Embossing with the Explore

Hi!  This is Christine from I am Cocoa's Mom blog with my very first DT post for She's a Sassy Lady.   Here we go!

Did you see the new Mix and Match embossing plates from Anna Griffin on HSN?  I'm afraid I caved and bought the set AND took the autoship option.  My shipment came in last week and I love how easy it is to customize cards for specific occasions.

It was my DD's birthday last week and I used the Happy Birthday plate to emboss the front of her card.  So pretty, but it needed embellishing to make it really special and I don't have any Anna Griffin type flowers.  Time to turn on the Explore!

I found several flowers in Design Space that have a shadow layer and a fairly intricate top layer.  (e.g. Bits and Pieces, Gypsy Wanderings, Sophie) After placing the flower on the mat, I ungrouped the layers and changed the top one to 'write' and left the shadow layer on 'cut.' The last step is to select and attach.

Using the Amy Chomas adapter, I inserted my VersaMark embossing pen, loaded the mat with vellum and pressed 'go."

Then comes the hardest part of the whole process - getting the vellum flower off the mat without touching the wet embossing ink!  I did have fun trying out several different embossing powders and choosing the best alcohol marker to color the back of the flower.

Love this silver one but decided to go with a silvery white opaque powder to compliment the white-on-white look I was going for.  This technique is so easy and I want to try text, a beautiful butterfly, and maybe a poinsettia with a gold edge.   So many ideas!

Here is the finished card.  She was very impressed!  (Sorry!)

Thanks for visiting with me today!  And thank you Sheila for allowing me to share.  : ) Christine