Do-it-yourself Tutorial: Embossing

It seems lately that every bride I talk to is incorporating some do-it-yourself elements into her wedding. For black tie weddings, backyard celebrations, and everything in between, there are so many places a bride can add in a touch of home spun style. The best part? Not only can do-it-yourself projects put a personal stamp on your wedding, but they often cost far less than made-to-order alternatives.

One of my favorite do-it-yourself projects is embossing. With a very simple process and some inexpensive tools, embossing allows you to create studio-quality paper goods at a fraction of the price. I used it for my wedding invitations, escort cards, and thank you notes and my guests loved them!

Here’s how I did it:

Supplies

1 Heat Embossing Wand

1 Rubber Stamp

1 Stamp Ink Pad

1 Jar Embossing Powder

Steps

1. Place a piece of 8.5” x 11” plain paper on a flat surface
2. On top of the plain paper, place the paper element you plan to emboss. (Example: Invitation, envelope, etc.)
3. Prep your embossing station. Uncap the jar of embossing powder, open your stamp pad, have your embossing wand plugged in and ready to go.
4. Wet your stamp on the ink pad and carefully stamp the paper element
5. Before the ink has time to dry, immediately cover the stamped area with embossing powder
6. Lift the paper element over the plain paper and gently tap off the loose embossing powder. Be careful not to touch the stamped portion. The only powder that should remain on the paper element should be what is stuck to the stamped area.
7. Using the plain paper, funnel the loose powder back into the powder jar.
8. Turn on your embossing wand and hold it about 1 inch above the powdered, stamped portion of the paper element. You should see the powder begin to melt and rise up from the paper.
9. Once the entire stamped area has risen, turn off the wand and admire your work! You’ve made a beautiful piece of art. Embossing Tips

• Don’t worry about the color of ink you stamp with. The powder should melt over it, covering up any trace of what’s beneath
• Sometimes the heat from the wand will warp the paper element. I like to keep a heavy book handy. As soon as I’m done embossing, I place the paper under the weight of the book, which works to flatten it back out. But usually, the paper will return to its original shape by itself once it’s cooled.
• Embossing powder comes in virtually every color you can imagine, including standard shades, metallic finish, clear powder (which allows the ink shade to show through) and my personal favorite, white.
• There are tons of amazing stamps to be found at Michael’s, Paper Source, and elsewhere. But if you’re SUPER crafty, check out Rubberstamps.net, where you can upload your own image and have a stamp created.

Ideas for Embossing Projects

• Save the Dates
• Invitations
• Envelope Flaps
• Ceremony Programs
• Thank You Cards
• Escort Cards
• Menu Cards

Examples

Here’s the gold embossed stamp I used for my thank you cards.

This monogram is from Melody’s invitations.  She used a green stamp pad and embossed with clear powder. To see the rest of her wedding do-it-yourself projects, check out the photos in my last post.

Sarah K. lives in the San Francisco Bay Area  and works in large-scale event planning and festival production.