We're celebrating Christmas in July at the Crafter's Companion Blog this week ... and I've got a sneak peak of the new holiday embossing folders that will be available soon. They are 6" folders (which still fit through your Cuttlebug), so they cover the entire card front.
I love embossing, and I've learned a few tricks that I thought I would share. First, Core'dinations cardstock is so fun to use ... the colored core makes embossing magical. This is Key Lime from the Chocolate Box Collection that has been embossed with the new O' Christmas Tree folder & sanded.
One embossing trick I always use is baby wipes ... I use them to clean-up the embossing dust. You don't want it to be too wet (so that it dampens your cardstock), so I usually set one out before I begin, so it dries a bit. Here's a shot after removing most of the dust ... you can see the dirty wipe ... and how the green pops much more when the dust is gone.
Another trick of mine is I always work on an 11 x 17 piece of scrap paper. I was able to purchase a couple of damaged reams of paper from my local paper company ... and after they get dusty and dirty, they can just be disposed (or flipped over) and then replaced with a clean sheet of paper (you can see some stray test stamping & paper scraps at the top).
Once the dust is gone, it's easier to see what areas need more sanding ... another trick is using a foam sanding block that I get at the hardware store. It gives me good solid contact with the paper over a wide area. I also keep a few cheap foam sanding nail files in my crating tool box to finish any detailed areas.
Afte rI was satisfied with my sanding, I took the paper outside (because of fumes and potential stray glitter) and gave it a good spray with Iridescent Spray & Sparkle, a satin varnish with ultra fine glitter. Love how the spray brightened up the green on my embossed surface and gave it fabulous sparkle. It comes in multiple colors ... can't wait to try some of the others.
Here's a view of the finished card design ... I flipped over the Cordinations paper for a perfectly coordinated frame and decorated my tree with light green pearls.
Love how this card looks so complicated ... but was really very easy & quick to put together.
I'm also joining the Merry Monday July Challenge of Anything Goes.
*SERIOUSLY* enabling over here! holy wow, that's a GORGEOUS e/f and you've literally made it shine! love this one! ♥
Posted by: lauren | July 22, 2013 at 07:58 AM
WOW! Sparkle city! This is amazing, Stef. Love the browns and greens with the glitter and shine. So fun! And thanks so much for the tips...baby wipes?! Darn clever.
Posted by: Bev | July 22, 2013 at 09:29 AM
This is gorgeous! I always like to see ideas for using Core'dinations cardstock since I tend to forget I have it!
;-)
Posted by: Sara A | July 22, 2013 at 12:31 PM
Wow, Stef!! Gorgeous! Is this my Christmas card? ;)
Posted by: Marie Bingaman | July 22, 2013 at 03:14 PM
Steff... thanks for the fabulous tips. LOVE this card... the glitter spray turns it to something magical... gorgeous!
Posted by: LindaB | July 22, 2013 at 05:49 PM
This is a stunner, Stef! Thank you for sharing all your tricks and thanks for joining in the Merry Monday challenge this week!!
Posted by: Darnell J Knauss | July 23, 2013 at 09:42 PM
I saw your lovely Christmas card on Always playing with paper Merry Monday - you might also like to enter this into my CHNC challenge extra for July - I'd love to see it there too. x
Posted by: Hazel | July 25, 2013 at 02:36 PM
WOW! This is so pretty, Stephanie! Thanks for sharing the baby wipe tip! And thanks for sharing this beautiful card with us at Merry Monday!
Posted by: Bonnie | July 27, 2013 at 07:22 PM