Bah! Humbug! Challenge #9

Embossing: a technique to make a design stand out from the surface

I'm very excited to be making my Challenge cards this week as a member of the Design Team (thank you, Ann and Max). I tried to think of something a bit different without being too way out and hope that, if necessary, you will find my work gives you ideas for your own cards.

Having been a stamper for about 20 years my first thought when I read 'Embossing' involved powders and a heat gun! I made two complimentary panels using a very old, traditional wood mounted stamp by PSX, and a fairly new, clear unmounted one by Dimension Fourth, each stamped with Versamark and embossed with silver EP. They were too big for my original card idea so I made a Z fold card which embraces both and an insert, yet still fits into a standard C6 envelope. The sentiment is by Funstamps and was stamped in Brilliance ink; snowflake border punch by Fiskars.

Next is a 'crossover technique' card (aka, what do you mean by embossing?); the ornament is another PSX stamp embossed with Red Razzle Dazzle EP, cut out and mounted on a panel made with a Cuttlebug embossing folder from the 'Holiday' set.

Third card design goes way, way back. I once bought some ready made blanks printed with a grid of different size boxes into which you could stamp various images: very useful for incorporating those little stamps which often seem too small to have any use. I used to copy the idea and painstakingly draw out my own grids with ruler, pen and a few curses, but now the job is made so much easier with a score board! It's best to choose the images and plan your grid to fit them on paper first. Oh, and I had to cheat: thin embossed lines do not show up when scanned, so for illustration purposes only I went over them with ruler and pencil!

The red and gold card looks impressive (I hope) but was the quickest of the four to make, using a Dreamweaver stencil and gold embossing paste. It really couldn't be easier: tape stencil over card, apply paste, remove stencil and leave card to dry! For the background I used self adhesive red velvet paper on top of thin card, and stuck the finished panel to an A6 card - I did try layering it onto a 7" x 5" but decided the simple approach was the best. If you would like to try this technique I can recommend a DVD by Carol Cockbain of The Craft Barn, or watch a demonstration by (another) Carol from The Craft Station if you catch her at a show (please note, I have no affiliation with either shop).

Now, what am I going to do for next week's Challenge???