Have you heard?  We’re doing a blog hop with Tattered Angels, makers of Glimmer Mist and much more. Today, Design Team Member Julie Overby  has blogged a project, go check it out! You can also check out the Tattered Angels Blog for even more ideas.

Did you love Margie’s Savvy Saturday, where she cut apart the S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities®?  That got me thinking about the S4-220 Nested Pine Trees.  I wanted to give them some dimension. 

I pulled together some supplies: Spellbindersâ„¢ S4-220 Nested Pine Trees, S4-142 Long Classic Rectangles LG #4 and 5; Spellbindersâ„¢ Impressabilitiesâ„¢ I2-1006 Floral and Stone, I2-1009 Flourish, I2-1002 Paisley.  I also included 7gypsies, Gypsy Market Paper; SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES by 3L, 3D Foam Squares; Tattered Angels, Pearl Glimmer Mist; Clearsnap, Colorbox Chestnut Roam and Dark Moss Fluid Chalk Ink; Stampers Anonymous, Mini Ornates Stamps; Core’dinations Color Core Cardstock; tan and brown cardstock; sanding block.

I cut S4-220 Nested Pine Trees #3 with Core’dinations Cardstock, then embossed with one of the Impressabilitiesâ„¢ templates.  I repeated this step 2 more times, with a different tone of green, so that I had 3 large Nested Pine Treea die cuts, each embossed with a different Impressabilitiesâ„¢ template.  I trimmed the lightest green tone for the top section of the tree, then the medium tone for the center, and left the darkest tone full size. I cut a trunk from dark brown cardstock.  I inked the edges of the tree with Dark Moss ink.

I sanded the embossed areas that would show, then spritzed with Pearl Glimmer Mist.  I cut/embossed 2 tones of tan cardstock with S4-142 Long Classic Rectangles LG # 4 and 5, then inked the edges with Chestnut Roan ink.  I stamped a Mini Ornates sentiment with Chestnut Roan onto the smaller rectangle.

To give the tree depth, I lined the lower curved edges with 3D Foam Squares, but used normal flat adhesive at the top of the tree.

I assembled the card as shown below. The “lift” and inked edges give dimension and shadow.

Enjoy the day!

Beth

We’ve had almost a whole month of awesome posts on Impressabilitiesâ„¢ and I thought it would be fun to remind you of a few techniques you might have learned this month, teach you a new one and use it all on a card…with Partial Impressabilitiesâ„¢, Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Letterpress, Chalk over Ink and using one of our most popular Limited Edition die templates…all in one card. Sound like too much?

Naaaaah, we like to put it all together.

So, just to remind you, Beth put together this tutorial on how to use Impressabilitiesâ„¢ as a Letterpress and Margie put one together last Saturday on how to use a Partial Impressabilitiesâ„¢. So I used both those techniques but also want to share with you a technique that Stacey Caron created. It is simply called “Chalk over Ink”. It’s not too challenging but gives a great “wow” effect. Let’s check it all out, step-by-step.

Gather your supplies: Wizardâ„¢, S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities®, I2-1001 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Paisley, S4-235 Fancy Tags, The Robin’s Nest Halloween Swirl patterned paper, Cosmo Cricket “Girl Friday” patterned paper, Clearsnap ColorBox cat eye inks in Chianti and Picante, Taylored Expressions sentiment stamp, Creative Impressions ribbons, 3L SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES–Black 3-D Adhesive Squares and Photo Tape, Decorating chalks, Hole punch, Green staples, Stapler

Next you might want to go review the techniques in the links above. You’ll need to cut one of your Impressabilities templates and letterpress some paper using a slow-drying pigment ink. I started by using green ink as in this example but tried orange and used it for the final card.

Then just color away with your decorating chalks. I like to use my bare finger to rub color over the inks and around on the smooth cardstock. You’ll notice the ink seems to grab onto the chalk, intensifying the color. I used several colors–red, orange, green and yellow–on this to get the desired effect.

Next, cut the letterpressed paper using the largest Pumpkins Nestabilitiesâ„¢ so that the letterpress image shows right where you want it. I do not emboss over letterpress as it tends to flatten the image.

The rest is up to you…After creating the Letterpressed pumpkin, trim a background mat to 5-1/4  by 5-1/4″ and add it to the card base (11×5-1/2″) folded in half. Punch a hole in the stem of the pumpkin, thread the ribbons through it and staple to secure. Stamp a sentiment onto paper and cut/emboss it with S4-235 Fancy Tags. Adhere the pumpkin by placing a double layer of 3-D adhesive squares down the middle. Add 3-D squares to the sentiment tag and add to the card: VOILA a lovely, fall friendship card, using several techniques.

Eli

I love the fall. The weather starts to cool off. The leaves begin to turn and it is a great time of year to snuggle with loved ones. It’s also a great time (with all the approaching holidays) to get engaged. I thought it would be fun to create a fall-themed engagement card. I loved the technique Margie used on her Savvy Saturday post: Partial Impressabilities. So I wanted to use the same technique on this card:

After you collect your supplies, it’s time to cut apart your Impressabilities template so you can emboss just a portion of it. It is super easy. I just grabbed a pair of hardy scissors and snipped the fine metal pieces connecting the paisleys to the frame.

The sandwich for embossing with Impressabilities is as follows:

• White Master Mat
• Impressabilities template
• paper, misted with a little water
• Tan Embossing Pad
• White Master Mat

I built this sandwich upside down so you could see it better. Just remember the paper must be in between the Impressabilities (or other embossing element) and the Embossing Pad. Feed your sandwich through the Wizard to emboss.

Using the Core’dinations cardstock gives me a fabulous design element right within the paper. Just do a little sanding to bring out the core color. When I use Impressabilities, I actually like to sand both sides so I can see which one I want to use. I chose the one on the right.

Trim the piece to a square and save the scrap as you’ll be using it later. Finish up with the Wizard by cutting/embossing Labels Four die template and only cutting Small Deckled Mega Rectangle from the cream/gold paper.

Using brown ink, stamp {FALL} onto the Labels die cut. Add a little shimmer to the ink with a glitter pen. For the inside sentiment, stamp CONGRATULATIONS onto the scrap of red Core’dinations cardstock. Add glitter pen. Write “on your” with the same pen and add letter stickers for “engagement.” You’ll probably need to trim the sentiment block just a bit before adding it to the Deckled rectangle.

Now let’s put it all together. Adhere “Fall” label to cardstock using Foam Adhesive. Add letter stickers onto the bottom, using a heart brad with an “O” sticker on it as shown. Mat onto cream/gold paper and adhere to card base made from Orange Core’dinations cardstock. Add the sentiment to the inside and you have a beautiful fall, engagement card.

I say we can all Fall in Love with that…Eli

For Savvy Saturday, I thought I would cut apart my Impressability. It’s OK - LOL!! It’s one of the reasons why I purchased two of the same kind. The results are stunning.

Since the weather is getting cooler and the days seem to be getting shorter, my mind is in fall mode. Wandering around the Chicago Scrapbook Expo a few weeks ago, I grabbed Crafty Secret Fall Homespun Cotton Scraps. Perfect for just this occasion! Here are some other items I gathered for today’s project: I2-1009 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Flourish, S7-017 On The Vine Border Grand, S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf die #1 ( the smallest size), S4-132 Classic Rectangles Large die #5 and S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities® die #2.

I picked the I2-1009 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Flourish because of the swirl designs, it went well with the fall theme. While cutting the Flourish to use as a border, I discovered that it really wasn’t connected to each other, just an individual flowery swirl. But that was fine, I placed each flourish next to each other to look like a border. Using the Core’dination cardstock, I misted the area where I would emboss.

The embossing sandwich I used was (from the bottom):
White Master Mat
Tan Embossing Pad
Cardstock
I2-1009 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Flourish
White Master Mat

After feeding the sandwich through the Wizard, I left the Impressability pieces embedded in the cardstock. I flipped the cardstock over and proceeded to sand over the embossed area. I do this so that my embossing stands out even more. Then I took out the pieces of the Impressability and set the card base aside. 

S7-017 On The Vine Border Grand, I only cut and emboss a small part as I only needed one of its leaf to add onto the pumpkin…don’t forget to ink the leaf before adding (hint: I inked the edges first and then gently pressed the entire leaf face down onto the ink pad)! I cut and embossed three (3) S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf die #1. With the rest of the die templates, I cut and embossed one of each using My Mind’s Eye pattern papers. Inked the edges of all including the card base and Crafty Secret Cotton Scraps image. Adhere all as shown below…note that the S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities® and the orange S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf are raised using foam tape by Scrapbook Adhesive By 3L. Also, if you look closely, you will see I added touches of Flower Soft onto the image where the leaves are…wonderful accent!

Design Team Member Karen Hunsaker also created a card by cutting apart the I2-1001 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Paisley. Going further with the Paisley theme, she also cut and embossed the S4-135 Classic Scalloped Paisley with the Core’dinations Chocolate Box cardstock. Stamped “thanks” from Hero Arts using Clearsnap ink, this card is ready to go!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Saturday!
MargieH

Its back to school time, and this month we’re learning the many uses of Spellbinders’â„¢ Impressabilitiesâ„¢!  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 Impressabiitiesâ„¢ Paisley on the bottom Master Mat.  Next I placed the die template with the die cut paper still in it on top of the Impressabilitiesâ„¢.  I made sure the die template has the cut side facing up, because I didn’t want to damage the Impressabilitiesâ„¢.  I put the Embossing Pad on top of the die template, then the other Master Mat and fed the sandwich into my Wizardâ„¢.

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 Spellbindersâ„¢ Impressabilitiesâ„¢, 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

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 Impressabilitiesâ„¢, 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 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ 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 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ 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!

Funny that I should call this part 2, because I’m going to show that you can take apart the Spellbindersâ„¢ Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Templates and use Parts where ever your little heart desires.

The Spellbinders™ Impressabilities™ Templates are made of metal, but thin enough that your craft scissors can cut through the small sections.  No need to for heavy equipment on this technique.

Design Team Member Holly Craft cut this Impressabilities™ Snowflake Template so that she could emboss the outside of a card front.  she also inked the template, so that the debossed portion was colored after she passed the embossing sandwich through the Wizard.  You can see she kept the small snowflakes, cut them apart, and can use them to emboss anywhere on the project.  She could also color those with Copic Markers and use the individual pieces as an actual metal element on a project.

In this example, Holly cut up the Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Paisley Template to ink and emboss a corner of her project.  Wouldn’t that look beautiful on an envelope?  How about a journaling block?

Below is an example of the Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Snowflake Template.  This time Lead Design Team Member Cathy Chlebana cut the template so the snowflakes were all in a line, then embossed it into a strip of Core’dinations Cardstock and sanded it.

You can cut the Spellbindersâ„¢ Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Templates into any size you like, and emboss them in any position.

Here’s one more example, this quick example of using the Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Butterfly Template.  The cardstock is a glossy black from Worldwin, and the Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Butterfly Template was embossed and the card was sanded.

So the question remains, if you cut up your Impressabilities™ Templates, can you still use them as a whole?  YES!  With a thin magnet you can place your pieces back together and emboss as a whole.  Or, you could buy 2 templates, keep one full size and have fun with various sized pieces of the other.  The price is affordable enough to be able to have a whole lot of fun and impress your friends at the same time.

Beth

Spellbindersâ„¢ Impressabilitiesâ„¢ is a new embossing tool to use with the Spellbindersâ„¢ Wizardâ„¢.   Spellbindersâ„¢ Impressabilitiesâ„¢ templates are made for embossing, debossing, embellishing and more. The templates measure 4.5 x 5.75″, and are made of thin metal. Spellbindersâ„¢ Impressabilitiesâ„¢ emboss in the Wizardâ„¢ using the same sandwich you would use to emboss Spellbindersâ„¢ Die Templates, which is:

White Master Mat
Impressabilities Template
Paper or other material to emboss
Tan Embossing Mat
White Master Mat

Design Team Member Holly Craft had a chance to play with the Impressabilities™ and is sharing her artwork  today. Shown above is the poster she made for the CHA Innovations display. Lets delve deeper into the artwork.

On this card, the dark blue background is embossed with Spellbindersâ„¢ I2-1002 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Butterfly onto velvet paper. The focal point square is embossed and letter pressed, then Holly added butterflies that she cut from the unused portion of the paper. To achieve the inked look, first apply ink to the Impressabilities template. Then build your sandwich as listed above, with the inked template facing the paper. This will apply ink to the debossed areas of the paper. Then, while the ink is still wet on the template, put another piece of paper in the sandwich and run it through the Wizardâ„¢ again. You will get the same embossing result, but a lighter, second generation inking. Use this for matting.

On this card Holly embossed the Spellbindersâ„¢ Impressabilities Paisley template into craft foil, and sanded the embossed areas of the foil. Then when Holly cut/embossed the Classic Heart die template, the original embossing flattens out, but still leaves the beautiful pattern.

This card employs two techniques with ink and Impressabilities Snowflake.  The background of the card is letter pressed, as explained above.  The square mounted on the scalloped die cut is embossed.  Then when Holly took the sandwich out of the Wizard she flipped it over, took off the White Master Mat and applied ink to the paper thru the Impressabilities template, just like you would with a stencil.  So yes, you could ink the template from either side for 2 different effects!

On this card, Holly first embossed the Flower Impressabilities template onto Core’dinations cardstock, then sanded it to reveal the colored core.  Then she airbrushed Copic markers onto a piece of Premium Craft Foil, cut/embossed it, and then sanded off the embossed areas of the metal die cuts.

This last card requires an extra tan embossing mat.  Holly used a circle cutter to cut this mat.

Instead of using the entire embossing mat, Holly only used the cut-out circle on the part she wanted embossed.  Holly calls this selective embossing.  She placed the Spellbinders’ Impressabilities template on the White Master Mat, placed her paper on top of it, then the circle, then the White Master Mat and fed the sandwich into the Wizard.  Just the section covered by the the tan circle embossed!  Additional tan embossing mats are available for purchase if you want to experiment with this technique.

Thank you Holly for starring in today’s Savvy Saturday!

Spellbinders’ Impressabilities will be shipping to your favorite Spellbinders’ retailer the first week of March.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Beth

Hi Friends, we’re having a great time, we wish you were here! The weather in California is mild, or so they’re telling me. We’ve been inside the convention center and we haven’t been able to enjoy the sun. That’s OK, we’ve been in the company of lots of old long customers and new friends from near and far. Yesterday we had an early morning class. Yawn. Oh sorry, I need more coffee!

We are not forgetting about you. We see your questions about the new Spellbinders’ Impressabilities. I have lots of photos and examples and I’ll write up a few entries on them, the show, the new carrying case and the fun we’ve been having here.

Here is a shot of the new markings on the Spellbindersâ„¢ Wizardâ„¢. The writing is facing the other way, there is an arrow showing the direction the mats should travel, and the color has been tweaked just so. Also shown is the Impressabilitiesâ„¢ in the package, and the make and take project we’ve been making.

Here we are at the group dinner, its me, Eli, Kim and Stacey at Buco De Beppo, YUM!

So hang in there! We appreciate your interest and Eli and I will be back home and writing all the details soon!

Beth

Hello crafting friends…Stacey here.

If you are here, most likely you played along with our Blog Frenzy that showcased 16 new die template sets, and you probably saw my  announcement that I’d be back today to share with you Spellbinder’s incredible innovation: Impressabilities.

This product is not your average texture-making folder that is readily available today. In fact, it’s not even a folder. We’re offering a new take on embossing with our versatile, customizable new templates called Impressabilities. This product will emboss, deboss, stencil or letterpress, all in one. Or you can snip apart the individual elements on the template and use them as an embellishment. So what does this mean to you? Let’s take a look…

1. Emboss or Deboss–Front of an A2 card or smaller
2. Emboss or Deboss–Precut die cuts, shapes or letters
3. Apply ink and Deboss–resulting in stunning letterpress effects
4. Customize–snip apart the elements of the template pieces to create one-of-a-kind flourishes, frames and more
5. Embellish–Trim and use the individual elements as embellishments
6. Stencil–Use the template as a stencil or mask to create beautiful patterns.

The flexibility and versatility make this a fabulous product to own.

I love having two of each around so I can letterpress 20 invitations with my full template and then cut the other one apart to use as embellishments for the cards. Like I said,  “Flexible and Versatile.” And you know whenever you can get those two great words in one sentence together, you’re sure to have VALUE. With the MSRP of $6.99, it definitely is a value.

I know the ideas are probably just swimming around in your creative brain…and we sure hope so. We can’t wait for these to start shippijng around the first of March. Then, later in the Spring (possibly May) we’ll be offering a contest utilizing this innovative product.

That’s all for today. Go check out the website to see that our new products are coming online this morning. So much potential for the coming season!!!

Hugs, Stacey