Good morning and thanks for coming to see my new project for the Joggles DT.  It’s Teresa here today and this time I’ve been playing with the fun Joggles Precut Mat Board Artist Trading Blocks (or ATBs for short!) and have used them in two different ways to show their versatility.

Supplies List:

Joggles Precut Mat Board – Artist Trading Block [Assortment Pack]

Joggles Collage Sheets – Watercolor Beetles 1 [JG401176]

Joggles Collage Sheets – Deep In The Forest 2 [JG401175]

Viva Decor Inka Gold 62.5 Gram Jar – Green Yellow [906]

Joggles Cling Mounted Rubber Stamp – Background Noise – Dots [33631]

Versamark Watermark Clear Ink Pad

Ranger Heat It Craft Tool

Collall All Purpose Glue (or use Aleene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue)

Pinflair Glue Gel (or use SureBonder Dual Temperature Glue Gun [DT-270] and SureBonder All Purpose Glue Sticks [DT-8])

DecoArt Media Liquid Glass (or use Inkssentials Glossy Accents 2 fl. oz)

Other: patterned paper from my stash; paper trimmer; scissors; WOW Powders Gold Embossing Powder

Here is my process:

The ATBs come in two parts, each pre-scored to make assembly simple. Fold along the score lines and apply glue to the tabs, then stick the two pieces together to form the cube. (For the first part of my project, I used the four smaller sizes of ATB).

I wanted to keep my background black and white to show off the bright colours of the beetles from the Watercolor Beetles 1 Collage Sheet. I toyed with the idea of stencilling or painting the blocks but as I have a ridiculously large amount of patterned paper in my stash, I opted to use some of that!! I used a paper trimmer to cut my paper to size, making each piece a couple of millimetres (1/8 inch) smaller than the block face for a neat fit. Once I had covered all the faces of the blocks I used my fingers to apply Inka Gold Gilding Wax along all the edges. A little of this product goes a long way so I applied it sparingly, building up the colour if necessary. Allow to ‘dry’ for a few minutes then buff to a shine with a soft cloth or piece of kitchen roll/paper towel.

The next step in creating my background was to stamp and emboss the lovely Joggles Cling Mounted Rubber Stamp – Background Noise – Dots design all over each face. I used Versamark Ink (my favourite for embossing) and WOW Powders gold embossing powder.

I cut the beetles from the Watercolor Beetles Collage Sheet leaving a small white border around each one. This is mainly due to my inability to cut anything out really neatly and I didn’t want to accidentally cut any legs off!!! I love the quality of the paper used for these collage sheets. It’s a great weight and has a lovely satin sheen to it…..and I didn’t lose any legs at all!! I gave the beetles a bit of shape by manipulating with my fingers then applied DecoArt Media Liquid Glass to them to give them a shine and set aside to dry overnight.

I used Pinflair Glue Gel to attach my bright shiny beetles onto my blocks, and love the bright splashes of colour against the black and white papers.

The second part of my project shows how to use the blocks to create a little diorama. I used the largest size and removed one of the sides before assembling to create an open box.

I cut patterned paper to fit (as before), covering both the inside and outside this time. Once again I finished the edges with Inka Gold and buffed to a shine. I cut elements from the Joggles Deep In The Forest 2 Collage Sheet and layered them inside to create my diorama, adding a couple of beetles both inside and out to complete the scene.

And here is another look at the finished Artist Trading Blocks.

Thanks so much for dropping by. I hope you enjoyed my project and are inspired to create something using these versatile blocks and collage sheets. Please feel free to leave comments below. We love to hear your thoughts.