Hello everyone!
We all have a fall back favorite technique. You know the one I’m talking about. It’s the technique you think of instantly when you’re in a creative slump or when we’re in a hurry and looking for that quick, easy, and perfect card. It’s the technique we love to do and always have beautiful cards as a result.
My favorite fall back technique is Heat Embossed Resist for backgrounds. It a technique that’s easy to do, has a world of color options, and can be used with any stamp you want! I love this technique for backgrounds, and have created so many cards that have always been popular with my customers.
For this technique, I pull out my favorite Ranger Distress Inks, some embossing ink (today I will be trying out the Ranger Distress Embossing Ink that recently arrived), clear embossing powder, stamps, and an iron. Today I am using Distress Ink colors Abandoned Coral, Victorian Velvet, and Shaded Lilac.
To start, stamp your image with a clear embossing ink and apply the powder. I use this technique so much, that I needed to make the powder application efficient. I have poured my clear embossing powder into a container so I can pop the lid off, apply the powder and pop the lid back on… saves on time and mess! Make sure you let your heat tool get nice and hot before applying heat to the powder to prevent the paper from warping. Apply the heat and melt the embossing powder.
Once the embossing is cooled, start your inking. Using my inking tool, I applied the Distress Ink to my image. I started with the lightest color and worked my way to the darker so that I could ensure the shading was as I wanted. To apply my distress ink, I used the inking tool with circular motions beginning off the image, and working toward the center.
You don’t have to use Distress Ink for this technique. Any coloring medium would work for this. I have even tried it with Alcohol ink! Feel free to use watercolor, markers, stains… there are so many options!
After you’re pleased with the color of your background, this is where it gets interesting. It’s time to remove the embossing powder. The first time I tried this, I will admit I was a bit hesitant, fearing I would cause damage to the background that I was so pleased with. I soon found that I was so wrong to doubt! I have yet to have a ‘bad’ result with this process, and I love the look and feel of this technique when it’s complete.
Heat your iron up and make sure you’re prepared with a heat safe surface. Place your project face up on your surface and lay a sheet of copy paper over top. Once your iron is hot, iron over the copy paper. You will see the copy paper start to take on a ‘waxy’ look- this is the embossing powder being absorbed into the copy paper and off your image. While the pieces are still hot, gently peel the copy paper off your. Place a clean piece over your image and repeat until no more embossing powder transfers. Note: if you peel too slow and the paper cools too much, the image will stick to the copy paper. To fix this, gently move the iron over the paper again to reheat it.
There are some great craft irons out there. Personally, I use a $10 special that I purchased years ago and no longer need for laundry. My ‘craft’ iron has a very different appearance from our household iron so there is no risk of my Husband getting confused which iron to use when he does his ironing. It works great… just make sure if you’re using a laundry iron that there is no water in it. Water and paper do funny things when mixed, and you don’t want the steam to damage your project.
You will now have a soft and smooth image ready to go on your card. If you choose to skip this step, you still get the resist appearance, but the image will have the texture of the embossing. With or without the embossing, you’ll still have a beautiful background.
To finish off my card, I attached my background image to a note card made from Bazzill cardstock. I used a ribbon for texture and prepared my greeting. To create this, I stamped the same background image using Victorian Velvet ink and the greeting in Abandoned Coral. I attached a stack of flowers with a butterfly charm to the greeting using a brad, and stuck it to the card with double sided tape. Quick, easy and beautiful.
Materials Used:
- Ranger Distress Embossing Ink
- Recollections Clear Embossing Powder
- Ranger Distress Ink – Abandoned Coral, Victorian Velvet, Shaded Lilac
- Bazzill Basics Cardstock
- Ranger Heat Tool
- Ranger Craft Mat
- Celebrate It White Ribbon
- Paper Flowers- Forever in Time, Recollections, and Memory Makers
- Butterfly Charm
- Recollections Adhesive Rhinestones
- Tim Holtz Cracks and Specks Stamp
- Fiskars Oodles of Doodles Stamp (‘Hello’ greeting)
Loving Expressions 