DIY Coloured Brads

Have you heard of the new Candy Dot System? This is the replacement for the colour collection brads that retired with the last catalogue.  It's a much more versatile system and the best part is it is cheaper! But I'm not here to tell you about how wonderful the Candy Dots are (maybe another blog post?).  I want to show you a different, fun way to make your own coloured brads.

You need a couple of things to make these.  Firstly you'll need the Candy Dot Bases (#132293) which are only $4.95.  Next you need some re-inkers, in whichever colour you have.  If you don't have any, luckily enough they are $4.95 each too! And lastly, a bottle of trusty Crystal Effects (#101055)!

Ok, now to make these coloured brads.  Pick out a couple of brad bases.  You will need them to stand upright while you work with them and to dry, so I like to use a little moulding clay - but you could use blu-tack too.  The beauty of using the moulding clay, it is dries and you can hold onto them and re-use them every time you want to make these!

Next you will need to squeeze out a dollop of Crystal Effects onto some waxy paper.  On top of the CE, add a drop of re-inker.  

HINT: If you want the end result colour to be softer/lighter, don't add your ink directly onto the CE, drop it out onto another surface and transfer over a small amount of ink using a paintbrush.  

Mix the ink into the CE and you are ready to go.  Using a paintbrush, load up the tip with the tinted CE and dab it into the centre of the brad base.  Keep dabbing it onto the brad until there is an ice little dome of CE.  

As always, CE takes about 12 hours to dry, so carefully move the brads to a safe place to dry.  

If that isn't pretty enough for you, there is one last thing you can add... glitter!!  Once you have your coloured CE in the brad setting, just carefully sprinkle a little bit of Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (#102023) on top.

How sweet does it look?  

Oh boy, I'm loving Crystal Effects!!