Have you ever organized your craft space and then can't find any of your supplies? Such was the case with me this past week when dry embossing was declared the theme for this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! After an organizational sweep that was apparently too innovative for my own self, I could not for the life of me find my embossing folders or a rubber mat to use with a die cutter for dry embossing techniques. What to do?? I started thinking about embossing and how it basically just means a raised surface that stands out from the background, so I stacked up my letters and will call this a "faux dry embossing technique."
I started by cutting out four sets of letters using Tim Holtz's Cutout Alphabet- Upper Case dies and my Sizzix Big Shot. I used Strathmore Mixed Media paper.
Next I glued them all on top of each other and then glued my letter stacks onto more Strathmore Mixed Media paper.
Did someone call for some Dina Wakley gloss spray? Yes, please! I spritzed on some Blackberry, Night and Mineral, then sprayed it with water.
I smeared on some acrylic paint-- mainly Dina Wakley's Night and Lapis.
I put white paint on a palette knife and swiped it over the letters (like buttering bread) so that the letters would stand out again.
I felt like I needed some different colors in the mix, so I added some Peeled Paint Distress paint and Dina's Sky. I also stuck a strip of text paper on the bottom, but it promptly got covered up with more paint.
I loved the colors, but they were a bit too POW in real life, so I toned everything down with some white paint. Then I wanted to add a bit of yellow and orange. I also tacked on some bingo-looking numbers using Simple Stories' Family Fun paper and another strip of text paper (I stamped it myself-- it's leftover from my last project post). I also thought this card needed another element, so I colored a Tim Holtz paper doll with Distress Crayons and made her a spiffy hat.
All that was left was to put this thing together, which I did...as you saw at the beginning of the post. I thought I'd added TOO much white, though, so I added more color back in for the final result (story of my life-- add color, remove it, add it back in-- eye roll).
But I did enjoy this project and quite adore these fine products that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:
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Hopefully you know where your supplies are for dry embossing (and if not, just invent something else and call if Faux Dry Embossing like I did). No matter what your interpretation of dry embossing is, why not join in on our Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge? You could win a voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store and inspire countless others with your embossy-ness.
