embossing Archives - Inkspiration Cards

3 Ways to Emboss

Posted on December 5, 2025December 4, 2025 by inkspirationwithteresa

There are a lot of different ways to level up your crafting projects! Add some patterned paper or ribbon. Use a punch or some dies. But one of my favourite techniques is embossing. Did you know that there are 3 ways to emboss? They are… heat embossing, dry embossing and embossing paste.

Heat embossing is the first technique I learned. And it’s still one of my favourites! To do it all you really need is a heat tool, VersaMark ink and embossing powder. The VersaMark ink is nice and sticky so the powder will stick to the cardstock or vellum. Then the heat tool will set the powder. You’ll know it’s done when the powder raises up and turns shiny. Make sure not to overheat the powder though. If heat embossing is something you want to keep doing, I’d also suggest getting a pair of tweezers to protect your fingers and an Embossing Buddy (to keep the powder where you want it). In the light, the white embossing powder of the snowflake actually shines a bit.

Dry embossing is using embossing folders with cardstock or patterned paper. What dry embossing does is raise the cardstock or patterned paper with a specific design. There are a ton of different folders to choose from! Florals, woodgrain, swirls and so so much more. Sometimes it’s fun to add ink to the embossing folder so that ink ends up on certain parts of the cardstock.

And last, but definitely not least, is embossing paste. To use embossing paste you’ll need a palette knife and some stencils. Just like with embossing folders, there are a lot of different stencils out there. Once you’ve picked a stencil, you’ll place it on top of the cardstock. To hold the stencil in place you can use the magnets from the Stamparatus or some washi tape. Next use the palette knife to spread a good layer of embossing paste over the stencil. Then slowly peel off the stencil and give the paste time to dry. I used a stencil and embossing paste to add snow to this tree.

Embossing powder is a great way to level up your crafting! And these 3 ways to emboss give you lots of options!

Check out my online shop for just about everything you need to emboss your projects! And contact me if you have any questions.

Adoring Hearts

Posted on February 7, 2025February 7, 2025 by inkspirationwithteresa

Between the Adoring Hearts and Beautiful Butterflies bundles, I’m having a lot of fun crafting with the hybrid embossing folders. (If you’re wondering what that is, check out this post!) And with Valentine’s Day next week, all those cardstock hearts I’ve been embossing and die cutting are coming in handy!

For this card design I’m doing some colouring. There are some fun designs in the Adoring Hearts stamp set and I had to make at least a couple of cards colouring some of them! In this case the flowers. I stamped the images with Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Then I coloured the flowers with the Light and Dark Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blends and the leaves with Light and Dark Shaded Spruce. Once they dried I fussy cut them and trimmed them to make a bouquet; popping up the smaller ones in front with a couple mini Stampin’ Dimensionals. I made the cone I put them in using a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock that I embossed using the So Swirly Embossing Folder.

Underneath the bouquet is a Cherry Cobbler card base and Basic Black card mat. Then on the Basic White card front I stamped a few of the floral wreath images in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. On top of the bouquet is the sentiment. And to finish it off I added a few of the Adhesive-Backed Heart Sequins.

I still have some more cardstock hearts, so I’ll be sharing one more Valentine’s Day project using the Adoring Hearts bundle next week.

In the meantime, you can check out the Valentine’s Day slimline card I shared last week here.

And grab anything I mentioned here in my online shop.

Faux Wood Paneling Card

Posted on August 11, 2023August 11, 2023 by inkspirationwithteresa

The idea for this card came from a picture I saw of a home decor project. I really liked how they had an image on what looked like wood panels and thought it would make for a pretty cool card design. I’m calling it the Faux Wood Paneling card for obvious reasons. If you can think of another name, or if there is already a name, let me know. I’d love to hear it!

I wish I still had some of the recently retired Sahara Sand cardstock. It would have looked really nice! Crumb Cake is too dark and so I’m using Basic White. The softer colour of Very Vanilla would maybe work even better for this card design. I did use Crumb Cake for my card base though.

The biggest tip for this design is to do ALL your stamping, colouring, etc. first. Embossing first would make it alot harder to get nice even colour. I stamped one of the images from the In the Moment stamp set using Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Then I stamped the birds from that same image a couple more times. To avoid getting any unwanted leftover ink on your cardstock, make sure to use a scrap piece of paper or cardstock to cover the rest of the image.

To create the sunset I used my Blending Brushes along with 3 different colours. I started at the bottom of the cardstock with Crushed Curry. Then I used Flirty Flamingo and finally Calypso Coral. These 3 colours go really well together and blend well too!

Next I coloured the image with Stampin’ Blends. I used Dark Crumb Cake for the railing, the band on the hat and the hair. Then Light Crumb Cake on the hat and belt. For the dress I used both the Light and Dark Flirty Flamingo Stampin’ Blends. And for the wine I used Light Daffodil Delight. If you’re more of a red wine person Merry Merlot would work well.

Once that was done I embossed it with the Timber 3D embossing folder and cut it into 1″ strips. To finish it off I stamped a phrase from the same stamp set with Memento ink and then added some Crumb Cake ink around the edges. Then I popped it up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

This Faux Wood Paneling card was fun to make! I don’t think I’ve used so many different techniques on one card before.

Check out another card I made using the In the Moment stamp set here. And you can find this stamp set along with everything else you need in my online shop!

He’s All That

Posted on June 3, 2022June 3, 2022 by inkspirationwithteresa

June is here! Which means that summer’s coming and Father’s Day is around the corner. In just over two weeks acutally. Maybe that’s why I’ve been making so many masculine cards lately… or maybe it’s because I just love the He’s All That bundle. Either way I thought I’d share another card using this bundle. Check out this one that I made for a Paper Craft Crew vertical sketch challenge here.

For this card I went with all neutral colours. Yes navy is a neutral colour. I used Basic Black for the card base. Then I mixed in some Smoky Slate and Night of Navy. To add a little something to the smaller pieces of cardstock I embossed them. I embossed the piece of Smoky Slate using the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder. And the piece of Night of Navy cardstock with the splatter folder from the Stripes & Splatter 3D embossing folders.

For the stamping I added a little bit of ink splatter from the Quiet Meadow stamp set using Night of Navy ink. And the phrase, from the He’s All That stamp set, I stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. To cut out the phrase I just used one of the coordinating dies. Then to finish it off I popped up the phrase with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals. Here it is…

The He’s All That stamp set and dies are great for masculine cards… and for Father’s Day. These kinds of cards are definitely more of a challenge for me so I’m glad to have something that makes it so much easier! Check out the whole suite of products in my online shop. I especially love the Designer Series Paper and can’t wait to get my hands on that too!

Farewell to Cinnamon Cider

Posted on April 8, 2022April 8, 2022 by inkspirationwithteresa

It’s time to show off another of the retiring 2020-2022 In Colours! And this week I’m saying farewell to Cinnamon Cider. This colour along with Bumblebee, which I featured here last week, were challenging for me to use. I did end up using a lot of it though leading up to Christmas because I love the Frosted Gingerbread bundle. I’m going to miss that bundle this Christmas! Any way…

To get this design going picked a stamp set that I thought could work with this 2020-2022 In Colour. And in this case it was Timeless Tropical, which is also retiring soon. This helped me choose my other colour for this combination, Coastal Cabana. I really wanted to show off the Cinnamon Cider and thought the best way to do that would be by embossing some of the cardstock. The Bark 3D embossing folder has a nice texture to it that I thinks works well with the tropical theme. Tasteful Textile also would have worked.

Next I stamped the phrase and the palms trees. The palm trees I stamped off on a scrap piece of paper first because I needed a lighter shade so I could colour the leaves. To do this I used some Pear Pizzazz ink and a Blender Pen. It turned out really nicely! Then to bring in more Coastal Cabana I stamped a few of the small flowers. One on the same piece of cardstock as the phrase and palm trees. And the other two on a separate piece of cardstock which I then fussy cut.

To frame the phrase and palm trees I cut them out using one of the Stitched Rectangles dies. Then I popped it up, along with my two small flowers, using some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And for my little bit of bling I added a couple Opal Rounds to the centre of my flowers.

I hope you liked my farewell to Cinnamon Cider!

Some of the 2020-2022 In Colour products are starting to sell out. And so are a lot of the retiring stamp sets. So if some of your favourites are retiring don’t wait! Head over to my online shop and see if they’re still available.

Embossing Again

Posted on January 29, 2021January 29, 2021 by inkspirationwithteresa

Every once in a while I get into a bit of a zone with my crafting. In some respects this is nice, but sometimes I completely forget about other techniques, etc. that I could be using. Somehow lately I haven’t been using my embossing folders. So this past week I’ve been getting back into embossing again. And I’m so glad that I did. Using different embossing folders is a great, and easy, way to add a little something extra to your projects.

Earlier this week I shared a project using one of the new mini embossing folders; you can check that out here. For this card I wanted to use my favourite stamp set from the Sale-a-bration catalogue, “A Touch of Ink”. And I haven’t used the hummingbird image yet so that’s where I started with my design.

From there I pulled in the Rectangle Stitched dies to frame the hummingbird and the phrase, which came from the Quite Curvy stamp set. And I thought that it’d be nice to use the large leaf image from the “A Touch of Ink” stamp set and do some tone on tone stamping with Just Jade.

Then to add a little something more to the piece of stamped Just Jade cardstock I used the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder. Here’s a close up to give you a good look at the effect it gives…

You might also be able to see that I added some Wink of Stella to my hummingbird. I love how it looks on projects, but it doesn’t really come through in photos. 🙁

For my hummingbird I stamped in Seaside Spray first to give a darker outline. Then once it was dry I stamped using Pool Party to match the card base. I also stamped a bunch of the smaller leaf image from the “A Touch of Ink” stamp set using Just Jade to fill in some open space and bring it all together.

I popped up the hummingbird and the phrase with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And then on top of the Wink of Stella, I added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels to finish it off. Here’s the full card…

I’m really glad that I got back into embossing again! And I love how this card turned out. I’m definitely not finished crafting with this stamp set. To check the “A Touch of Ink” stamp set, head over to my online shop. And let me know if you have any questions about how Sale-a-bration works!