Distressed Watercolored Embossing by Jean Okimoto

Here are some techniques to add color and sparkle to 3-D embossed images. Let's add some distressed watercolors - and a lot of glitter - to the Butterfly Gathering design for a summer birthday card. Hello, Jean Okimoto here with a card that evolved during the process.

Spritz a light mist of water onto the smoother side of Open Studio Watercolor Paper. Sponge it with overlapping layers of shaded lilac, peacock feathers and cracked pistachio Distress Oxides. Air-dry it. Cut it with the largest die from the Geodesic Oval Trio.

Spritz the reverse side lightly and pressure-emboss it using the plate(s) required for your machine. Here's the sequence I used on my Spellbinders Platinum - base platform, embossing folder, two layers of cardstock. No embossing plate or rubber mat. Machines differ - please don't force the materials through your machine.

Carefully distress the three butterflies with sandpaper or the tip of a medium-grade sanding block. Use light, short sanding strokes instead of heavy pressure or a circular motion. Brush the residue off. Attach the diecut to a white A6 card (4-½" x 6-¼"). Attach the delicate geodesic frame. Use a skewer to spread Open Studio Dragonfly Glitter Glue within the distressed outlines.

We usually add accents to the diecut before attaching it to the card - but we all know what happens to the damp glitter glue when we flip the diecut over to add the adhesive, then press it onto the card.

Cut the turquoise glitter sheet from the 6x6 Twinkling Jewel Glitter Pack with Honeycomb Square to create pretty little glitter hexagons.

Stamp the birthday wishes - from the Poppystamps Greeting Basics Clear Stamp Set - with Warm Breeze VersaFine Clair. Quickly emboss it with detail clear powder.

Trim the greeting with a die from the Rectangle Basics set for nice finished edges. If the dies don't match the shape of the greeting - cut it with a larger die, then just trim the bottom edge. Attach it with foam tape.

Hope you know someone celebrating a summer birthday - and try these techniques with our other 3D Embossing Folders too.

Thanks for visiting...see you again on Thursday -