I remember the first time I saw a heat embossing demonstration.  I was in awe.  It was like magic!  (Funny thing is…that feeling has never changed.)  It was at that point that I purchased my first rubber stamp…and of course, all the supplies to emboss.  That initial magic even led me to begin working in that store less than a year later.  One of my favorite things about working there was sharing the magic of heat embossing.  It was so much fun to watch a (new) customer’s reaction as they witnessed the magic for the first time.  If you’ve heat embossed before, then you probably know exactly what I’m talking about.  If you have never heat embossed, you’ve got to try it.  All you have to do is contact your local Close To My Heart consultant and I’m sure she (or he) would love to show you how.  If you live in or near Brevard County, Florida, I hope you will consider calling me. 🙂

Another thing I learned at the stamp store was the resist technique I used in my card.  Our manager was playing around and sponged various ink colors over an embossed sentiment and I so loved the way it looked.  She used a clear embossing ink, poured white embossing powder over the wet image, tapped off the excess and embossed with a heat tool.  She then took sponges and applied different ink colors around/over the sentiment.  This is exactly what I did with the flowers, except I used VersaMark and clear embossing powder.  (Come to think of it, I worked at the stamp store when VersaMark first came on the market….more magic!  LOL)

I knew I wanted to keep the card CAS (clean and simple) and just wanted a pop of color on the mostly white card.  I must say the tone-on-tone effect at the bottom of the card was a happy “accident” of sorts.  I originally intended to sponge different color inks over each of the stamped border images, but really loved the subtle gray result I got, partly due to the VersaMark, so I decided to leave it alone.  For sponging over small areas, like the flowers, I recommend using sponge daubers for a little more control.  Also, you’ll need to buff the excess ink off of the embossed images with a clean, dry tissue.

Next, I cut the sentiment with my Cricut using the Art Philosophy cartridge [Oval 5 in white daisy and the Layer in Sky cardstock (both on pg. 62)].  I then inked the layer/frame with VersaMark and embossed it with clear embossing powder two times.  The sentiment is also stamped with VersaMark and sponged with Sky ink.  I adhered them together and then adhered it to the card using foam tape.  I thought about stopping there, but if I don’t have some ribbon or some bling on my project, it just doesn’t feel complete.  I played around with some different gem arrangements and colors and finally settled on creating a subtle line along the top of the borders.

I used last week’s color palette over at the Color Throwdown to help decide my color choices for this card.

Stamps: Unscripted
Inks: Blush, Tulip, Sweet Leaf, Sky, VersaMark
Embellishments: Sparkles Blue & Green Assortment

Here’s a look at the complete stamp set I used.  I just love this set.

If you have time, take a moment or two to check out the rest of my blog.  In fact, if you’re interested I posted a photo tutorial a couple of weeks ago that featured using a brayer with embossing resist.  You can find that post here. (By the way, be sure to check out the information at the top of the page about the Art Philosophy Collection that I’m giving away at the end of the month or click here.)

If you enjoy your visit, then please consider “Following Me” and/or leave a comment (we all love comments…the nice ones anyway), then be sure to continue along on the hop by heading over to  Wendy Kessler’s blog, “My Scrapbooking Blog” to see her creation.

Happy hoppin’!