I have a confession… I LOVE acrylic crafting products. From mini-books to clear tags and using large acrylic shapes, or die-cutting them myself, it’s all so versatile. So, when I received the Darcie Acrylic Charms and U-Cuts to review, I was absolutely thrilled! (Jenny reviewed Darcie’s Oversized Scrapbook paper here.) Acrylic itself has so many fun possibilities and now that it’s in adorable miniature frames and pendants, I knew I was going to have a ton of fun.
Let’s get started with the materials:
The acrylic charms themselves are fantastic! They are nice and thick, and I can’t imagine that anyone would easily be able to break or snap them. The one thing that I really appreciate about these shapes is that they have the protective film on BOTH sides of the acrylic piece. This comes in handy when you’re embellishing one side and don’t have to worry about goobering up the other side. Once both sides of the protective film are removed, these little babies are crystal clear! Just perfect!
The papers that coordinate to the shapes of the charms are also really fabulous. The cardstock is a nice, heavy-weight and non-textured, which is ideally what you would want for this specific application. The designs are cohesive, imaginative and fresh; I can really see them appealing to a broad audience. I know I had a hard time picking and choosing which ones I wanted to use. What I also appreciated was that there were multiple themes and holidays celebrated on each page supplied. You can really use each page with the charms for a multitude of occasions.
The instructions that come with the Darcie Charms are easy and simply to follow. All you need on your own crafty-accord is some glossy topcoat product, and a pair of scissors. My only tip would be to be a patient little grasshopper and wait until the adhesive is COMPLETELY DRY until you trim around the edges or use an emery board to smooth the sides. If you don’t wait until your piece if completely dry, you run the risk of snagging the inner design and messing up your whole project. (I *might* have been a little overzealous myself. Learn from my mistakes!)
Now to test these fun little bits out and see what they can do!
This fun card I used five charms to test out what the abilities are of the acrylic pieces themselves. The top-left frame-charm I used Aileene’s crystal clear tacky adhesive spray and some Art Institute glitter to decorate it. It turned out much better than I expected; nice and sparkly and well coated. I just added a little inked chipboard heart in the center to finish it off.
The top-right charm I backed with some of the Darcie U-Cuts paper and topped it with a rub-on. The rub-on had no problems going onto the acrylic charm; success! The bottom right charm was stained with alcohol inks and I embellished the center with some flowers. Again, absolutely lovely turn-out. The colors are bright, and since you have the protective film on both sides, you get a really clear image without worry of bleeding from one side to the other. The bottom left set is actually two charms: The bottom one is covered in Claudine Hellmuths sticky-back canvas and Glimmer Misted with black inked edges. The top charm is painted on the back side with acrylic paints and then stamped the top layer of the charm with black Archival Ink and then embossed with black embossing powder. I would suggest using your heat gun in intervals if you try this, otherwise you will melt too much of your acrylic piece. If it starts to warp and turn up at the edges, turn off your heat gun and wait about 2-3 seconds, then use the bottom of a glass drinking glass, or something similar, to flatten out the charm again. Repeat until your charm is embossed. It may take about 3-5 intervals, depending on the size and detail of the stamped image.
This is a basic example of the acrylic charm and provided Darcie U-Cuts paper; I simply followed the directions and created a card around the acrylic piece.  Easy-Peasy.
For this card, I again used one of the provided Darcie U-Cuts designs. Lovely.
How about a bookmark, now? On this piece, I trimmed out my design and used some ink around the edges. I then took some glitter glue and gently accented the design of the paper. Once completely dry, I attached the charm to the Darcie U-Cuts paper and attached it to a large paper clip with some wire and beads. Too fun! It turned out really well, even though I added the extra dimension of the glitter glue.
Another fun little project I made was a key-fob with some of the charms.  WooHoo!
One of the first things I wanted to make when I saw these acrylic pieces was a charm bracelet. Again, I simply followed the directions that were provided, and added them to a simple bracelet kit I bought from a local craft store then added in some beads in between the charms. Another easy and a simple homemade gift that could be given to any mom, sister, friend or even teacher,
I would definitely purchase Darcie Acrylic Charms and U-Cuts papers if given the opportunity. Everything is very versatile and easy to use. You can especially get creative with this product in conjunction with other crafty tools and products you have around already! It would be an easy go-to if you need a quick card, gift tag or small gift to make. The possibilities are endless as long as your imagination is!
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