Embossing Paste Cards

Materials needed:

• Dark cardstock
• Embossing paste
• Craft palette knife
• Various stencils
• Prisma glitter
• Masking tape
• Prepositional tape

Cleaning supplies:

• Tub of water
• Soft cloths
• Brushes
• Soft toweling
• Hand towels

General information before you start:

1. Prepare your cleaning supplies. This is a very messy craft. The paste must be removed from the stencils promptly or will become hardened and hard to remove. A tub of water within your work area can be used to toss in the stencils are using. As long as the used stencils are soaking in water, they may be cleaned later. Soft brushes and soft cloths will aid in cleaning the paste from stencils. Clean, gently to prevent bending of brass stencils.
2. The Embossing Paste I use is from Dreamweaver. There are two types of paste. One is a white paste with a matte finish. It will dry white, unless powdered pigments are added for color. The other is a paste that dries clear with a glossy finish. These may also be colored with powdered pigments.
3. Prepositional tape may be used to attach your stencil to the cardstock. I just use masking tape. Although, masking tape can tear your cardstock. I just get the stickiness of the tape off by putting the tape on a piece of cloth several times. While playing with this technique, I can be found wearing masking tape on my clothing!!!
4. There are many different types of stencils that may be used with this technique. Brass stencils and plastic stencils work equally well. Plastic stencils are much easier to clean. The samples shown here use plastic and brass stencils. The brass stencils used are from Dreamweaver and Embossing Arts. The plastic stencils are just stock stencils I purchased at Wal-Mart.

Instructions:

1. Cover all areas of the stencil that are not part of the design you wish to paste with masking tape.
2. Attach your stencil to your cardstock with tape to keep in place.
3. Spread a glob of paste on your stencil. Work quickly, spreading the paste to cover the open areas of the stencil. You may need to hold the stencil down with your fingers as you spread the paste. Spread the paste like you are frosting a cake, using fast, quick, long strokes with the palette knife. Remove the excess paste by swiping clean the stencil in a long stroke. (This requires patience and a bit of practice.) Excess paste may be returned to the jar to save for the next project.
4. Lift the stencil, carefully from the cardstock to expose the pasted design. Immediately put the stencil and palette knife in your tub of water.
5. At this time, you can decide how you will want to finish your paste. My favorite is glittering. While the paste is still wet, I add glitter and allow the design to dry. You can allow the design to dry on it's own, as is. It takes anywhere from 20 minutes to a couple hours to dry--depending upon how thick you frosted your design!

Experiment!!

There's so many fun things you can do with this technique:

After allowing the design to dry, you can add color by chalking. You can add pigment powders to the paste for colors. You can also color with oils and small paint brushes.

I love to use these designs with decorative scissors and coordinating wallpapers. The simple designs and lines of the stencils combined with lush wallpapers create gorgeous cards.

Examples