please let me know if you had any questions about these techniques.

Wishing you a nice day,

monique