STD How To Guide

The Save the Dates for our Tempe Fiesta are finally done and in the mail (or waiting to be hand delivered). Here is a short tutorial on how I did it.

Materials:
4x6 cards and envelopes
Laser Printer
stamp (used Wedding Cake stamp from Martha Stewart line at Michael's)
Embossing Stamp Pad-Clear
Embossing Powder - Black
Toaster
Tissue Paper

Step 1: Print card. This is definitely the easy part. Printing our own invitations just look sort of flat and uninteresting. To add texture I did an embossing technique which is really the only "hard" part.

Step 2: Emboss card. Use the clear embossing pad to ink the stamp. Stamp the card pressing down evenly. With the particular stamp I used I noticed that pressing down to hard made the lines run together which didn't result in a nice design. This is because the particular stamp I chose was relatively intricate. Simple bold stamps work best with this technique.


Step 3: Immediately after stamping before the ink is dry, dust the ink with the embossing powder to evenly coat. Tap off all excess powder. Be sure to get off all of the excess that is not on the inked portion as these will also be embossed when heat is applied. If the loose powder is not removed the final product will look sort of dirty or dusty.

Step 4: Place the card over a heat source. In craft stores you can find fancy smancy heat guns. But these are really overkill. I have found placing the embossed card over the heat of a toaster works just as well. Do not place the card in direct contact with the toaster just hold over the heat and wait for the powder to melt. This will happen within 20-30 seconds. It will create a raised shinny surface. Once all of the powder is melted remove and let dry which will only take about a 45 seconds. If you hold the card over the heat for too long the powder will completely burn into the paper and no longer be raised. It will also start to smoke!

Step 5: Included on the back of the STD were instructions on how to make a Mexican paper flower for a little hint on our theme. I cut 3 6 x 6 pieces of tissue paper in either yellow or blue and included in the card by folding the tissue around the card. Also included was a piece of string for making the flower. Hopefully everyone will make the flower and put it on their fridge or something to keep our wedding in mind.

I think they turned out pretty well and look like the inspiration card from Bird and Banner that I blogged about a few months ago. Even more excitting is that one major wedding project is DONE! Now on to the other DIY projects on the list...