homemade thickers

I love the look of thickers, but the price of them usually keeps me from buying. When I upgraded from my Sizzix to my cricut, I kept the sizzix because it made great raw letters out of chipboard and grungeboard. With the addition of a xyron sticker maker to my stash I soon found I could make great imitation thickers!

To start, cut the letters you need from the sizzix or big shot from a thick medium (chipboard, cardboard, foam, etc.) I've never tried, but a deep-cut blade on the cricut may also work.



Cover the letters with the color you want them to be when finished. Ink and paint work well, I used cardstock.



To add loose, messy "garnish" to your letters, run the letters through the sticker maker UPSIDE DOWN. Make sure they are dry first if you used paint or ink!



Before peeling the letters from the sticker strip, rub well around the edges of the letters to keep them from having extra "goo" I used the old CM multi-purpose tool for this (aka sticker picker!). Add glitter, flocking, or microbeads to the top side of your letter.



See the difference between the finished "H" and the unfinished letters?



Here they are on a LO I did last night:



See how shiny they are!

Oh I love that Xyron trick for adding the micro beads... genius!! My Cricut will cut chipboard etc with the deep blade housing.. just fool around with speed and depth settings (I can't remember off hand)..My BigShot would as well... just for more options.

It was flocking that made me try the xyron... I could never get the glue that came with the velvety stuff to attach it without looking balled-up and messy. The xyron worked great!

Oh I love them! Great idea!

Awesome idea! We have a xyron at work, may have to break it out and give it a try! Thanks Jessica!

I will have to try this with the die cut machines I have....lots of flocking that I just "had to have" and haven't used...ever!

Awesome tutorial! Love it!

I've seen those microbeads at Michaels. Very nice!

Very cool idea!

Great tutorial, Jessica. Love that idea!!!

I love the xyron idea for adding the finishing touch.

Great tutorial and thank you, love the idea

You're very welcome, ladies!

1.Use any bare chipboard-letters or shapes.Paint it any color that goes with your LO.Let the paint dry well-otherwise it will peel or bubble when you use the UTEE and heat on it.
2. When it is well dried Versa Mark the shape or letter well.
3. Dip shape into UTEE( an ultra thick embossing powder,use an embossing tool to melt the powder.When done melting you will have a rough ness to it so repeat the process again with the versa mark and UTEE,heat and you will have a nice smooth ,shiny shape or letter.
I've used this method on many of my LOs especially when you want just the right color to that particular LO.

This is the 2nd step.

Step #3

I used this method on the swirly in this LO.It is done in white,adding some sparkle to it.
Sorry I had to go through the gallery to upload these steps.My DD who usually helps me with doing computer stuff is out of town tonight and tomorrow so I had to do this the long way!!

A beautiful LO, Pat and another super tutorial idea when you have the pefect Chipboard but not the right color.

So shiny!

Great job, Pat! I've used it before and made heated several layers of the UTEE, then set it in the fridge for a few minutes. Pull it out and "crack" it, then ink. Makes it look antique.