shabby embossing...

Hello my wonderful friends! 

Guess what day it is....

FRIDAY!!!

Which means Unity's Friends with Flair & a  quick tutorial {cuz that's just how I roll!}

(and just a quick FYI in case ya don't know, Unity is celebrating their 6th birthday with fabulous releases, and an awesome sale!!! Yay! Happy Birthday Unity!)

Mother's day is just around the corner... I figured I better get busy. 

(although knowing me, the card I give to my mom will probably be made late the night before.... somehow it always ends up that way. sigh.)

but on to the how-to... since I know that's actually what you're here for. =)

Shabby Embossing

Step 1: Stamp your image(s) with clear embossing ink onto colored card stock, and heat emboss with clear embossing powder.

(I'm using: Unity's  "Where You Should Be" for the leaves, and the phrase is from Unity's "Botanical Bliss")

Step 2: Cover the whole thing with a layer (or two) of acrylic paint in a contrasting color.  Allow this to dry... don't use your heat gun because you don't want to remelt the embossing powder.

Step 3: when the paint is dry use a slightly damp rag or paper towel to rub the paint off of the embossed images. This is where the "shabby" part comes in. You can uncover as much or as little of the image as you want... I like to leave some spots covered in paint because I love the imperfect look.

Step 4: (optional) Add some shimmery highlights to parts of the images by applying shimmer spray with a paint brush

Step 5: Embellish as desired.   

One of the super fun things about this technique is that it leaves you with a custom "color core" card stock.. meaning, if you rip it or distress the edges like I did,  you will see the original paper color... which also happens to match your stamp images perfectly. 

This technique will give you very different effects based on what color paper and paint you choose to use (I love doing this on kraft!!!)... so experiment, have fun, and...

Enjoy!

~Kassi