Saturday, May 30, 2009

DSP Beaded Pens

The bonus project for my stamp camp on Friday is to make a beaded pen. I decided to use some scraps of DSP for this project - Bella Rose and Raspberry Tart - and a Pentel R.S.V.P. pen. Here's how I made them:

1. Cut DSP scrap to 3 1/4 by 1 1/4 inches.
2. Run DSP strip through a Xyron (I used my Create-A-Sticker, model 150 with a permanent cartridge installed, which my dear stamping friend and coworker, Darla, gave me a couple of years ago).
3. Leaving the pen lid on, attach the DSP strip sticker to the pen barrel (start by aligning the short edge of the DSP with the edge of the pen lid). Press down hard to make sure the paper adheres well to the pen barrel.
4. Cut a piece of Terrifically Tacky Tape (from the 6" x 8" sheet variety of TTT) to 3 1/4 by 1 5/16 inches (you could also use Stampin' Up! Sticky Pages for this).
5. Peel away one side of the TTT sheet and place it over the DSP on the pen barrel. I used the leftover backing paper from the Xyron to help stick the TTT sheet well to the DSP.
EDITED TO ADD: I had a few of my earlier pens have the DSP/beading come loose because the TTT or Sticky Pages sheet didn't overlap enough. To solve that for the ones I'd already prepped for a stamp camp, I had everyone take a piece of 1/4 inch wide SU! Sticky Strip and have it overlap the place where the TTT edges met. Then I finished the pen as written below. Pens done this way haven't had that separation problem.
6. Using a heat tool, heat up the TTT adhesive on the pen. This will make the adhesive even more sticky.
7. Roll the heated pen in clear microbeads. I used a small SU! stamp case lid to hold the microbeads as I crushed the beads into the adhesive by rolling over the beads.
8. Lightly rub away any extra beads from your pen, and you are finished!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

3 comments:

Risa said...

Wow...your decorated pens are beautiful! I'm surfing the net looking for a terrific teachers gift and I think I've found it! Thanks for sharing your tutorial as well:)
Risa:

Anonymous said...

Theses are wonderful. Where do you get the microbeads?

Unknown said...

These were made with the microbeads that Stampin' Up! sells. I've also made them with microbeads that I purchased at our local Michaels craft store. - Cheryl