We’re excited to share a new technique created by our Design Team member, Karen Taylor. She shared it first on her blog, Creative Yearnings, and we thought it was so great that we had to share it here too.

I am excited to share a new Spellbinders™ Impressabilities™ technique with you. It is a heat embossing technique.

To do the technique you will need fun foam or foam letters, an Impressabilities™, a hot pad and a heat tool.

Using your hot pad, heat the Impressabilities™ with a heat gun. Heat for at least 30 seconds and lay it on your foam. Gently press with hot pad. Let cool and lift the Impressabilities™

This is a very versatile technique. Since fun foam can be cut in the Wizard™, the possibilities are endless.

This is sure to be come a favorite technique….I know it is mine! Karen Taylor

WOW, Karen, that looked so fun that I had to try it on my layout featuring my daughter’s fall picnic at school.

I found the fun foam to be a little more challenging to “take” the embossing than I did the foam letters. So I modified the technique just a bit. First. I like to work on a 12×12″ ceramic tile. You know, the kind you get at the home store for a couple bucks. It is heat resistent and gives me plenty of room to work. I cut my three ovals (S4-140 Petite Ovals Small) from Burgundy fun foam. I placed the Impressabilities™ template on the tile and heated it with my heat tool. I was so tempted to check to see how hot it was before I laid my foam oval on but decided that was not a good idea.

As soon as I removed the heat, I placed the foam oval on top of the Impressabilities™ template and then pressed down on the foam using an acrylic block. I could see through the block and it pushed the foam down into the template in an even manner. I noticed that the places on the template that were the hottest, actually gave the foam a shiny look…so cool. Here is a close up of the embossing!

I created three of these ovals, changing the placement on the template for variety. I wanted to echo the template again on the page, so I embossed 2 sections of a cardstock strip, added metallic rub-ons for emphasis and adhered it with  the title. Next went the photos and journaling blocks on top of my embossed ovals. Voila! Not too difficult and definitely worth it. Thanks, again, Karen for the fabulous new technique and great inspiration.

Eli

Impressabilities™ Rules! We Won!  If I can quote Stacey Caron, “Yeahhhhh!!!!! Yippee!!!!! Yahoo!!!!!!” We owe our faithful readers a huge thank you for supporting us and for loving our Impressabilities™ templates!  Don’t forget to check in over at When Creativity Knocks, a lucky entrant will win a prize package of one of all the nominated tools featured in the contest!  

Spellbinders™ wins a full-length episode featuring the Spellbinders™ Impressabilities™ and will be featured on the When Creativity Knocks website as the When Creativity Knocks Best Tool and receive a trophy! We’ll let you know when that episode is ready to view, and show off our trophy too!

So thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts! We really appreciate your support!

Today’s Savvy Saturday is all about  Letterpress.  This technique dates back to the year 1450, with thanks going to Johannes Gutenberg, as the main method of printing until the invention of offset printing. That is today’s history lesson.

You can do this technique with Spellbinders’™ Impressabilities™!  I started by playing with ink.  I rolled my brayer across an ink pad, then onto the I2-1004 Impressabilties™ Flowers.  I built my sandwich this way:

• White Master Mat
• Inked Impressabilties™ (ink side up)
• Paper
• Embossing Mat
• White Master Mat

Feed the sandwich into the Wizard™.  One pass in the Wizard™ will emboss the paper and transfer the ink into the debossed areas. This is the result with Clearsnap ColorBox White Pigment Ink and black cardstock:

Then I tried acrylic paint. This is the result with Ranger’s paint.  This is a fast drying acrylic paint, and despite working quickly, I am not 100% happy with the coverage in this example. We’ll come back to paint another time.

So then I got to thinking, if ink works, what about ink and embossing powder? I used the brayer to apply Clearsnap Top Boss Watermark Ink to the Impressabilities™, fed the sandwich through the Wizard™ and then applied Sparkle and Sprinkle’s Outerspace Embossing Powder. I heated the paper to melt the powder. Oh my! Its beautiful! Check this out:

Then I did the reverse stencil technique with Clearsnap Black Pigment Ink and S4-234 Ribbon Tags Trio  2, the oval shape. I stamped “thank you” from Hero Arts onto the label with the same ink, and added ribbon from my stash.  It needed just one more thing, so I cut an oval using S4-112 Classic Ovals, Small #4, from the same patterned paper, which is Fancy Pants Caroling.  I mounted that onto black cardstock.

I love the texture and sheen from the embossing powder, don’t you?

Spellbinders™ Die Templates used: S5-019 Labels Eight, S4-112 Classic Ovals, Small #4, S4-234 Ribbon Tags Trio 2, I2-1004 Impressabilities™ Flowers.

Here are a few examples from our Design Team Members:

 Janine Blackwelder also used Impressabilities™ Flowers for this bookmark.  She cut the Impressabilties™ apart and letterpressed a small section.  Clearsnap ink, Hero Arts stamps, and the S4-112 Classic Ovals, Small as well as S4-113 Scalloped Classic Ovals, Small were used on this project.

Julie Overby embossed her chipboard letters with Impressabilities™ Flowers. On the card she used S5-019 Labels Eight; 12-1004 Impressabilities™ Flowers;  Cardstock; Patterned paper; Cosmo Cricket and Maya Road chipboard; ClearSnap Colorbox Ink.

Have a wonderful Saturday!
Beth

PS. Don’t forget to go over to “When Creativity Knocks!” - and vote for Impressabilities™ in the Great Crafter’s Tool Hunt…you could win something cool and we would win ultimate fame and glory (maybe even a trophy? who knows). Click HERE for more info.  Voting closes September 8 at midnight PST.

Back to school is the perfect time of year to send a note thanking teachers for how they impact the world. Your son or daughter’s teachers will know how you support them and that all their hard work is appreciated when this card comes their way.

Today, I want to share a quick and easy technique using Spellbinders™’ Impressabilities™…this time let’s emboss craft foil and then sand it for more impact. You can see the effect in the card below.
If you are not familiar with craft foil, it is basically a light weight metal sheet that can be used in all kinds of crafting projects.The Wizard™ especially loves to cut and emboss these shiny sheets. Spellbinders’ offers several colors in rolls, 12″x36″ and a 12-piece assortment pack with 5″x5″ sheets.

Because of its strength and pliability, craft foil, aka tooling foil, takes embossing perfectly and holds its shape beautifully. So let’s get started making this card to honor a teacher in your life.

Besides your Wizard™ and mats, gather the following supplies: I2-1002 Impressabilities™ Butterfly, Premium Craft Foil, Spellbinders S5-014 Small Deckled Mega Rectangles, Whimsical patterned paper by Fancy Pants, Gold cardstock by Core’dinations, Glue Dots adhesives, Checked ribbon by Creative Impressions, 25 pt Brayton font by JustRite Stampers, Sandpaper and Corner rounder punch

Begin by cutting three pieces of craft foil to 1-1/4″ by 4″. I used two colors but three coordinating ones could also be fun.

Build your sandwich for embossing:

• White master mat
• Impressabilities template
• Craft foil pieces, side by side
• Embossing pad
• White master mat

Lay the three craft foil sheets carefully on the template with the silver facing up.

Feed the sandwich through the Wizard™ to emboss. Check the photo below to see how crisp the embossing is. Take patience when removing the foil as it tends to grab the metal pieces of the template.

Flip the strips over to the colored side. Add a little wow by sanding each strip to remove the color and really show off the details in the silver. I like to vary the direction that I sand to get an overall effect but you can sand in one direction to get another cool look.

Stamp the beginning of your sentiment with JustRite stamps. I used the quote, “A Teacher affects eternity…she never knows where her influence stops” with the second half of the quote on the inside of the card.

Cut/emboss the stamped portion of the sentiment with S5-014 Small Deckled Mega Rectangles (#2).

Construct the card:
Cut the Fancy Pants paper to 6″x9″ and fold in half. Round the corners. Cut a cardstock square to 4-1/2″x4-1/2″. Add the three metal strips and then the small bow. Attach the card front sentiment with dimensional. Write out the rest of the sentiment and add it to the inside.

Now: sign it, put it in an envelope, address it, drop it in the mail and make a teacher very happy.

Don’t forget to go over to “When Creativity Knocks!” - and vote for Impressabilities in the Great Crafter’s Tool Hunt…you could win something cool and we would win ultimate fame and glory (maybe even a trophy? who knows). Follow this link for more info: HERE

Eli, who is really glad to be back with the team after taking the summer off for some family time.

Its back to school time, and this month we’re learning the many uses of Spellbinders’™ Impressabilities™!  Margie kicked us off with her Savvy Saturday.  We hope you decide to go back to school with us,  we have so many things to show you!  Are you subscribed?  Just enter your email in the box where it says “Keep up with this Blog” and you’ll get each post emailed to you.

OK, back to Impressabilities™ School!  While Margie did a straight emboss of a piece of paper on her Savvy Saturday, I wanted to die cut the paper and emboss the I2-1001 Impressabilities™ Paisley, but I wanted to preserve the embossed edge of square die template too. 

First I cut the S4-128 Classic Square, Small #6 die template, using Core’dinations Color Core Cardstock.  Then I placed the I2-1001 Impressabiities™ Paisley on the bottom Master Mat.  Next I placed the die template with the die cut paper still in it on top of the Impressabilities™.  I made sure the die template has the cut side facing up, because I didn’t want to damage the Impressabilities™.  I put the Embossing Pad on top of the die template, then the other Master Mat and fed the sandwich into my Wizard™.

See the beautiful result!  I embossed the clean lines of the die template as well as the pattern of the Impressabilities™ Paisley.  A little sanding and the paper is georgeous!

For my layout I repeated this 4 times.  I also cut and embossed 5 red squares with S4-126 Classic Squares, Large #6.  I cut/embossed my photos using S4-126 Classic Square, Small #6. Additionally, 2 sets of S4-161 Labels One # 2 & 5 were cut to make frames, then sliced diagonally to make 4 corners.  The book in the center is made from S4-231 Labels Seven # 4 for the pages and # 5 for the cover.

I arranged them rather simply on a piece of school themed pattern paper.  And the charming little faces, those are my boys, on the first day of first and second grade, oh so long ago, or at least it seems that way!

Supplies used: Spellbinders™ S4-128 Classic Square, Small # 6; S4-126 Classic Square, Large #6; S4-161 Labels One # 2, 5; S4-231 Labels Seven #3, 4; I2-1001 Impressabilities® Paisley, Coredinations Color Core Cardstock, Black, Blue, Red; Copic, Atyou Spica, Pitch Black; The Paper Company, Homeroom Book Cover paper; Notebook paper; Sandpaper.

Your homework for this lesson is to go to When Creativity Knocks, register (and do the math!), go to the Creativity Forum.  Select Categories, scroll down to the Great Crafter’s Tool Hunt section, select Spellbinders™ Impressabilities™, and leave a brief message in the forum.  You could win all the tools! And we could win some feature time on their site.  Now go on, do your homework, I’ll be right here if you have any questions!

Beth

For Savvy Saturday, I thought I go over my first technique that I did when receiving my order of Impressabilities™…a straight emboss.

A friend of mine just started her teaching career and I wanted to send her a card to congratulate her for surviving her first few days! LOL!! Of course, I will have to tuck in a gift card to her favorite coffee house for those cold fall mornings.

I will be using the following Spellbinders™ products: I2-1004 Impressabilties™ Flowers and S4-114 Standard Circles LG #6 die (#1 being the smallest size) and of course, the Wizard™.

First, I will emboss a piece of 5 1/2″W x 4 1/4″H Core’dinations cardstock. Note: I mist the paper to get a more enhanced embossed design - this will help when using a thicker cardstock too.

Then I used the following sandwich (from the bottom):
White Master Mat
I2-1004 Impressabilities™ Flowers
Cardstock
Tan Embossing Pad
White Master Mat

Once I walked the sandwich through the Wizard™, (another note) I left the Impressability in the cardstock and sanded over the design. I find that the design stands out even more when you have it underneath. After taking the embossed cardstock off the I2-1004 Impressabilities™ Flowers, I sanded the edges.

Setting it aside, I went to stamp my image from JustRite Stampers’ Friendship set on Core’dinations cardstock and cut/embossed with the S4-114 Standard Circles LG #6. I edged the circle with Clearsnap Queue ink and adhered it with Scrapbook Adhesive by 3L’s 3D Foam Squares (stacked three squares to life the circle above the flower) onto a 6″x4 7/8″ Core’dinations white card base which was edged with ink. Then I colored the stamp image with Copics, added Flower Soft and glittered the accents.

Another fun “Back To School” project - a card with a gift card tucked inside for that favorite teacher! Hope everyone made it back to school safely.

And for those of you who are a visual type, I am including a video of our lovely Miss Stacey demonstrating some fun things to do with the Impressabilities™…

Oh! Don’t forget to vote for us on “When Creativity Knocks!” - Great Crafter’s Tool Hunt…there’s a good chance you might win something real nice. Look HERE for details!

Have a great Saturday!
MargieH

WOW! That was one cool Savvy Saturday post - thanks, Beth & Kimberly!!

As I was playing with this great idea, I found another way to heat up that black foam tip from my Clearsnap Colorbox Stylus Tool! Since I am an impatient type, why not use a heat emboss tool to “warm up” the foam? Please take care in not burning the foam! LOL! I took a part of a flower from the I2-1004 Impressabilities™ Flower and imprinted it onto the black foam.

Today is ”Back To School” for us and what a great idea to make a treat bag for the boys’ teachers!

These die templates were used for the project: S4-114 Standard Circles LG #4 (#1 being the smallest die), S4-125 Classic Scalloped Circles Small #5, and S4-214 Eyelets Borderabilities® both dies.

I used a white paper bag as the base and inked up my new foam stamp with various colors from my Clearsnap Queue inks. Then set aside to dry. Then I reached for my JustRite Stampers 3 1/4″ round stamp set to stamp my images on white cardstock and on Core’dinations Dusk cardstock. I used the S4-125 Classic Scalloped Circles Small #5 to cut the outside of the image and the S4-114 Standard Circles LG #4 to cut the inside of the image. Cut/Embossed them together through the Wizard™.

I also cut/embossed the S4-214 Eyelet Borderabilities® #1 die (the one that cuts on one side and makes a continuous cut for a decorative edge) to use a topper, sanded to enhance the embossing, inked the edges, fold over the flap, punched holes to thread the ribbon and glittered the accents. The Eyelet accent piece was inked, adhered and then glittered. Then I adhered the stamped open circle, ribbon and foam taped the center image.

After everything dries, I plan on putting in some goodies for the teachers which will include a packet each of TUMs and Aspirin!

Oh, happy back to school!!!
MargieH

It is so much fun to have new and innovative products like Spellbinders’™ Impressabilities™.  It’s even more fun to see what our talented Design Team Members do with them!  Today’s Savvy Saturday is a new technique from our own Kimberly Crawford. She posted it earlier this week on her personal blog.  We want to make sure everyone sees it, so we’re running an encore here. Take it away, Kimberly!

I am SO thrilled to be sharing with you a brand new Spellbinders™ Impressabilities™ technique!!! I came up with this idea while playing around with my tools several months ago. I love using my Clearsnap Colorbox Stylus tool to ink the edges of my paper. But as I was staring at it, I thought, what can I do with the foam end? Then I remembered that Colorbox used to sell molding plates for the foam tips. Not having those, I looked at the I2-1004 Impressabilities™ Flowers laying on my desk and thought, a-ha!

Start by heating the black foam tip of your stylus tool. I use my crafting light. It does not take much heat to make it pliable.

Push the heated foam tip onto the Impressabilities™. I chose the flower that would fit my tip before I did this.

Here is what the tip looks like. The image will not go away until you re-heat the tip.

Ink the foam tip, just like any stamp.

Here is the image stamped onto a S4-140 Petite Ovals, Small die cut.

And here is the completed project. Isn’t that fun?

Thank you Kimberly!
I just had to try it myself. You know how you get started with one idea, you start working on it, and it becomes something entirely different?  Welcome to my world! LOL.

I decided to use the small accent piece from the S4-205 Eyelets Pendant to press into the large, square, black, moldable stylus tip from Clearsnap.

Using Clearsnap’s Orchid Pigment ink, I stamped that image across a strip of My Minds Eye’s Tiny Dancer Collection paper. I cut/embossed the S4-205 Eyelets Pendant,  Accent, and Center, inked throught the die templates like a stencil, then used the foam tip of the Stylus with Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink to edge all the papers.  I assembled as shown.  I think I’ve just made my Mom’s birthday card!  

Thank you again Kimberly Crawford!  And Happy Birthday Mom!

Beth

Today, I thought I’d bring together what we covered so far (extending Borderabilities® and functional Pendants) and add Letterpress into the mix with a one page layout.

The die templates that I used for the layout are: S5-019 Labels Eight #6 & #5 (#1 being the smallest size), S4-125 Classic Scalloped Circles Small #1, S4-124 Classic Scalloped Circles Large #2, S4-116 Standard Circles Small #3 and S4-218 Lattice Borderabilities® border die.

For those who haven’t read up on these ideas, I have linked the Borderabilities® and the Pendant posts so please click on the highlighted words. What I would like to show is how to letterpress with your Impressabilities.

I am using the I2-1001 Impressabilities™ Paisley. But first with the S5-019 Labels Eight #6, I have cut/embossed a piece of Core’dinations cardstock and for ink, I reached for my Clearsnap Queue ink.

Start with inking the entire Impressabilities™, I put a piece of printer paper underneath so that I don’t ink up my White Master Mat. Then the S5-019 Labels Eight die cut is placed on top. Again to avoid any mess, I place another piece of printer paper. Then the Tan Embossing Pad goes on top and the White Master Mat to finish the sandwich.

This is what you come up with! Easy peasy as a good friend of mine would put it. This piece will serve as a frame for a picture of my niece, Jessica.

To recap, the Letterpress Sandwich (from bottom) is:
White Master Mat
(printer paper)
I2-1001 Impressabilities™ Paisley (ink side up)
S5-019 Labels Eight die cut
(printer paper)
Tan Embossing Pad
White Master Mat

Using Fancy Pants paper, I placed Jessica’s framed picture on top of the S4-218 Lattice Borderabilities® which anchors both framed pictures. I used the functional Pendant (in this case, the S4-205 Eyelets Pendant) idea as a frame. Then I had to use the JustRite Stampers 1 3/16″ round “Tiny Words Set” stamps, they make such great accent pieces. I used the S4-125 Classic Scalloped Circles Small #1 which cuts perfectly and added some embellishments in my scrap stash.

It is easy to do and you really don’t need anything extra - no new equipment, no special tools…just your favorite Impressabilities™ and you’re good to go! I hope you will enjoy this technique as much as I have. I think this is my new favorite technique…well, at least for now!

Today we’re getting back into our Savvy Saturday mode, and what better to do that with than a card boasting our newest die templates!

This card features the S5-019 Labels Eight, S4-210 Lattice Pendant,  S4-110 Classic Oval Large,  S4-112 Classic Oval Small, and S4-234 Ribbons Tag Trio 2 die templates, I2-1002 Impressabilities™ Butterfly, as well as F-005 Gold Premium Craft Foil, 7gypsies patterned paper, Clearsnap ink and Hero Arts stamps.

I started by cutting/embossing black cardstock with the largest (#6) of the Labels Eight die templates.  Then I cut a piece of Gold Premium Craft Foil with  the S5-019 Labels Eight (#5) die template.  To get the finished border around the Labels Eight die cut, as well as the I2-002 Impressabilities™ Butterfly embossing, I used this sandwich:

• White Master Mat
• Impressabilities™ Butterfly
• Labels Eight die template, cut side facing up
• Die cut of Gold Premium Craft Foil, gold side down, fit into Label die template
• Tan Embossing Pad
• White Master Mat

By feeding it into my Wizard™, it resulted in an embossed die cut!  With a piece of fine sandpaper, I sanded the top of the die cut to reveal the silver color.  I adhered it onto the black die cut.

Next, I cut/embossed a black oval from S4-110 Classic Oval Large (#5).  Then I cut a Gold Foil Oval from the S4-112 Classic Ovals Small (#5).  Using the same sandwich as above, but I replaced the Impressabilities™ with the Center piece from the the 4-210 Lattice Pendant. I fed it into my Wizard™ and the shape of the Center embossed into my gold foil oval.  Again I sanded the detail for more definition.

I trimmed the 7gypsies patterned paper 6×4.5″ so that it made a nice  background for the Labels Eight die cuts, which are big, measuring at nearly 5.5″ long!

I also cut/embossed the Long Rectangle Tag from the S4-234 Ribbon Tag Trio 2 set.  I used the the back side of the 7gypsies pattern paper.  Then I stamped a sentiment on it from Hero Arts, distressed with Clearsnap Black pigment ink and set aside.

I arranged and adhered the Labels Eight and Classic Oval die cuts on top of the 7gypsies patterned paper as shown.  I mounted the patterned paper onto a piece of black cardstock.  Taking the stamped Ribbon Tag Trio 2 die cut, I strung a 1 3/8″ wide ribbon (the openings are 3/4″, allowing for thicker ribbon!) and wrapped it around the front of the card, and adhered it to the back side of the black cardstock.

Here are a few more examples from our fabulous Design Team:

Holly Simoni’s layout features her daughter and her love of horses.  Holly used S4-215 Renaissance Hearts Borderabilities®, S4-206 Renaissance Hearts Pendant and S5-018 Labels Eight.  Her supplies include 7gypsies pattern paper, Clearsnap ink, and Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L.

Christy Farneth-Kerr’s card is Magically Delicious!  She cut an opening in the front with the S4-189 Labels Three,  and covered it with S4-207 Kaliedoscope Pendant.  She used the S4-216 Kaliedoscope Borderabilities® cut from Premium Craft Foil and from cardstock to make the other elements.  Christy folded a Pendant to make the iris flower element.  Other supplies include Chatterbox paper, The Paper Company paper, and Flower Soft adhesive.

Kimberly Crawford employed reverse stenciling to get the 2-toned effect on this S4-206 Renaissance Hearts Pendant card.  She added Clearsnap’s Smooch to the small heart accents.  Kimberly used My Mind’s Eye paper, Clearsnap ink, Hero Arts stamps, and Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L supplies.

So if these Pendant ideas get your mojo flowing, be sure to enter the Pendant Party, and you could win some fabulous prizes!

Happy Saturday!

Beth