Embossing & Bleach

Now that I've talked a little about the basics of Heat Embossing, I'd like to talk about some fun techniques you can try along with Embossing. I thought it would be most appropriate to start with Embossing and Bleaching, since I‘ve recently written a tutorial on both. Here is a card that I made with this technique:

Copyright Stampin' Up!® 1990-2005

You can comment on the card and see the products I used here, at my gallery: Olive Leaf.

The leaf image was stamped with VersaMark ink on Olive paper. I them Embossed the leaf using Clear powder. I took a Clorox Bleach Pen to the background and all around the leaf. When bleaching or watercoloring around an embossed image that is clear like this, be careful not to soak the paper to the point that the bleach or the color actually seeps under the image and defeats your purpose.

As I bleached the Olive paper, a Mustard color began to appear. After I had given the bleach time to dry, I sponged ink over top to give an even more variegated look. I also used the "direct to paper" technique (that's where you take your ink pad and apply it directly to your paper). I ran my fingernail around the edges of the image to fray the cardstock and then matted the leaf onto Chocolate cardstock. I think it makes a nice masculine notecard. Men are hard to stamp for!

Click here to see another card made with this technique: Reverse Prints, Embossed and Bleached.