Back to Basics No7 Embossed cards

 No7 in the Back to Basics series

Christmas Embossed Cards

Hi Crafters

Today I am moving on to embossed cards. I love the many different finishes you can get with your embossing folders and particularly like the simple look of white on white cards. I am also conscious that a lot of you will be looking for things to entertain the children during the summer holidays and if you are going to do paper crafting with them then embossed cards are perfect to achieve a lovely finish without too much mess and effort. You may like glitter and glue paints and sprays but they are probably not the best when sharing the craft table with young ones. 

Also I started this section of the series in a different way, instead of deciding on a design and then getting out all the items needed to work on it, I took out my box of Christmas embossing folders and dies and let them influence the design of my cards. 

So No7 card in the series became a classic white on white card with just a hint of silver to catch the eye.

I started with a 5” x 7” scalloped card and then cut the layers to go on it. The first card,  I cut a silver card piece 4 3/4” x 6 3/4” and then a piece of white card  for embossing at 4.5” x 6.5” but when I layered the card up I was not 100% convinced of the sizing as there was a very small edge between the silver card and the base card. So I cut another at 4.5” x 6.5” for the silver card and 4.25” x 6.25” for the embossed white card. and I was much happier with this. You probably cannot see a difference but I definitely prefer and will make up my 5x7 cards with these layers.

Here is the finished card and below are the 2 cards I made side by side

To make this card you will need:

Base card 5 x 7 and envelope. ( this does not have to be scalloped but I would always clip the corners to round them off as I do not like the sharp edges on a standard card) 

Silver layer 4.5” x 6.5”

White card piece 4.25” x 6.25”

Piece of silver ribbon (I used organza)

Embossing folder of your choice and machine to do the embossing 

Greeting of your choice I decided to emboss the greeting as well as I had a narrow greeting embossing folder. 

Put the piece of white card into the embossing folder of your choice ( a stand alone pattern works well for this as you are not going to cover up any of the pattern). 

NB Before putting the card into the folder if you have a water spritzer give a gentle spritz to the back of the card. This makes the impression even clearer and helps to prevent cracking. 

Once the embossing has been done 

Layer this onto the silver card taking care to have an even amount around all the sides.

Then wrap a piece of ribbon around the base of the card, I was able to line this up under the tree, and if you were embossing baubles or a night scene you should be able to avoid your embossed area, but don’t worry if this is not possible.

Stamp or emboss your greeting and mount over the ribbon. 

When all that is done glue the back of the silver card and layer onto your base card 

This is a very simple card and apart from needing some help mounting the various pieces, younger children can achieve a great card for friends and family. 

I used double sided tape for most of my work on this card but if you want some wriggle room you can add some wet glue it will just take longer to dry. I chose this as the first Christmas card in the series for its simplicity and because most of us have a to of cards to make and these can be put together quickly. 

Back soon with another embossed card this time slightly enhanced. 

Dee