Embossing 4 Ways

As much as I love summer, I always welcome fall with the cooler temps and gorgeous colors! The Altenew Mini Delight for September is so cute. Look at that little squirrel!! He's adorable and comes together easily with layering stamps. The leaves and acorns are part of the die set that accompanies this "Garden Friend" set. 

For this card, I focused on some embossing techniques I learned in the Altenew Academy class, "Impressive Heat Embossing". Here's the steps to making this colorful and shiny card.  

Resist Effect 

    

Heat emboss the main sentiment "fall" with clear embossing powder on white cardstock. Then ink blend right over the embossed sentiment. The image appears clearly as it resists the ink applied to the cardstock. 

Embossing with Stencils

To add more of a fall feel,  add some clear embossing over the ink blending. I used the Sweater Knits stencils just in two corners. Embossing in clear powder adds the pattern with a shine that won't overpower the main focus. 

Embossing Diecuts

Add a little shine to some diecuts with embossing. I embossed the tops of the acorns. This was a little tricky because they are so small. I tacked them down lightly on paper with a tape runner dots and applied the embossing powder. Then removed them with tweezers and placed them on a spot on my paper that was not covered with sticky embossing ink before applying the clear powder. 

For the leaves, I used a light green and light brown cardstock so I could achieve the effect of leaves turning colors. The base color made the ink blending quicker. After ink blending the leaves, I added some gold embossing on the edges. I left the powder a little "messy" for a more natural look. 

Layered Embossing

The little squirrel comes with 4 layers to stamp. I used the exact shades of brown suggested on the packaging. I wanted the darker stripes on the little guy to stand out, so after I stamped the image in Mocha ink, I then stamped in embossing ink and applied clear powder. I did the same with the last layer in Espresso ink. 

Assembling the card, I decided to pop up the "hello" and the little squirrel. I wanted him tucked behind a leaf but still really visible. I also curled up the leaf tips for some added dimension. I can't wait to make more of this little guy. He just makes me smile!

Tips

☝Clear embossing powder is so versatile. You can use it on colored cardstock to make an image darker as well as more shiny. You can emboss inked images instead of investing in various colors of embossing powder. 

☝ Tape down those dies or embrace mistakes! I only had very little of the green and brown paper. I took a shortcut and didn't tape my leaf die down. The result was a leaf with the sides cut off! Instead of throwing it away, I positioned it on an edge. 

☝To learn more about these and other embossing techniques, check out the class "Impressive Heat Embossing" at Altenew Academy. 

Supplies:

• Altnew Mega Brush Alphabet stamp set
• Altenew Mini Delight Garden Friend
• Altenew Sweater Knits stencil
• Altenew Little Starfish "hello"
• Altnew Crystal Clear embossing powder
• Altenew Fresh Dye Inks: Eucalyptus, Buttercream, Warm Sunshine, Amber Blaze, Terracotta, Ruby Red, Coffee Break ink set
• Brutus Monroe Gilded gold embossing powder

Color Inspiration!

       

Color Inspiration is Everywhere

Need some color combo inspiration? Look around and see what catches your eye. This book cover is striking with the dark greens and blues along with the pop of purple. This inspired me to create a few darker toned cards than I would usually lean towards. 

Card 1: Watercolor Jungle Leaves

To get started, I used the Jungle Leaves 3D embossing folder on watercolor paper. Then I used the 36 pan set of watercolors to paint the raised leaf images. Like the book cover, I combined mainly and Emerald green color along with some Desert Night blue and Lavender Fields (mixed with a little Comic Berry). This also roughly follows the rule of 70%, 20%, 10%. These colors also work together well because they are analogous or beside each other on the color wheel. 

For the black background, I used a black alcohol marker. It was easy to use the nib tip to trace the outline of the embossed leaf and color with the brush. 

For the sentiment, I started with "friend" cut from lavender cardstock. I simply brushed on shades of Starlight blue and ultraviolet ink, gradually fading to show the cardstock at the top. Mounting the sentiment on a black shadow piece, allows it to stand out more. I also popped it up using foam tape. 

To finish it off, I added a small "hello", die cut flowers in similar tones (from my stash of leftovers), and some iridescent sequins. 

Tips:

☝It helps to have swatches of your watercolors or print out the swatch chart from the Altnew website. This really came in handy and eliminated experimenting to find the right tone of green to start painting. 

☝Save all of your extra bits and pieces. I keep mine in a tray (scrapbook.com Stack n Sort trays) and they've come in handy so often. I found the perfect little flowers I had previously cut for a card project months ago.  The little "hello" sentiment was already stamped on white paper so I just inked it. This saved time in creating my card and saved paper! 

☝Don't shy away from color combos you wouldn't normally use. For me, the black background was a stretch, but I really like it!

☝Want to learn more about the 70/20/10 rule, the color wheel, or other ways to use color? Look for the class Color Your Day from Altenew Academy. 

Supplies:

💚Altenew Jungle Leaves 3D embossing folder

💜Altenew Timless Sentiments dies

💙 Altenew  Little Mushroom House stamp set "hello"

💚 Altenew Watercolor 36 pan set

💜Altenew Fresh Dye Inks: Emerald, Ultraviolet, Starlight

💙 Altenew Alcohol Marker black

💚Altenew Watercolor Paper Cold Pressed 140 lb. 

💜 Lawn  Fawn Stitched Teacup flowers dies

💙Gina K Disco Ball sequins

                                           Card 2: Black Out Jungle Leaves

 This card was also inspired by the book cover. I used the black out technique and it was so quick!

I started with the same jungle leaves embossing folder on white cardstock. This time, I flipped the paper over and inked the side where the leaves are indented or debossed using Emerald, Starlight & Tide Blue ink colors. You don't have to be very careful around the edges because the black ink will cover it. 

Next, I swiped on the black ink with a black dye ink pad. I used dye ink so it would dry quicker. Look how the leaves and veins pop! 

As with the first card, I cut the sentiment out of lavender cardstock and ombre shaded it with Starlight and Ultraviolet inks. Iridescent sequins finished it off. I plan to mail this card, so I kept the sentiment flat. 

It's all in the Details

Adding details with a mixture of media

You don't have to color in your image with just one medium. This Waterlily Dahlia comes alive with details using a mixture of alcohol markers and colored pencils. Here's how to achieve this look.

No Line Coloring Effect

Stamp your image with a very light color that will blend in as you color. I used Altenew Permanent Mist Gray. *Don't remove that stamp! Keep your stamp in your Stamp Wheel or Misti for restamping with embossing ink after coloring. Allow any permanent ink a few minutes to dry. 

Begin adding color with the lightest shade of alcohol marker you'd like to use. Here I used Frosty Pink from the Red Cosmos Set. Be sure to use very light handed strokes, flicking the brush tip of the marker from the bottom of the petal towards the center, then from the tip, downward.  You want fine lines, leaving white areas or gaps between strokes. Next, go in with a similar color colored pencil and add more strokes. These pencil lines don't fade as they dry so the details are more crisp. Continue going back in to add more strokes in the same colors, then use a shade darker (Coral Berry marker) for more shadows. Use this same technique on the leaves in shades of green. 

Embossing

Since you stamp is still in the Misti or Stamp Wheel, you can go right back in and stamp over the image with embossing ink and apply clear embossing powder. Heat it up and look at those lines shine! 

While you're at it, go ahead and stamp some partial images of the waterlily dahlia on the edges of the panel with embossing ink and heat with clear powder. These lines will show more when we ink the background. 

Ink and Reveal 

Using a light hand and a large ink blending brush, lightly ink the background starting at the edges of the panel, moving towards the center. I used Sea Breeze from the Deep Blue Seas set. The embossed lines will repel the ink as the cardstock absorbs the blue color. Your images will reveal themselves! 

Finish it up!

To add a little bit of a weathered look, I spritzed the paper with water, then blotted it after a few seconds. This removed some of the blue ink in an irregular pattern. To finish it off, I stamped the sentiment on vellum with black pigment ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. The vellum is attached with light drops of liquid adhensive behind the words and in teh corners. The enamel dots also help hold the vellum down. 

Tips

• It helps to have your inks, markers and colored pencils swatched. I used my swatches to decide which pink ink would match the pink in my colored pencils. 

• Trust the process. Just as the Altenew Academy "Beautiful Details" class instructor Marika Rahtu said, I doubted myself. I was very intimidated by the artistic look of adding these details. I thought my image looked terrible for a while! I kept at it, adding flicks of color, and it came together in the end. 
• Feel intimidated because this technique looks too artistic for you? The class "Beautiful Details" allows you to watch the instructor add the strokes of color and gives lots of helpful tips. Give it a try! 
  

Supplies: 

Altenew Waterlily Dahlia stamp set

Altenew Alcohol Markers- Cosmic Garden and Green Fields sets

Altenew Fresh Dye Ink: Sea Breeze

Altenew Permanent Gray Mist ink

Altenew Crystal Clear Embossing powder and clear embossing ink 

Altenew Colorful Wonder Enamel Dots

Prismacolor Premier 24 ct colored pencils

Lighten up with Pastel Colors

 

Working with lighter colors can be tricky, but the Altenew Academy class, Polychromatic, provides some good tips. Here's how this card came together:

1. Stamp the Paint a Flower Hydrangea flower image on white cardstock, but instead of stamping in black ink, use the color that coordinates to the each part of the flower. This means you won't ink up the entired stamp at one time. The Stamp Wheel or a Misti is vital here. I inked the leaves in Firefly green and stamped, then inked the petals in pale Frosty Pink and stamped. The Stamp Wheel allowed me to stamp again in the exact same position.  Dry well with a heat tool before coloring so the alcohol markers won't cause the stamped lines to bleed. 

                                           

2. Using Firefly and Frosty Pink alcohol markers, color in the image. Feather or flick the ink from the center outward towards, leaving the tips white. A second and third layer towards the center makes the color darker without using another shade.  The flower centers were colored in Citrus Burst yellow, which blended with the pink. 

 Creating the Background

3. On wet watercolor paper, use diluted inks to paint the background, matching the areas in the previously colored Hydrangea stamp. I used Firefly and Frosty Pink, but also applied some Peachy Glow as a transition color and Buttercream on the outer right edge.  This process is as easy as spritzing the paper, swiping ink on a palette, watering down the ink, and dabbing the ink on the wet paper with a wet brush. Use a lot of water for a light glow. Allow to dry. 

4.  Splatter with the same color inks used in each area.

5. To add a subtle pattern to the background, lightly ink up the leaves of the hydrangea stamp once more using the same green. Stamp the leaves in the green corner of the background.  Stamp petals on the top, right corner and down the right side using a very light application of Frosty Pink and Peachy Glow. This application will be more faint and less even than a regular crisp stamped image. This technique provides more of a subtle image since images farther away are more glowy in the sun. 

6. Die cut and adhere 3 nesting rectangle frames from white cardstock and adhere to the background. 

7. Cut the hydrangea image and adhere over the frames. 

8. Stamp the sentiment in a tone-on-tone effect using Frosty Pink ink on pink cardstock. Then stamp again using clear embossing ink and emboss with crystal clear embossing powder. Before adhering to the panel, cut a vellum mat for the sentiment to create a softer effect.  Adhere with foam tape to pop this layer up. 

9. Top the card off with some enamel dots to match the colors of the background. Add a little sparkle to the center of the flowers with a glitter brush pen. 

Tips: 

You don't need the exact same colors of embellishments or markers & inks to make your card look great. I used a shade of enamel dots from the Red Cosmos set and it looked great with the Frosty Pink Hydrangea Petals. The alcohol marker shade Frayed Leaf matched the Firefly stamped leaves well enough. 

Save your scraps! This set of 3 rectangle frames was leftover from another project. It worked well with the white tips of the hydrangea petals. 

Don't have the right color of embossing powder? You can make a colored embossed image with clear powder by stamping first in the colored ink, then clear embossing ink. 

Supplies from Altenew:

Paint a Flower Hydrangea Stamp and sentiment

Fresh Dye Inks: Firefly, Frosty Pink, Peachy Glow, Buttercream.

Alcohol Markers: Frayed Leaf, Frosty Pink, Citrus Burst

Enamel Dots: Green Fields, Pocket Full of Sunshine, Red Cosmos sets

Watercolor Paper 110 lb

Embossing ink

Crystal Clear Embossing powder

Other Supplies:

Nesting Rectangle Frames Die

Vellum paper

White cardstock

Glitter brush pen Scrapbook.com

Spray bottle