Hi Friends!
Today I have another card to share. This time I am using one of my favourite products and techniques…
Inspiration
I took my inspiration from an Altenew class called Impressive Heat Embossing, which is one of their Level 2 classes and it’s all about, you guessed it, heat embossing! Oh how I love heat embossing, let me count the ways! Each lesson in the class features a different technique and I was inspired by the idea of ombre heat embossing. I have done this many times and it’s one of my favourite techniques. I still remember the first time I did any heat embossing, and the thrill of watching the powder melt and turn into something else. I still love watching it I get that same excitement every time I watch it transform.
It’s my friend’s birthday today so I decided to make her a birthday card to go with her gift, and to use the ombre heat embossing technique, or at least, use multiple embossing powders and see what happened.
Overview of my card process
I’m using Altenew Bold Alpha dies to spell out the HAPPY BIRTHDAY letters, and I stuck them down on some double-sided tape to hold them in place and make it easier to get the heat embossing done. I also dusted the whole thing using a big makeup brush and some cornflour, which acts as an anti-static tool.
I partially inked up the strips of letters starting at the top and working my way down, adding powder, dusting off, and repeating the process until the letters were all covered in embossing powder. I used a copper, a good and a turquoise that looks a lot like patina colour and I liked that combination together. Once the letters were all covered and any gaps filled in with powder, I used my heat gun to melt the powder all at once.
And here it is after it has all been melted and cooled down. You might have wondered why I had the letters lined up together on three separate pieces of tape. Well it was so that the ombre effect would line up correctly when I positioned my words on my card. I am also thinking about using this background – don’t even get me started on how many different backgrounds I went through before finally settling on this one! This is one from last year using Distress Oxides I think, which also has a kind of ombre look to it too!
Here’s a close up of some of the heat embossed letters on the word DAY. I also added some gold splatters to this background as I felt it needed something else and then adhered the whole thing to a Dandelion yellow card base.
I used a T-ruler to line up my words on the background so that the stripes of the ombre embossing also lined up.
At this point the card was basically done and here’s a photo of all that lovely heat embossing shining in the sunlight, but I just felt it was a little plain, bearing in mind that it was intended for a specific person.
So I decided to zhuzh up a little bit to better suit my friend. In my stash I had these already die cut and coloured flowers and bees left over from a recent project, so I played around with the placement of them on the card until I had something that I liked – and more importantly, that she would like! So now, this card is done!
Thoughts
I do LOVE heat embossing and all of the techniques you can use with it. I’m really happy with the way the card turned out in the end and I’m sure my friend will be too. I’ll be giving it to her as soon as I finish up here.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this card and that you find inspiration from it.
Challenges
PROJECT RECIPE:
Altenew – Bold Alpha dies,
watercolour paper
Gina K cardstock – dandelion yellow
Wow embossing powers (crusty copper, weathered gold, sea of tranquility)
Versamark embossing ink
Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
Finnabair Gold paint
From stash: previously stamped, die cut and coloured flowers and bees, background
FYI Here’s a list of all my Class posts for Level 2:
.Beyond Basic Backgrounds
.In the Mood for Color
.With A Twist
.Creative Watercolor Media
.Polychromatic
.Beautiful Details
.Color Your Day
.Impressive Heat Embossing You are here
.Magical Marker Techniques
.Masking Unleashed
Fantabulous!! LOVE that layered embossing look on the alphas. Too good!
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