UTEE (ULTRA thick embossing enamal CLEAR) Magnets

 Hi ya everyone!
  Today I'm going to share a tutorial with you today as it's my day for one at the Bug Bytes.  I love Pam and I want to thank her for letting me share with you today on her blog - please stop by and check out all the wonderful tutorials she has!
I have to be honest I will need to find a better method for creating these adorable magnets.  I used a tea cup lid that my hubby got me a long time ago as I didn't have any silicone cups or ice cube trays.  I didn't want to invest a ton of money because I didn't know if I would like making these.  It was fun - but it a bit more work without the trays for sure.
First, I found an adorable image from Tiddly Inks called Flowery Wishes.  I printed the images on my laser jet printer.

Next, I cut out each flower using micro-tipped scissors.  I didn't cut them perfectly out as I wanted all the words to remain intact.

 I used Tim Holtz inks to add color to my flowers - Brick Red, Peeled Paint, Walnut Stain and Scattered Straw.

 I used my Cuttlebug and a round spellbinder die cut to cut a circle out of cardboard such as a cereal box or a backing from a stack of paper (this gives the magnet some strength and thickness).  Layer the plates as shown.

Next, I cut a pretty matching paper in the same manner.  I then layered the cardboard and the pretty paper using an adhesive.  Finally, I added the inked flower to the center with adhesive.

As this was happening my melting pot was heating with UTEE.

 I also grabbed my embossing ink pad - clear.  I pressed the flowers into the embossing pad - covering the whole thing.

Next I added a bit of melted UTEE to my tea cup lid and then dropped the flower into the UTEE and covered the back.

 At this point I also added the magnet to the back.  The magnet will not permanently stick but I wanted the UTEE to form around the magnet in order to have a flat section for the magnet.  The UTEE looks sort of yucky in these pics but it dries with a bit of a yellowish tint but all that swirly appearance disappears.  Also any bubbles can be melted out using a heat gun.

I let this cool and had to pry it out with a knife.  This is the part that I had no fun with.  It took some patience and once I had it pulled out the back was sort of jagged.  I dropped it back into the lid and used my heat gun to smooth the edges.  This worked fairly well but then again I had to repry it out creating a few more edges.  At this point I dropped it into this old frying pan and reheated the edges smoothing them out. Once it was cool I added some craft glue and replaced the magnet into the dent.

Thanks for checking out my tutorial - I would suggest getting some silicone cupcake holders to make this process easier.  I like pouring the UTEE - on a side-note I tried dipping the flowers and it didn't work so well.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask away in the comments section!  Please be sure to stop by the Bug Bytes!