The Magic of Mica
From metal clips to game pieces and lush fibers, paper-crafters use quite
a variety of items to embellish their handcrafted cards, scrapbook pages
and tags. By far, one the most intriguing embellishments.
What is it? Mica is naturally formed by crystallized minerals into thin,
flexible easily separated layers. As the layers of a piece of mica are
pulled apart, it begins to lose its dense smoky color and becomes transparent
and iridescent.
Mica, a nonconductor is often used in the electrical industry, is also
used in making lampshades. This cool embellishment is naturally acid-free
and is lightweight—perfect for non-bulky layouts that won’t
harm your photos. Mica is typically sold in tiles of square or rectangular
shape.
Creating Layers of Mica
To get those neat, nearly translucent layers, simply insert your fingernail
or the tip of a cutting blade into the edge of the mica tile at one corner
and gently work it through until you have a separate piece. Don’t
worry if you end up with ragged edges as you peel—this gives a great
look when layered over a quote or photo. Breathing on it as you peel also
helps to loosen the layers, as the heat and moisture help the separation.
Tip: Layers of mica typically look best when there’s a touch of
natural color, so don’t make your layers too thin.
How Can You Use Mica in Your Paper-Crafting?
There are many, many ways to use mica in your paper-crafting projects.
Here are a few of our designers’ favorites:
- Add Over a Photo or Word
Our designers love mica for it’s translucent properties and are
often found adding a layer of mica over a photo or word on a page or
card. Using it over a photo or piece of artwork can give an aged, heritage
look to the image and adding it over a key word in a quote or journaling
is a great way to draw the eye to that word.
- Use In a Collage
Mica is also perfect for including in a collage, as it adds a unique
texture and surface to your project. Slip it behind some ephemera art
pieces and in with some word fragments or add it behind a letter in
an altered page title.
- Use as a Mat for Another Embellishment
Thicker layers of mica have a great deep color that goes perfectly with
pages focused on nature. Paris cut this rectangular mica tile into three
sections with a pair of scissors and added a mah-jong tile to the center
of each before evenly spacing them across the bottom of her layout—it’s
a perfect accent to this page about the Japanese Gardens. Tip: Since
mica is a mineral and fairly dense, for safety, it’s best to use
scissors for cutting it into smaller pieces. X-acto® knives may
slip against the mica.
- Cut into a Tag
Layers of mica make great material for making cool transparent tags
to add to projects. Use a template to trace, then use scissors to cut
the mica into a tag shape and decorate, or make a mini tag of mica and
use it as an accent to a larger tag as LeNae did here.
- Stamp on It
Stampers in particular love using mica in their projects since it’s
such a unique medium. Our designers love to stamp on mica using Staz
On ink, as Shauna did here. These stamped images look spectacular behind
a slide mount or on a tag.
Stampers in particular love using mica in their projects since it’s
such a unique medium. Our designers love to stamp on mica using Staz
On ink, as Shauna did here. These stamped images look spectacular behind
a slide mount or on a tag.
In addition to these spectacular ways to use this unique embellishment,
you can also heat emboss it or tear the edges for a special look. Try
adding a torn piece as a photo corner or page corner.
Since mica is see-through, the best way to attach it is to use Glue Dots™
or brads. You can hide the Glue Dots™ behind another embellishments
or use your X-acto® knife to make holes for inserting brads.
Ready to try your artistic approach to using mica? Check out the Far
East Treasures from Paper Wishes. |
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