Just emboss!

The title sounds like an order, but I would never do such a thing. My very Britishness prevents it!

What I am trying to say is that embossing alone can carry a simple handmade card without any fancy die-cuts (although I slipped a couple of hearts into the second cards) The techniques I have used are so simple and achievable, even for a beginner. 

I know that many of you make batches of cards for charities or even to sell. When you are making batches of the same design, time is a very important factor and embossing is a great way to get where you want to go in a hurry!

There is a new range of Sizzix dies created by the very talented Stephanie Ackerman. They are ultra contemporary and will work equally well with textiles as they will with paper and card. This week however, I am focusing on the embossing folders in the collection which are quite possibly my favourites of the year so far, although Tim Holtz October collection is going to give them a run for their money.

I am using the Borders & Flowers Set for the following projects along with some Distress Inks and gilding wax.

You can use either stamps or die-cut letters for your card greetings, I however chose to print them directly onto the cards with my PC (Stereo and Candlescript for all you font fanatics!)

I cut a rectangle of white card and rounded off the corners before die-cutting 5 hexagons from the same card using my ever presents Hexagon Framelits die set. Next, I embossed everything using the flowers folder.

I wanted to add a splash of colour using some distress inks, namely: Mustard Seed, Ripe Persimmon and Broken china. I chose them for their ability to blend and create secondary colours as you can see below. I always start with the lightest colour and remember, less is more!

Here are the two cards, I hope you agree that they don't need anything else?

Next up, the borders folder. I created another couple of card blanks and cut two rectangles of black card before embossing in my Big Shot. I used some Treasure Pewter gilding wax to enhance the detail and create a metallic effect.

For the second card, I embossed a rectangle of dark brown card and used gold gilding wax before cutting it into random strips, this gives an almost tribal pattern look to proceedings. 

As I mentioned before, I added a couple of die-cut hearts, also from The Stephanie Ackerman collection. On the 'DAD' card I decorated the perimeter of the heart with 2mm adhesive pearls before applying the pewter wax and I decorated the brown heart with a length of twine tied into a bow.

 I love their simplicity. I hope that you do too?