Playing Around with Embossing Paste

The day has finally arrived! I have been seeing all of these gorgeous, textured cards made using embossing paste and was so jealous. I ordered a jar of my own and have been anxiously awaiting its arrival. After practically mauling the UPS man yesterday in my excitement, I dipped into my very first project.

I apparently ordered the "crackle" embossing paste by accident. Oh well! It it still created a really neat, albeit different, texture. 

Somebody told me that you should let it air dry for clean lines because the heat tool makes it bubble up. Naturally, I had to experiment so I made two cards!

When using an embossing paste, the first step is to find something to create the texture. I chose a polka dot stencil. Next, tape down the stencil very firmly to a crafting mat so no paste gets below the stencil. 

Next, begin to spread the paste over the stencil with a putty knife. Continue until the entire image is covered. 

Scrape off any excess and put it back in the jar before slowly peeling off the tape and lifting the stencil. 

You can choose to air dry, or you can choose to heat dry. I let the red card air dry and it did create a much cleaner outline of the stencil. It also cracked more, which is how this particular paste should work. On the blue and yellow card, I immediately sprinkled some clear glitter embossing powder over the paste, then dried with my heat tool. It didn't crack at all but did bubble up and create and amazing texture. I prefer the heat dry effect, but will have to try both with other stencils, too.

 The Retro Sketches site is my new all-time favorite sketch site. I'm going to enter my red card into their weekly sketch challenge. 

The red background just screamed Christmas to me, so I incorporated it into a holiday card using Stampin Up's Bells and Boughs set to create a colored poinsettia and added a little sparkly embossing powder to the holiday sentiment. I decided to play along in Merry Monday's Christmas Bingo challenge this week, too! 

Here's the finished Christmas card:

Other challenges I'm submitting to:
Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge "Stencils and Stamps"
A Blog Named Hero's Challenge "Papers Please"

I decided to use the second card to make a card for my Aunt Jana. Last year her little boy was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that affects children. He was such a strong boy and fought and won the battle. At his last check-up, however, they found some build up in his lungs, which is often the first sign to relapse. Doctors don't seem too concerned at this point, but are beginning to monitor him more closely. If you all could keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers, I would really appreciate it. 

I added a tag to the card and used STAMPlorations amazing "Bloom Sketches" set. STAMPlorations is having a new kind of contest that I'm really excited about. They have now have a never-ending challenge for anyone who uses their stamps. For every 50 cards that are uploaded to their gallery, they are giving away free product! Woohoo! I better get the ball rolling! 

I painted over the daisy with Perfect Pearls "perfect white" for a little shimmer and embossed the "Be Well" sentiment in gold. Overall, I think it complements the background perfectly!

Challenges I'm submitting this card to:
Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge "Tag It"
Pile It On's Challenge: "Shiny"
Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge "Stencils and Stamps"

Thanks for staying with me on this unusually long post! Your comments are much appreciated!