Emboss Omit Technique

Now that I finally have my access to Blogger back (after almost 2 days), I wanted to share a great technique I finally figured out. I recently saw a couple of cards where an embossed "frame" is made around your image without needing to layer. The image to the right is what the completed panel looks like. I have a completed card, but I'm saving it for next week's CTMH stamp of the month blog hop. Come back on April 1st to see the completed card I made!

For this technique you will need the following items:

• Die-cutter or giant punch in your choice of shapes (I used my Cricut for this sample)
• Chipboard (or a cereal box)
• Temporary adhesive
  
• Embossing folder of your choice
• Die-cutting/embossing machine
• Cardstock (I used White)

The first step is creating our chipboard "shim" in the shape we want. I cut my chipboard down to 4" x 5.25", the actual size of the embossed area on my folder. I cut two pieces since I used thin chipboard, and after cutting adhered them together. In my example, I used my Cricut and Design Studio with the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge to cut a 2.5" circle (at real dial size), at X coordinate .75 and Y coordinate .75. This will put my frame in the center of the panel, and equal distance from the top of the panel.

You will use temporary adhesive to attach the chipboard shim to the outside of the embossing folder. Be sure to view it from the inside of the folder to make sure you have it over the embossing area of the folder.

Next cut your cardstock down to 4" x 5.25" and place it in the embossing folder. Make sure it's aligned properly so the entire piece gets embossed.

You will need to figure out the correct "sandwich" for your cutting/embossing machine. For my Big Kick, and the chipboard I used, I used the platform with all tabs and only one cutting plate. Yours will vary depending on your machine, chipboard, etc.

I hope you have fun with this technique! I haven't tried anything more than simple shapes yet, so I'm not sure how intricate you can get with this technique. I'd love to see what you do with this! Feel free to post your link in your comments so we can see your projects as well.

Don't forget to come back on April 1st to see a card I made with this technique!