Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Letterpress cards from embossing folders

 The art of Letterpress has been around for ages , but it has really caught on in the paper craft world in the last year or so. I've seen products from several companies for quite some time but Stampin' Up! only just launched their own with the release of the 2010 Holiday Mini . I really like them , but it got me thinking, couldn't I use my embossing folders to achieve the same effect? The folders have two sides , one raised side and the other inverted. The inverted side is usually the front of the folder, so if it has lettering like many of the Cuttlebug folders, then you can't use them as letterpress plates. But for most of my folders ( I have so many!) I can use them!! Yay!!!
Here's a few cards,I will post more as I play around with this technique .

This is SU! Northern Flurries folder which I inked with Pacific Point craft ink . I noticed that the slightest pressure was needed when applying the ink, as it tended to smudge the folder. I just used a baby wipe to clean off the excess ink. You can't tell from the pic , but I sprayed Glimmer Mist on the white. I find that the Glimmer Mist will usually make my cardstock bend / curl up ( you can really see it in this pic) , so after it dries I usually put it under a heavy book to flatten out , which I didn't do for this card!!!

When using the embossing folders I had to play around with my Big Shot and the plates to get the right amount of pressure.  I just used two plates with the white spacer but the image didn't press into the paper , rather it stamped on it. I liked that too, so now my folders can be stamps,too!! I used two plates, the spacer ,a crease pad and a piece of folded cardstock to get just the right amount of pressure for the snowflake card.  This is a Tim Holtz embossing folder.

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