EMBOSSED STENCILING

I'm not sure what made me think of this particular idea. Hmmm. But, it turned out to be a good one.

Being a collector of stencils to use with my Gelli Plate, I do have a lot of stencils, some of them more expensive than I'd like. When I discovered the Stampin' Up! Basic Patterns Decorative Masks, found on page 146 of the Annual Catalog, I was excited. Why? Because you get FOUR 6x6 stencils for SIX DOLLARS! 

By looking at today's card, can you tell where I used one of the stencils? And how I used it? 

I'm sure you realize that the beautiful gold pattern in the background of this card 

is where the stencil came in.

I laid the stencil onto Mossy Meadow cardstock, taping it in place. I then sponged through the stencil with VersaMark ink.

Once I was fairly certain that I had it evenly sponged, I went to the Heat Station and poured gold embossing powder on top of the stenciling. After tapping the excess embossing powder back into its container, I used the heat tool to do the embossing. 

When embossing a full piece like this, it can be tricky. One, so you don't burn yourself, two, so you don't get your fingers into unheated embossing powder, thus ruining it.

I guess if I did this again -- and I'm certain I will! -- I will make a piece larger than I need, trimming it to my desired size once the embossing is done. That way, it wouldn't be the end of the world if I (or you!) brushed off some of the powder by mistake. 

I thought the gorgeous sunflower from the Celebrate Sunflower set (page 13, Annual Catalog) would work well with this background,

After stamping the flower in black, I used Stampin' Blends to color it. The Blends I used were: Light and Dark Soft Suede, Light Pumpkin Pie, Dark So Saffron, Dark Mango Melody and Dark Daffodil Delight.

Once the coloring was finished, I fussy cut the flower, cutting right up to the stamped line. 

I tried several ways of presenting the sunflower, but none of  them really appealed. 

Finally, I adhered a piece of gold cardstock to the back of the flower, then fussy cut that, leaving just a smidgen of gold sticking beyond the black stamped lines. I loved the way that looked, but when I held it against the embossed background, it seemed to get lost somehow.

To remedy that situation, I mounted it to a diecut black circle. This turned out to still not be the answer.

The answer came by me crisscrossing some thin black ribbon (from a Paper Pumpkin kit) along with some gold cord (from another Paper Pumpkin kit) and attaching the ends on the back of the embossed piece.

Then, when I added the sunflower with Stampin' Dimensionals, everything was happy. Including me.

In trying to preserve as much of the embossed background as possible, 

I decided to forego any sort of a sentiment. 

To finish the card, I added a thin border of black cardstock to the embossed piece, then to a card base of Mossy Meadow.

What do you think of this technique? Are you tempted to give it a try? 

Embossed

Smiles.