Dry Embossing Technique

Here is a card I'm making for a swap. The only thing I did at the crop Saturday was make 3 of these cards. Very productive, huh? Hey remember, I also taught a totally goofed up class!



Have you ever done dry embossing? Some dry embossing uses a brass template. The straight lines on the pink cardstock at the bottom of this card is done using my trimmer, hey cool, something we already have! You could use the scoring blade with your trimmer but I always push too hard and tear my paper so I use the bone folder and just push my blade all the way to the top out of the way. Actually, sometimes I take the blade all the way off so if I get distracted I won't accidentally grab it and cut the paper instead of score it!

The picture looks amazingly normal even though I had to hold my camera upside down to take it with my left hand. Oh, the things we do for our blogs! I had to flip the picture when I edited it.


I am making 15 of these cards for a swap so I embossed some whole sheets of cardstock and cut it into 8 strips measuring 5 1/2 X 4 1/8. I attached a strip to the bottom of a white card front and inked it. Be sure the ridges are up when you adhere it. When you ink the embossed strips it looks like bead board, I really like it. I found it easier to ink the strips after I adhered them to the larger piece.


I think I showed in a previous post how to punch using a border punch. It is so easy when you can line it up and match the design with the printed design on the punch.









I also found it easier to ink the punched eyelet border piece after I had attached it to the inked patterned paper.















When you use a stamp set with a punch you just stamp the image and then insert it into the punch holding the punch upside down. Then you can see the image and line it up so you can punch it where you want it.

An easy way to get a knot on your card is to attach the ribbon around the back and take a small strip and just tie it around the attached ribbon. I used green on this card but I also used the black gingham on some of them which you can see in the picture at the top. I can't decide which color I like best, what do you think? I wonder how pink would look - overkill or perfect??? Maybe I'll do that tomorrow when I will hopefully have time to finish the swaps.

Gotta run! I hope you enjoy this card, even with the terrible photography! I'll have to retake several of the pictures tomorrow.

Embossed layout

I was going to do a step by step tutorial for the emerging color card that I posted yesterday. I know I have clear embossing powder somewhere but with the move it doesn't seem to have made it into my new stamping room, or maybe it's burried somewhere. . .

So, today I'll post another embossing project we did at a class a few months ago. The first step is to stamp the large flowers in versa mark and emboss with white embossing powder. Actually, since it is on white paper you could use clear embossing powder. After it was embossed I stamped the foliage across the layout and rubbed the ink off the embossed area with a paper towel. This stamp set is called Inspired By Nature and is still available but on the dormant list.

I lightly drew a pencil line where I was going to place the Tempting Turquoise strips of cardstock so I would know where to stop sponging. I used a stamping sponge to apply Appricot Appeal, Tempting Turquoise and Certainly Celery ink around the flower to help it stand out on the page.

I used the same 3 colors of ink to stamp the Seeing Spots stamp set on the other side of the pencil line. Who needs patterned paper???? This layout is totally cardstock, no patterned paper at all.

I stamped the title "My Favoites" with the Short Order alphabet set and clipped it on with the ever so cute Mini Library Clips. I had a list of possible favorites printed out on white cardstock that class members could choose to journal about after punching them out with the Word Window Punch. The list of favorites included: Food, Movie, Snack, Book, Game, Vacation, Music, Time of Day, Holiday, Color, Celebrity, and TV Show. Adhere them to cardstock mats that coordinate with the rest of the layout and journal about yourself. I even had a picture that was taken last March at the Relief Society birthday party that really matched the colors of the layout that I used. The buttercups (that's what most people in TN call daffodils) were in pint canning bottles and I made the little fringed drawstring purses to cover the jars.

Now I need to go order clear embossing powder.