Or is it pressing?  I had to look it up.  Flower Pounding, generally done with a hammer, causes the juice and pigment from flowers to bleed into the paper or fabric.  Flower Pressing is a method of drying and preserving the actual flowers.  I will be showing you basic Flower Pounding using your Wizard.

I started by scavenging my yard for flower blooms.  Then I searched my craft room for watercolor paper, which I cut to 4 x 6″ pieces.  Fabric such as silk or muslin would work well too.

These are some of the blooms that work nicely:

This English Ivy leaf embossed, and left a tiny bit of green.  Other leaves more or less embossed the paper.  Leaves are difficult, they don’t contain pigment.

To “pound” flowers with the Wizard, you need the White Master Mats and Tan Embossing Pad, which came with your Wizard. The sandwich is the same as the embossing sandwich, just add flowers instead of die templates!

This is how I stacked my sandwich:
White Master Mat
Watercolor paper
Flower, pretty side down
Watercolor Paper (or wax paper, or plastic wrap, or paper towel- try each!)
Tan Embossing Mat
White Master Mat

Feed the sandwich into the Wizard once and your flowers are pounded.  Gently take apart your sandwich and peel off the spent flowers.  If the bloom is still intact you can pound it again, but know the result will be lighter.  You will find some blooms are juicier than others and some colors provide more pigment than others.  Allow the paper to dry and pound more flowers to make a larger design.  Flower pounding is a unique and fun way to capture a bit of nature in your artwork.

For my examples I chose the lobelia, creeping phlox and pansy poundings seen above. I cut/embossed them with Spellbinders Die Templates in the Wizard.  I started with My Minds Eye Penny Lane paper (both sides),  Core’dinations Whitewash cardstock, Creative Impressions ribbon and brads, and some lace from my stash. I used S4-174 Scalloped Edge Petite Border, S4-171 Nested Butterflies, S5-016 Polka Dot Frame (middle piece), and the S5-011 Scalloped Edge Frame (middle piece).

I made 2 cuts into the Nested Butterfly and tied the ribbon through the frame and butterfly.

Design Team Member Karen Hunsaker pounded blooms from her yard to make her See the Flowers Smiling card.  Karen embossed I2-1002 Impressabilities Butterfly and cut/embossed S4-138 Petite Ovals Large, included in her supplies are cardstock from The Paper Company, the Thoughtful stamp set from Hero Arts, and 3D Foam Squares from Scrapbook Adhesives.

I need to send a special Thank You to Design Team Alumnae Jeannette Stumpfel for her wisdom!

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Beth

Thanks for the idea, Eli!  I gathered up some supplies, including plastic from random packaging, Core’dinations Black Magic cardstock, Scrapbook Adhesives Super High Tack Tape, Copic Sketch Markers (BG 72,75,78, RV 09) and Airbrush System, Creative Impressions ribbon, Hero Arts Thoughtful clear stamp set, and Clearsnap Colorbox Black Pigment ink.  My Spellbinders supplies include S4-112 Classic Oval Small (largest die), I2-1002 Impressabilities Butterfly, S5-011 Scalloped Edge Frame, and Wizard.

Making this card is a three part process:   First, I cut an oval out of the front of a white card, if you don’t remember how, you can review this blog post.  Next, I cut and embossed the S5-011 Scalloped Edge Frame from the Core’dinations Black Magic cardstock.  I sanded the embossed areas to reveal the teal colored core.  I wove the Creative Impressions ribbon through the scalloped openings.

I took that random plastic packaging and embossed it with the Impressabilities Butterfly.  I taped the Impressabilities to the plastic (to keep it from moving) and airbrushed the four different colors onto the plastic through the Impressabilities Butterfly.  I trimmed the plastic so it was 3.1/4″ x 4 5/8″.

I used the Scrapbook Adhesives Super High Tack Tape to stick the plastic to the back of the Scalloped Edge Frame die cut, then to stick that whole frame to the front of the white card.

I stamped “hello” on the inside of the card, from the Hero Arts Thoughtful stamp set and Clearsnap Colorbox Black Pigment Ink.

Hey everybody. One of the big buzzes right now is the economy. As crafter’s we often have a propensity to buy, buy, buy, but let’s look at a way to use up some pieces from your stash.

After seeing Beth’s post on Saturday about squares, I wanted to do another card inspired by that. I wanted to create as much depth, elegance and beauty that I could using very little paper. Conserving my stash and my cash.

So, in my version, I used two types of paper: Core’dinations blue cardstock and Chatterbox’s artsy.licious Fine Paper in Alabaster. The extra oomph in this card comes from embossing with Spellbindersâ„¢ Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Template. It essentially turned one paper into two. Here are the supplies (plus my Wizardâ„¢ and some adhesive):

Instructions:

• Cut/emboss four S4-129 Classic Scalloped Squares, Small from cream paper.
• Cut four straight edge S4-126 Classic Squares, Large and adhere them to the center of the scalloped squares.
• Cut largest die S4-129 scalloped square. Spray with a fine mist of water or other embossing agent such as Paper Glide. Emboss with Butterfly Impressabilitiesâ„¢ (or if you prefer, try Snowflakes, Flowers or Paisley).
• Sand the debossed side of the scalloped square to reveal the light color of the core. (See, now it looks like a totally different paper!!)
• Using cream paper again, cut another square scallop, one size larger than the original squares. Trim it to make 2 small squares and one larger rectangle.
• Stamp sentiment onto scalloped rectangle. I sanded the paper first to knock down some of the shine and it stamped better.
• Put it all together with your fave adhesive.

Now, imagine a couple of words that could go inside the squares, spelled out, such as G-R-A-D, L-0-V-E or B-A-B-Y…now I know the gears are turning.

And I hope they keep turning. Grab some squares and create to your heart’s content…

Eli

OK, It’s my turn to share some fun projects with Impressabilitiesâ„¢, give you a few hints and show you a sweet spring layout…

First, I want to share some definitions a couple of terms that we are using with Impressabilitiesâ„¢. I know Beth showed you some amazing stuff but I think it bears repeating, I mean this is pretty fresh and hot.

1. Emboss: to raise or represent (surface designs) in relief. (dictionary.com)

2. Deboss: to indent (a figure or design) into a surface

3. Letterpress: the process of printing from letters or type in relief, rather than from intaglio plates or planographically.

4. Stencil: a device for applying a pattern, design, words, etc., to a surface

So, you can do all these things with Impressabilities, wanna see? Below you’ll see several images, all created with the Butterfly Impressabilitiesâ„¢ and Core’dinations Cardstock….

As a small note, the top two hearts are actually a darker blue that were run through with the Impressabilities template and sanded. The bottom two images are lighter cardstock with a dark ink.

Below is the layout that I created using sanded embossing, sanded debossing and letterpress…Thanks for letting me share. Order you Impressabilitiesâ„¢ today and start playing with them soon…

Here is a close up of the letters before and after:

Supplies: Wizardâ„¢ Embossing and Die Cutting System, Flowers Impressabilitiesâ„¢, Curved Rectangles die template, Kelly Font (Retired), Prism and Core’dinations Cardstocks, Glue Dots, etc.

So have fun with these very versatile templates!!! Eli

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