Thursday, February 4, 2010

Let Your Dreams Take Flight! Embossing Using a Digi Stamp

I don't know if you can tell, but I have been spending a lot of time on Michelle Zindorf's blog and was especially inspired by her tutorial titled Butterfly Season #227 tutorial. If you never have looked at her blog, get over there. This lady is truly amazing. While I didn't copy her outright, I tried to incorporate some Zindorf style and also used the same colors.


Believe it or not, you can still emboss with digital stamps. I printed this lovely butterfly (from Winged Things digital stamp set from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff) on glossy white paper. (Tip: Rub with an embossing buddy and blow off the dust before putting in your printer.) As soon as the image came out of the printer, I dumped my clear embossing powder on it. Through trial and error I have found that the finer the embossing powder, the better it sticks when using digital images. I tapped off the excess and heated it using my heat tool. If the powder does not stick in any area, you can touch it up using your Versa Mark or embossing pen, although I did not need to do that. I used the glossy paper from Stampin' Up here but you can use any glossy paper or paper that does not absorb the ink quickly when embossing digital images. The PaperTemptress has several types of paper that would work. I have used the Silver Lustre paper and was impressed with the results. (In fact, I am hording some right now. I am going to try to make it a goal to make a project with this lovely paper soon.) You might be able to use glossy photo paper but I have not tried it. I do know that my photos smear if I touch them too soon after I print them so the ink must take a while to dry.

After I was done embossing the image, I colored it using my Stampin' Up markers in a similar manner to Michelle. In between colors I gave it a blast from my heat tool to make sure the ink was dry so as to not muddy the colors. When I was satisfied with the coloring (and the ink was dry) I went over the entire image with my embossing pen and embossed it one more time with clear embossing powder (just like Michelle's tutorial). I then sponged and stamped my background. The great thing was that I did not have to mask my butterfly when sponging because any ink on it would wipe off.

Now I know this seems like it might be a labor intensive or a daunting project, but it wasn't. Once the heat tool is plugged in, you are ready to go. For me the hardest part was walking back and forth to get my supplies (because I don't have a craft room).

Since I made two butterflies at the same time in case I made a mistake with one, I cut out the extra and used it for the inside of the card.



I hope you enjoyed this post and apologize that it was so text heavy. If you have any questions on embossing with a digi stamp, please feel free to leave me a comment or email me using the addy in my profile. Let me know if you would like to see a tutorial. If enough people want to see it, I will put one together.
Please remember that Friday is National Wear Red for Women day here in the US to raise awareness of heart disease in women. If you would like more info, please click the link in the side bar.
.
Challenges for this card:
Andrea's Stampin' Moments - SS300110 Sketch
Crafty Creations - #53 Wings
Fab 'n' Funky - #9 - Emboss It!
Flutter By Wednesday - #95 Open Challenge
.
SUPPLIES:
  • STAMPS: Winged Things digital stamp set by Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, Take Flight by Gina K. Designs, Key To My Heart by Close To My Heart
  • PAPERS & CS: Stampin' Up glossy white, Always Artichoke, So Saffron, and Whisper White CS, Paper Studio black CS
  • INKS: All Stampin' Up - So Saffron, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Basic Black
  • EMBELLISHMENTS & TOOLS: Ranger clear fine embossing powder, Zig Emboss Writer, Provo Craft Floral Fanatasy embossing folder, Hero Arts black gemstones, Stampin' Up markers in Apricot Appeal, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, and Close to Cocoa, heat tool, embossing buddy
  • TECHNIQUES: Embossing a digital image







43 comments:

Karin said...

Hey Cheryl! I had to make you one of my first stops this morning and you sure made it worthwhile! This is just beautiful!!! I love Michelle Z. and have stalked her blog for a long time... lol! I have some lame attempts at cards using her style, but none are as gorgeous as this...I love your background sponging and the inside is beautiful as well! Love it!

Bonita Rose said...

love those butterflies, wow!

Kathy said...

Beautiful Cheryl! Thanks for the clear and easy explanation, too. I'll have to give it a try. The whole card is so nice, with the inside decorated, too.

Alison said...

I like the shading and coloring! Nice job!

Rhonda said...

Cheryl, This card is absolutely stunning. I have wanted to try this and now after your explanation I feel that I can. Very well done.
Rhonda
SBS29

Gina Lindsay said...

So beautiful! I love the background with your butterfly. I have heard people talk about embossing with digis, but haven't seen an explanation of how. Thanks!

Elisabeth said...

Gorgeous card! Thanks for all the info on the process!

Lindsay Weirich said...

wonderful, I'm linking to this today;)

Audrey said...

Wow! Great discovery on the embossing. Thanks for sharing. The butterfly looks beautiful. The whole card does. Thanks for joining us at Pile It On!

Unknown said...

Wow girl! Stunning card! I can tell you have put a lot of work into this one!

Karen said...

Such a beautiful card! Love how nicely you finished off the inside as well! :>

Cheri said...

Gorgeous card! I love how you finished the inside, too!

Lorraine said...

Cheryl - this is really beautiful. So very pretty.

sarahw said...

Such a beautiful card! I love the inside as well. You text was very informative. Thanks :)

Emma said...

Stunning card and so beautiful...
Thanks for joining us at Pollycraft and good luck.
Hugs Emma x

Tammy said...

Wow! I've been wanting to emboss my whole digi image. Wonder if it would work the same way? Love what you did!

Bekah said...

love the sponging on the bg.

Anonymous said...

cheryl this is gorgeous--my favorite part is the inked/chalked background--gorgeous!

Hugs,
Kristal of Digi Kitty

Jacqueline (Scraps of Life) said...

What a beautiful card! And I had no idea you could emboss with digital stamps! That's amazing! thanks so much for sharing this with us! it's really a beautiful creation!

Leanne said...

Wow Cheryl this is truly stunning!! I am a huge fan of your cards!! I've been following your blog and you are just the bomb!! Thanks for explaining the embossing. I'm not sure if I can still do it. I don't think my ink is wet when it comes out the printer but will see! Great job!

Danni said...

What a beautiful card! Thanks for playing along with my flutter by challenge!

Ginny said...

simply beautiful, thaks for joining in with our challenge this week at FnF :)

Tina said...

wow - such a beautiful card - if you have time come by and see my card for this weeks challenge.

tina
mommyscrapsalot

Maria@Crafty Cre8tions said...

Wow - great job with this card! Although I don't use digital stamps I was intrigued by how you made your card!!!
It's beautiful :)
Maria

Michelle Forrest said...

Beautiful card!

Andrea said...

Beautiful card Cheryl, it's simply stunning! Thank you somuch for playing along with me this week.
Andrea

ljurecek said...

Cheryl, your butterflies are just gorgeous!Both of these turned out so pretty!

Carole Beath said...

What a beautiful card... I love anything butterfly and your card certainly honors the winged creature so beautifully.
Carole

Joanne Gilch said...

As the night moves on so must I. got my cards made and came back to leave a comment on the awesome new technique. How clever some people are to bring new ideas into our arena. One question- when you print are you using black ink only, grayscale, or just printing and not using color preferences?
gonna give this digi embossing a try.

Shelly Schmidt said...

Beautiful card- I love the tutorial! I cannot wait to have a few minutes free to give this a try! Thanks! I love that you decorated the inside of the card too.

Shantaie said...

Hi Cheryl, this is such a beautiful card, the embossing technique and your stunning background....
I wanted to pop in and awnser the "frou frou" question :)
Im a girly girl {glitter, lace, sparkles,pink} and my hubby always called me a fu fu girl it evolved into frou frou over the years..it judt kind of stuck. however it would be a way better story if it were related to the band dontcha' think?? LOL :)
keep up the outstanding work!!

Jean Cross said...

This is really a beautiful card and I really appreciate the mini lesson on embossing digital stamps! Who knew? Oh yeah, you did!

Pretty-In-Ink said...

Wow! That's really cool! Thanks for sharing! Your card is stunning!
Hugs
Nicola

Jeanette said...

This is such a stunning piece. Thanks for joining us a Flutter By.

Sue said...

absolutely beautiful...so stunning,thanks for joining us at pollycraft

sue
xx

Julie said...

Absolutely beautiful card! I love love love it!! Need I say more? LOL
Julie sbs29

Jennifer said...

This is a beautiful creation! Thanks for joining us at Pile It On.

Rose said...

thanks for joining us on crafty creations this week with your stunning creation :)

Alexandra Lundgren said...

Gorgeous card! I am so glad you joined Blutter By Wednesday this week so I could see it!

Nicola said...

Wow Cheryl your butterflies are awesome and your colouring is ace. Thanks for tips on embossing digis and thank you for joining us at Flutter By Wednesday.
Hugs,
Nicola -x-

Nancy said...

Gorgeous!! Thanks for fluttering with us this week!!

Claire Phillips said...

Wonderful wings project - thanks for playing along at Crafty Creations! Wonderful butterfly!! Cheers Claire x

Jennipher said...

Thanks for trying out the embossing with a digi image and sharing the results with us. Your card and inside came out great. Gonna have to give this a try.