Embossed holiday cards tutorial

Hey, remember when I used to have a blog?

In the interest of proving that I have not fallen off the face of the Earth, let me tell you about the holiday  cards I made last year. I would tell you about the holiday cards I made this year, but they do not yet (and may not ever) exist.



Materials and tools

• Blank cards with coordinating envelopes (Mine were from Paper Source.)
• Ink pad with clear/watermark ink (I used this one from Paper Source.)
• Embossing powder (I used this white powder from Paper Source.)
• Heat source (They make special tools for this, but I just used our toaster. It worked and it didn't cost an extra 20-something bucks.)
• Rubber stamp (I carved my own.)
• Small, soft-bristled paintbrush
• Paint pen (I used a white Sharpie paint pen)

Making the cards

I am messy, so I started by covering the table with paper. I found that the most efficient method for me was to work on three or so cards in a batch, going through all the steps on those three and then starting over again on the next three.

Lay out your cards face-up. Press your stamp firmly onto the ink pad. Carefully but firmly press the inked stamp onto the front of each card.





Sprinkle the embossing powder generously over the stamped area, making sure to cover the entire design. Then pick up the card and let the excess powder fall onto a piece of paper (you can reuse this powder on the remaining cards! otherwise you will go through it like crazy!). Tap the card gently to shake off even more of the excess powder. You should be able to see your design now, coated with the embossing powder.





If there are stray spots of embossing powder on the card, take the paintbrush and very carefully brush the stray spots away. But remember that perfection is not the goal: I think a few stray flecks here and there add to the homemade charm.



Now for the fun part: adding the heat! I gently set one card at a time on my toaster, rotating it a bit to make sure all the embossing powder melted evenly. Be careful with the rotating, because the card is going to get a bit hot (because, you know, that is the point). Obviously, using one of the special heating tools is probably safer and easier, but a toaster works in a pinch. Just really keep an eye on things. It only takes a few seconds to melt the powder, and you don't want your cards to catch on fire or anything. You'll know when it's done because the powder will melt and look all awesome and shiny and embossed.



Carefully set the cards aside to cool.

When the cards are cool and the embossing is all set, use a paint pen to write your cheery holiday message on the back (or inside, if you do folding cards instead of flat cards).



Admire your delightful handiwork. Eventually, tear your self away from the self-congratulatory party you are throwing in your head and send the cards off to your friends and relatives.

Hooray!

Adelaide's first birthday is coming up in about a month, which, of course, means it's almost party time!

First up: invitations. I am very picky...well, sort of. I am picky in the way that means I couldn't find any invitations to buy that were just right. But apparently my level of pickiness allows me to make my own invitations using permanent markers. Because nothing says perfection like Sharpie scrawl.



These were inspired by this "sixlet skirt" post on Wee Wonderfuls. I went to the art supply store with the intention of buying blank cards and some colorful stamp pads for pencil-eraser polka dotted invitations. Well, I didn't see any good stamp pads, but I did see a huge display of colorful Sharpies. How hard could it be to just draw some dots?



Not very, it turns out.



So that's good.

Added bonus: I can make Sharpie-drawn invitations on my lunch break at work. Hooray! indeed.

Homemade gifts, part IV

For Adam, I tried to learn a new crafty skill.



He has liked these Chicago-centric quotes (by Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan) since he came across them and liked the idea of having them on the wall.



So I decided to try my hand at some calligraphy. I picked out two photos Adam had taken of the city (while on our boat tour) and some paper to match. Then I tried a million times to write the quotes out, thought I'd finally nailed it, then realized the 5" x7" photo spaces I was planning to stick the quotes in were actually only 4.5" x 6.5", so I had to do it all over again. And while this probably doesn't qualify as calligraphy proper, it is at least semi-fancy, semi-pretty writing.

Stationery set

My little (yes, I can still say that even though he's a towering giant now) brother is graduating from university this weekend. And then he is heading into the wilderness way out in the western states, where there will be no phones.

Therefore, I am expecting letters. Sure, he'll have email, but that just isn't as cool. I mean, no form of communication is as completely awesome as real mail, you know?

So I got it into my head to make him some personalized stationery. By carving a stamp. Which I have never even tried before. And I decided to start this project with only two fairly busy after-work evenings of time to work on it. Yeah, that seems pretty well thought out.



The carving went fairly smoothly, thank goodness. I didn't zing off any important chunks, I didn't injure myself, and I knocked it out on night number one. Sure, there are zero straight lines where there should properly have been many, but, hey, that's the beauty of a hand-carved stamp, right?



Amazingly enough, the printing went smoothly, too. Whew! Just roll out the ink, roll it onto the stamp, press the stamp to the paper, and carefully peel it off. Easy peasy.



And I'm pretty darn happy with the finished product, so yay! Unfortunately, I don't have a photo yet of the whole set (with semi-matching envelopes) all put together in its storage folder because the ink was still tacky at bedtime last night and there was no time for that before work this morning. But I'll snap a shot of the complete set before I give it away.

By the way, my reference guide for this project was Lena Corwin's Printing By Hand. Lovely and informative book out of which I hope to get more use soon.