Beginner Embossing

After watching a few videos to understand the principles of embossing I decided to do my own thing, as I always do :). So out acmes a stencil to play with! The metal I’m using was provided with the kit.

Using a ruler to provide a straight edge, I first created an outline around the piece of metal with the embossing wheel you see above.

Position the stencil where you want it, then tape it down to the metal so it can’t shift. This will end up being the ‘right’ side.

This step happens on a hard, smooth surface. Trace the outline of the stencil onto the metal.

Flip the whole thing over. Now you can easily see the shape of the hearts. Use a paper stump to rub along the entire inside of the pattern.

Look at the difference in definition; the upper right heart now has more depth.

Here’s all four hearts after using the paper stump.

After flipping it over to the right side, you can see that the depth of the hearts can’t go any deeper than the thickness of the stencil. But we can change that in the next step.

Remove Stencil

Once I remove the stencil, I further define the hearts by retracing around the edges with a ball tool.

Now we’re going to introduce a piece of foam to add depth. Placing the foam sheet under the work and rubbing again with the paper stump really emphasizes the embossing!

The addition of the foam allows the hearts to sink deeper:

The more you rub into the foam, the more the metal will stretch to emphasize the relief.

Again, flipping to the right side the hearts really puff out. Isn’t it amazing?

Creating Dots

Still use the foam. This time I’m adding dots using a larger ball tool to mark a divot in the metal.

With the smaller ball tool, spin it around the edges and work into the middle.

That makes quick work of puffing out the dots!

Taping

To demonstrate how important it is to tape the stencil, I’m going to ‘wing it’, by not taping the stencil down.

The top diamond shape turns out pretty good, but the one my finger is pointing to on the bottom is much less defined. It’s REALLY difficult to get detail on a stencil when it’s not secured well to the metal.

Here’s my beginner sampler using a stencil to emboss.

So, what can you do with it? I’m upcycling a thrifted photo box.

Apply the metal embossing to the recess of the photo box! Since all my printed pictures are 4″x 6″, and I don’t want to chop one up to fill the windows on the end, applying a decorative panel like this embossing is ideal!

Imagine doing this on a larger scale to fill in the panel on a cupboard door! Wouldn’t that be cool?

One last tip. For this little project I didn’t bother. But for metal as deeply embossed as this, it’s suggested that the back is filled with beeswax so the embossed parts can’t accidentally be dented.

Crochet for a Cure

If you haven’t heard, we’ve just launched a pattern shop, where we’re donating 100% of our proceeds to Alzheimer’s. You’ll find patterns, like our signature Kayla Pillow, Air Planter Pods and Tooth Fairy Pillow (shown below), available to purchase as a donation to our Alzheimer’s fundraiser.

Come visit us to purchase a pattern; with 100% going to charity, it’s a win-win!

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