Embossalicious Christmas

We're celebrating Christmas in July at the Crafter's Companion Blog this week … and I've got a sneak peak of the new holiday embossing folders that will be available soon.  They are 6" folders (which still fit through your Cuttlebug), so they cover the entire card front.

I love embossing, and I've learned a few tricks that I thought I would share.  First, Core'dinations cardstock is so fun to use … the colored core makes embossing magical.  This is Key Lime from the Chocolate Box Collection that has been embossed with the new O' Christmas Tree folder & sanded.

One embossing trick I always use is baby wipes … I use them to clean-up the embossing dust.  You don't want it to be too wet (so that it dampens your cardstock), so I usually set one out before I begin, so it dries a bit.  Here's a shot after removing most of the dust … you can see the dirty wipe … and how the green pops much more when the dust is gone.

Another trick of mine is I always work on an 11 x 17 piece of scrap paper.  I was able to purchase a couple of damaged reams of paper from my local paper company … and after they get dusty and dirty, they can just be disposed (or flipped over) and then replaced with a clean sheet of paper (you can see some stray test stamping & paper scraps at the top).

Once the dust is gone, it's easier to see what areas need more sanding … another trick is using a foam sanding block that I get at the hardware store.  It gives me good solid contact with the paper over a wide area.  I also keep a few cheap foam sanding nail files in my crating tool box to finish any detailed areas.

Afte rI was satisfied with my sanding, I took the paper outside (because of fumes and potential stray glitter) and gave it a good spray with Iridescent Spray & Sparkle, a satin varnish with ultra fine glitter.  Love how the spray brightened up the green on my embossed surface and gave it fabulous sparkle.  It comes in multiple colors … can't wait to try some of the others.

Here's a view of the finished card design … I flipped over the Cordinations paper for a perfectly coordinated frame and decorated my tree with light green pearls.

Love how this card looks so complicated … but was really very easy & quick to put together.

I'm also joining the Merry Monday July Challenge of Anything Goes.