Monday 9 September 2013

Faux Letterpress Technique

Welcome to STAMPtember®, a wonderful creative month with Simon Says Stamp!  Simon Says Stamp are celebrating for the whole month of September by hosting a STAMPtember® event intended to inspire, educate, and celebrate the greatness of rubber stamping.



From dry embossed paper to creating a resist effect with clear embossing powder, extra fine embossing powder to melted UTEE, there are so many wonderful opportunities to add texture to your creative pieces this week. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog would love to see your embossing this week in any shape or form!
I stumbled across the Brush Poinsettias Texture Fade whilst thinking about what to create this week and that as they say is how my creative journey began!
My piece began with the Brush Poinsettia embossing folder and the faux letterpress technique. For this technique you simply need an embossing folder/texture fade, ink and card, simple!
In this case I decided on fired brick Distress Ink as this is a lovely Christmas red for my card. Apply the Distress Ink direct to the folder (the debossed side).
Apply a good coverage of ink to the folder ensuring the whole debossed side is covered with ink.
Place a piece of white card into the folder, close and then run through a die cutting machine to emboss (I used the BigShot).
Once you remove the card from the folder the backdrop is covered with ink and the embossed design is in white, I love this technique.
To decorate the card I die cut the Tattered Poinsettias from white card and coloured with fired brick Distress Ink.
I then wanted to add some stamping to the poinsettia so decided on the background stamp from Wendy Vecchi's Art of Making It Merry.
Place the background stamp uppermost onto a flat surface, ink the stamp with vermillion Archival Ink.
Press each tattered poinsettia onto the inked background stamp to add stamping to each piece.
I added the faux letterpress embossed piece to a piece of Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Stash and rounded off the corners using a corner rounder., blending a touch of gathered twigs Distress Ink around all the edges.
Random stamping has been added to the embossed poinsettia using the background stamp from Art Of Making It Merry with vermillion Archival Ink. I have also added a second tattered poinsettia to my card but this time I did not add any stamping to the poinsettia.
I have also added some greenery to the tattered poinsettia using the foliage from the tattered pinecone die. A green button threaded with twine has been added to the centre of the poinsettia. A tiny tag has been cut from white card, coloured with fired brick Distress Ink and stamping added using the background stamp. JOY has been added to the top of the tag using label letters.
The second poinsettia has been layered together and added just below the first, again adding a button threaded with twine to the centre.
I have added a double bow and twine across the card along with a Christmas button threaded with more twine. A second tiny tag has also been added for further interest.
JOY has been added to the top of the card using Alpha Parts.



For more great ideas please pop over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog and take a look at my fellow team members they have created some inspirational projects. Remember there is also the chance to win a $50 prize from Simon Says Stamp.  I always look forward to seeing your creations each week.

 Thanks so much for stopping by. Tracy x x


Products Used:

Tim Holtz Alterations - Brush Poinsettias & Winter Berries Texture Fades, Tattered Poinsettia Die, Tattered Pinecone Die, Tiny Tabs and Tags Die
Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Stash
Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Label Letters, Alpha Parts Signmaker
Distress Inks - Fired Brick, Gathered Twigs
Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 Art Of Making It Merry
Vermillion Archival Ink
Twine
Cosmo Cricket Elements Cheer Buttons
Ink Blending Tool
Non-Stick Craft Sheet




18 comments:

Brenda Brown said...

Beautiful Tracy, the technique lends itself so well to making beautiful Christmas cards and your embellishing adds the most fabulous finishing touch.
hugs {brenda} x0x

sally said...

What a splendid display of poinsettias! It makes me feel like jumping out of bed & trying something like this myself & I don't have any of the goodies required other than the inks :-)

Sally

Carol Q said...

An absolute stunner Tracy!

Rita said...

Love your card Tracy. Hugs Rita xx

Lisa Somerville said...

Stunning Holiday card Tracy!

Candy C said...

Tracy...your card is so pretty! What a lovely vintage way of wishing someone a Merry Christmas! Your technique of inking the embossing folder looks amazing on your card. Love that stark contrast between the white and fired brick. I also love your poinsettias with the text stamping on them. The sweet ribbon and button and "JOY" just finish off this card perfectly! <3 Candy

Anna-Karin said...

Beautiful card Tracy and a great embossing technique. Love that tiny text stamp you used on the Poinsettias. Very pretty wooden button too.

Meihsia Liu said...

Oh... what a fabulous holiday card, Tracy. I love the embossing folder inked flowers and the stamping on the tattered poinsettia. Very beautiful! :)

email: Steph@SimonSaysStamp.com said...

It'll be that time of year before we know it! Thanks for the gorgeous ideas & pretty tutorial :)

*mwah*
Steph
Simon Says Stamp!

Michelle said...

Beautiful project Tracy. And the details are fabulous! I love that embossing technique. What a cool effect!

Mona Pendleton said...

Gorgeous project Tracy! Love the embossed layer and the stunning 3D Poinsettias! A beautiful work of art! Thanks so much for sharing your creative process!

Words and Pictures said...

So stunning, Tracy - one of my favourite crafty Christmas cards ever (and I don't usually go for the traditional colours!). Those poinsettias are gorgeous - both the embossed ones and the fully 3D version, and I love the text across both sorts. The composition of all the elements against that fabulous distressed paper background is just perfect - wowzers!
Alison x

Redanne said...

Wow Tracy, the technique with the embossing folder looks amazing in the red and white and the added poinsettias just hightlights the contrast even more - it would be a joy to receive this gorgeous card! Hugs, Anne x

Suzanne C said...

Fabulous! I love the embossed white flowers and then the repeated pattern with the dimensional poinsettias. Beautiful idea!

ElizabethR said...

Gorgeous make and yes I'm still tidying up lol. Elizabeth x

Andrea Ockey Parr said...

Wow! So many clever techniques went into this card! And it made me feel like drinking some hot cocoa and roasting some chestnuts (just theoretically on the chestnuts-- not sure what would happen with that in reality). In any event, I loved the holiday vibe you created. Christmas colors can come off cheesy sometimes, but this is deep and rich and festive all at once with no cheese in sight. Love it!

Lynn Stevens said...

oh and your already doing Christmas, Glorious!!!!!
Hugs Lynn

Sandra said...

I see you are thinking Christmas already! What a great project! Love the traditional colors! The Poinsettias look amazing! Hugs,
Sandra