Postage Edge Frame and Embossed Backgrounds

My own cards are the inspiration for my next card design. Here are two mostly completed cards as the sentiment strips are temporarily attached for the photos. These showcase beautifully, embossed backgrounds in white cardstock die cut with Pinkfresh Studio’s Nested Rectangles Postage Edge to fit Neenah Desert Storm A2 card bases. Soft, cool colors were ink blended onto the stamped leaves of a stem from Simon Says Stamp’s Be Kind Stamps and Die Set.

^{Altenew’s Luxurious Motifs embossing folder and Bundled Sage and Speckled Egg Distress Inks}

When these cards were made I experimented with sets of blues and greens in different inks. I used Concord & 9th’s Eucalyptus and Rainforest Inks on one set of stamped sprigs and Bundled Sage and Speckled Egg in Ranger Distress Inks on another. I tried to make sure to brush off the ink before I blended over the image. You can see in the C9 inked cards below that my Rainforest got a little heavy in a couple leaves. I may go back and add more ink on some of the blues to even it out. If I do this I’ll place scratch paper around the die cut so I don’t ink my background. Or I’ll just leave it because it’s a home made card and can have some imperfections!

^{Concord & 9th’s Charming Embossing Folder and C9’s Eucalyptus and Rainforest inks}

I began making another version of this card by stamping the eucalyptus stem in Versafine Onyx Ink which is my black ink of choice for outline stamps. This is pigment ink so give it a moment to dry before you work with it, but for a pigment ink it dries quite quickly. I selected my inks and used Bundled Sage and Speckled Egg again for one set of sprigs. For the other I decided to use C9’s Eucalyptus and Powder. I used finer tip blending brushes like the ones from Catherine Pooler Designs as seen in the photo. I also made sure to dab off ink before I worked brush onto stamped design so ink wasn’t too heavy or with obvious brush strokes.

^{Preparing to ink blend with Distress Inks}

I also added a smaller un-embossed postage edge die to the center of the card from the same set to ground the botanicals a bit more and add extra dimension. So far I really like working with steel dies from Simon Says Stamp. I think they allow enough blank space to see your stamped image so that you can line it up perfectly for a clear cut. I am also grateful for the magnetic cutting map that comes with the Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine. I have such a higher rate of cutting images and sentiments out correctly the very first go, so less mistakes and less waste!

^{Using C9’s Eucalyptus and Powder dye inks}

Though I love to see the beautiful embossing patterns having a chance to stand out in this inspiration design, I may just prefer the look of adding another postage edge layer. Widening up the foliage placement also filled the overall card space better, as did adding an extra tiny leaf to the two stems and one little leaf used in the inspiration cards.

^{Bundled Sage and Speckled Egg Distress Inks with Paper Rose’s Baby Blue embossing folder}

With the modified card layout I also took the opportunity to change up the sentiment. My new cards use a ‘Big Hugs’ stamped sentiment and shadow background die from Altenew’s Beautiful Day: Layering Stamps and Dies Set. The sentiment nestles into the lower corner just overlapping the inner frame. I also used two different embossing folders: Paper Rose’s Baby Blue and SSS’s Vine Canopy.

C9’s Eucalyptus and Powder inks with SSS’s Vine ^{Canopy embossing folder}

Which design do you like better? Which ink pairs do you prefer? Just making one card design inevitably leads to another! Whether it’s an improvement on your first or just a new idea that kicks off while crafting, enjoy the process and the end results.

Note: Tips for using EMBOSSING FOLDERS with the Empress Die Cutting Machine. Find what works best for each style folder and then add a sticky note to it so you don’t forget! Every embossing folder manufacturing is different. Here are my ‘sandwiches’ for the folders that I used with my machine. Embossing folder below is meant to include your cardstock.

Altenew 3D Embossing Folder: Empress A plate + embossing folder + Spellbinders C plate (slightly thinner than the Empress A plate)

C9 Embossing Folder: Empress A plate + embossing folder + Empress A plate (may require card stock shim)

Paper Rose Embossing Folder: Empress A plate + embossing folder + Empress A plate

Simon Says Stamp 3D Embossing Folder: Empress A plate + embossing folder + thin cardboard shim. Run twice.

Severnista