Create Dimension with Pop Dots
by Susan Larson
Pages looking a little flat?
Pop dots are a quick and easy way to add dimension to your layouts. The 3-D look and shadowing they create make for a more dramatic presentation of stickers, die-cuts and other page elements.
Pop dots come in two basic formats: glue and foam.Double-sided foam comes in many formats from 81/2 x 11 sheets where you can cut the size you need to a rolls of foam strips to pre-cut foam dots and squares in many sizes.
Uses for foam dots:
Actually, any element you want to highlight or give a little dimension can be adhered to your page with a pop dot. Titles, photos, journaling block, accent piece and die-cuts are all good candidates for "popping!"
One of my favorite items to pop is stickers. How many of you have a drawer full of stickers and yet when it comes to putting one on your page, it just doesn¶t seem to look right. Stickers often become "lost" on a page, and no matter how cute or elegant the sticker, it sometime seems a little to elementary to simply stick a sticker on a page. Pop dots offer a good solution. Either mat a sticker or series of stickers on card stock or de-sticky the sticker with powder. Now the sticker is ready to be pop-dotted to your page. Instant dimensional sticker!
Another use for pop dots, or especially the mounting foam that comes on a sheet or roll, is to make a pocket. I find this especially useful for making souvenir or memorabilia pockets on travel pages. Even a good-size pamphlet or a stack of extra photos fit nicely into a pocket that is mounted with foam. Simply cut a piece of cardstock to the size of pocket you'd like to add to your page and adhere the foam to both sides and bottom of the pocket. Remove the backing from the foam and place the pocket onto your page. Viola — a sturdy holder.
I especially like to mount photos to my pages with foam squares and then slip a journaling card or tag under the photo. Simply attach a pull string of fiber or Twistel through an eyelet on the tag and you¶ll have pull-out journaling space.
Pop dots also are a good alternative to keep photos off questionable elements on your page. If you're unsure of the safety of an embellishment or page background, keep your photo off the material by placing it on a pop dot. These 3-D adhesives also keep their shape well even in the fullest of albums.
Pop dots are a simple way to put special elements on your page right in your face. The possibilities are endless.