Good morning! Dry embossing adds a special touch to any scrapbook page, card, or paper craft project. It’s a subtle way to add texture and visual interest. And while plain dry embossing looks great, there are a couple of fun techniques I’d like to share with you that take your project to the next level. Check out this dry embossed Valentine’s Day card I made:
Supplies: cardstock (We R Memory Keepers), patterned paper (Echo Park Paper Co), cardstock stickers (Echo Park Paper Co), washi tape (We R Memory Keepers), color mist (Studio Calico), embossing folders and Cuttlebug machine (Provo Craft)
The newsprint patterned paper I wanted to emboss had a little too much pattern to allow the embossing pattern really show through, so I sprayed the paper with opaque white color mist before embossing to tone down the pattern while still allowing enough to show through to add some interest.
Once the color mist was completely dry, I added a few cardstock stickers along the right side of the paper. Then I placed my paper in the embossing folder, and created my “sandwich” placing the folder in between the plates.
Then I ran the “sandwich” through my Cuttlebug machine. I love that when you open the flaps to use the machine, it suctions to your work surface—so convenient and helpful!
The cardstock stickers now appear embedded in the embossed design, adding more texture and visual interest to the subtle embossed background.
Here is another example of embedding shapes into a dry embossed design using some of my favorite Anna Griffin products. For this card, I punched out some butterfly shapes from some patterned paper, adhered them to the background before placing it in the embossing folder, and then ran it through the machine.
Cool, huh? Next time you create a dry embossed project give these techniques a try. Happy creating!
~ Aly Dosdall
Great tutorial Aly|! Friends, be sure to visit Aly's blog for so many more wonderful projects here!
Aly, what a fantastic tutorial - love the embedded images! :)
Posted by: Becky Fleck | February 05, 2013 at 10:26 AM
LOVE, LOVE these cards!!!! Thank you for the tutorial. I will try this for sure especially using butterflies.
Posted by: Carmen Mobbs | February 05, 2013 at 10:41 AM
I LOVE this! Thanks for sharing
Posted by: Vicki Fra | February 05, 2013 at 10:50 AM
Great technique!
Posted by: Gisele | February 05, 2013 at 10:56 AM
Beautiful cards! Love your embossing, and the embedded stickers!
Posted by: Kathy P | February 05, 2013 at 10:58 AM
Gorgeous! I do love embossing folders! Now it looks like I need some opaque white mist.
Posted by: Marie | February 05, 2013 at 11:00 AM
Thank you Aly for sharing this technique with us. The cards are lovely, I especially like the symphathy one. You don't often see this kind of card, I think no one really likes making them. I am going to case this one as I absolutely love it. Thanks again for giving us ideas to get creative.
Posted by: Anita Holmes | February 05, 2013 at 11:08 AM
I love how you embossed the butterflies! Fantastic technique!
Posted by: NinaN | February 05, 2013 at 11:11 AM
That's awesome!!
Posted by: Tamika R | February 05, 2013 at 11:26 AM
Thanks for showing us this, what a great idea. I love how putting the embellishments on first (the heart stickers, and the butterflies) then running it through the cricket makes it "part of the design" as opposed to it being on top of the design.
Can't wait to use it!
Posted by: sharon h | February 05, 2013 at 11:38 AM
Fabulous idea and gorgeous cards!
Posted by: Juliana | February 05, 2013 at 11:45 AM
I LOVE the cool effects : great technique !!! thanks
Posted by: helen | February 05, 2013 at 12:36 PM
Gonna run my CB till I can't stand it. I LOVE embedding into the card ! Such fun awaits.
Posted by: Elizabeth P | February 05, 2013 at 01:38 PM
Beautiful cards. Thanks for sharing this neat technique.
Posted by: Claudia | February 05, 2013 at 01:43 PM
Thanks for sharing, I'll have to try this. It looks beautiful!
Posted by: Pamela Romero | February 05, 2013 at 02:05 PM
i had never thought of embossing the stickers on my paper first. it really adds dimension. great idea!
Posted by: sally | February 05, 2013 at 02:28 PM
Great technique! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Tami H. Spencer | February 05, 2013 at 02:30 PM
I forget to emboss... Silly but true. I really like the heart folder! Thanks for the reminder of how great embossing looks.
Posted by: emmaeh | February 05, 2013 at 02:47 PM
How very cool! Great effects!!
Posted by: Faith | February 05, 2013 at 03:03 PM
I am going to give this a try! Thanks for sharing with us.
Posted by: barbara macaskill | February 05, 2013 at 03:07 PM
Never thought of adding images before embossing. Thanks for the tip.
Posted by: Deepa Lakshman | February 05, 2013 at 03:19 PM
This is an awesome tip....thank you so much! I need to make some sympathy cards too, so I will use your technique. Thanks for sharing your talent with us!
Posted by: Julie H | February 05, 2013 at 03:39 PM
Thanks for the inspiration!
Posted by: Tona | February 05, 2013 at 05:12 PM
Wow! Thanks for sharing the technique! I can see using it :-) The sympathy card is a beauty. It's so hard to come up with nice sympathy card ideas, so I appreciate it when a designer shares that genre.
Posted by: Barb in AK | February 05, 2013 at 05:44 PM
Oh I love this technique... however I don't have that machine-it's on my wish list. My memory isn't the best lately, I hope I can remember your instructions for when I do get a Cuttlebug?!?!? wink wink
Posted by: Jude | February 05, 2013 at 06:41 PM