Saturday 26 September 2009

Velvet Christmas!

This is a technique I love - it produces a rich and sumptuous effect with the right velvet (one with some synthetic fibre is better than a pure cotton one), perfect for a luxury, touchy-feely Christmas card!

Embossing velvet is really easy – just mist your stamp with water, place the velvet pile side down on the stamp, mist the back of the fabric and then place your hot iron on top for 15-20 seconds. Don’t move the iron around or you’ll end up with a blurred impression – if your stamp area is bigger than your iron, just pick the iron up and place it down on the next spot rather than sliding like you would if you were ironing a shirt.

A stamp with a reasonably bold design will give you the best embossed effect - tiny details will tend to get lost in very finely etched designs (so leave your Kinkades in the drawer if you reach for the velvet!). A deeply etched stamp is best.

Here's a detail shot so you can see the texture even better.

I've been asked if this technique harms your stamps. The answer is no! I'm not sure I'd try it with clear polymer stamps but natural rubber will take a lot of punishment before you do it any harm. The iron is never in direct contact with the surface of the stamp (if your fabric does not cover the entire stamp you can put a sheet of paper over before you place the iron on top). The only thing I've noticed is that the cling-mounted stamps will tend to feel a bit "floppy" just after you've done your embossing. Just as soon as it cools down to normal temperature, it's back to the normal rigidity.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Double Damask backgrounder
Christmas Expressions (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Raisin)

Paper:
Smooth white

Other:
Velvet
Mini Mister filled with water
Iron
Sewing machine and thread
Corsage pin and beads
Krylon Leafing pen (copper)
Flower by Prima Marketing
Vintage lace and button
Sheer ribbon dyed with Copic marker

If you've arrived as part of the WCMD blog tour, please make yourself at home! The discount code for PaperCrafts/CK is in the sidebar to the left of my blog if you would like it.

Oh, I finally caved and added the Followers widget to the sidebar on the left so if you use Google Reader it's now easy to follow my blog without having to know the technicalities of doing it for a blog without the widget! If you prefer not to have your profile pic on display on other people's blogs, just choose "private" rather than public when you become a follower.

Thanks for joining me today, I hope you enjoyed the card!

18 comments:

tracy said...

thats really georgous joanne :)

Janice said...

Oh now that really excites me, I have some bits of velvet from old pairs of trousers and a red velvet pinafore I once had. The effect is stunning and so right for Christmas.

Great card Joanne.

Unknown said...

What a lovely effect - I must give it a go ... very classy card ... erm ... again :0)

Michelle Forrest said...

This is absolutely stunning Joanne!

Kaz said...

Oh that's lovely Joanne and what a fab technique!

Traceyr said...

Thanks for the technical info to produce that effect Joanne, the card is stunning.

:)

Anonymous said...

beautifully luxurious - wonderful colour combi.

Hazel said...

I love this technique and your card shows it to perfection. Btw, thanks for your comment on my blog about brayering a large stamp like my lion one - I quite often do this with my large foam stamps - for some reason I didn't think of it last night with the lion - too tired I think - thanks for the reminder x

Tinkertaylor said...

Great technique and I love the end result, now where did I put that bit of velvet......

Lucy Edmondson said...

I love your embossed velvet, Joanne!

Lucy x

Unknown said...

I am loving all of your projects!!!
Please forgive me for not commenting on each, but they are all so wonderful!!!
Love your "stuff" sweetie!!!

B-

Heavenly Anarchist said...

I've been meaning to do this for ages. Your card looks gorgeous.
Annie

Ruth Philps said...

I remember hearing about this once but i HAVE NEVER SEEN IT DONE SO EFFECTIVELY...ABSOLUTELY STUNNING WORK!!

Lorraine said...

this is a beautiful classy card love that technique

SmilynStef said...

I haven't tried this in a long time ... it is so gorgeous with that background stamp ... perfectly elegant for the holidays.

Karen said...

WOW!!!! This looks so beautiful Joanne!!! XXX

Hearts Turned said...

What a cool technique, Joanne! This is just GORGEOUS!!! Can't wait to try it! Thanks for the caution about the clear stamps--I'll practice on some older SU background stamps! You're always so inspiring!

Darlene said...

SIMPLY GORGEOUS!!! I bought the "goods" to do this technique at convention a year & a half ago but have never takent the time to "give it a try". You have inspired me ... hopefully yet this week I can give it a whirl and if need be stop back here for good direction! Thanks again Joanne ... you're awesome!!