Christmas in September Tutorial

I've been inspired by all the holiday cards that the PTI Design Team have been showcasing on their blogs to prepare for the new Holiday stamps release on the 15th. And I don't even send Christmas cards! I do send out New Years cards though, after the hustle and bustle of the holidays has slowed a bit and people are less frenzied (meaning ME!).

Anyway, I thought I'd share a tutorial with you today. I don't know what it's called, but it sure looks pretty! You need an open image stamp, white EP, versamark or other pigment ink, heavy white vellum (I used 40 lb.), an XL ball stylus, and some bee's wax.

1. Stamp your image with versamark or white pigment ink on the heavy vellum, sprinkle with white EP and heat set.

2. Turn the vellum over and place it on a soft mat (I use a pergamano mat made for this purpose, but a mouse pad would work also).

3. Be sure to use an extra-large stylus, and occasionally rub it in some bee's wax, NOT parafin. This helps the stylus to glide smoothly over the vellum without tearing it.

4. Start rubbing the BACK of your image while it's on the mat, in small circular motions. Continue until the entire area you want raised and white, is covered. Press gently at first, until you can feel the correct pressure you need without tearing the vellum.

5. I usually stamp and dry emboss at least three of the same image because I like to layer them for dimention, but this particular image doesn't lend itself to layering IMHO. You can also see where I decided to try rubbing the entire image, not just parts of the petal.(I didn't like it as well)

6. Now turn the vellum back over to the front and carefully trim out the images, staying close to the embossed edge.

7. Here are my three images dry embossed and cut out, on my Pergamano mat. I'm so inspired by this photo that I base my card on it! *smile*

Using a Smokey Shadow card base, I score-pal'ed several embossed lines on the CS, and added a simple black satin ribbon through the middle. Next I added three rhinestones to the center of each flower and a pop dot on the back to adhere them to my card. I heat embossed a sentiment from the Holiday Wishes stamp set in black EP and called it done!

Wouldn't this technique be perfect with an open pointsettia stamp? You could layer several of them on top of each other for dimentional effect and it would be so pretty!

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you enjoyed my tutorial!