Emboss Resist Backgrounds with Butterfly piecing.

My favourite technique of the last couple of weeks has been emboss resist backgrounds!

 My opening picture shows 5 cards. On four of them, butterflies have been cut from the backgrounds and either placed back in their holes or put on dimensionals alongside. The Christmas card has just used a piece of background to add to the design.

The card I like the best is this one - it uses the 'Lost Coast Designs' Crackle background.

Firstly, a background stamp has to be chosen. The next picture shows examples. One on a wooden block and three cling types - one on an acrylic block and two on Fiskars press pads. I find I need both sizes of these as some of the larger backgrounds are too large for the smaller one.

Take a piece of white cardstock somewhat larger that the image. This avoids burnt fingers when using the heat gun! Try to remember to rub your cardstock with a static reducing pad before embossing - it's easy to forget! Mine is a home-made sachet filled with corn powder, but baby powder can also be used.

 The background stamp I have chosen is a 'Stampin Up' one with definitions of friendship on it.

 It is inked up with Versamark or similar embossing ink and an impression made.

 I usually have my embossing powders in a shallow tray as then any surplus can easily be tipped back. As this is a large image it is easier to apply the embossing powder over a piece of folded scrap paper as then the powder can be poured back along the fold.

 So - cover the image with clear embossing powder and tap off the excess.

Heat it with a heat gun until the powder melts.

 Because this is clear embossing powder on white card it is not very visible! 

However if you then apply distress ink, the background will appear - the more ink the clearer it will become...This is perfect if you just want to use the background as is, like in the Christmas card above.

With the butterfly cards however do not add colour yet...trim the embossed image to a size that will fit the card blank. Lay on the dies randomly and run them through the Big Shot.

I have used the butterflies from the Hero Arts stamp and die cut Framelits 657773.

Add colour - I have used Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Spiced Marmalade and Evergreen Bough. Here you see that I have added the colour to the butterflies still in the dies. I also distressed the rectangle around the edges.

Here the butterflies are replaced in their holes...

 Add a base paper to a folded card blank.

Add the emboss resist pieces and embellish...

Here another two examples show different colour choices, The butterflies on the left show white edges as they were coloured in the dies. The red butterflies were coloured out of the dies and  have been further distressed around the edges.

 In these cases the butterflies are offset from their holes and positioned on dimensionals.

A final example - here the background has been used behind the image and further pieces have been punched out to make a motif.

Happy Crafting!