Ever try to find the perfect cards, thank you notes, or invitations to go with your theme or your personality?  If you’ve ever dabbled in card making but you just aren’t creative enough (like me) to make a professional looking card that doesn’t take an hour to create, maybe you should check out heat embossing.  This is really fun and simple – I wouldn’t have made 50+ wedding invitations by hand if it wasn’t simple!

Heat embossing is a technique using embossing powder and heat to create a raised design on cards.  It sounds like some complicated sort of science experiment, but really it’s not.  This is what you’ll need:

• card stock (I like to use pre-cut and pre-folded cards)
• stamps
• embossing pad (I used Top Boss tinted embossing pad)
• embossing powder
• heat embossing tool (I haven’t tried it, but a hair dryer may work just as well)
• newspaper
• very fine paint brush

When you’re shopping for stamps, you can find them at a craft store or even the dollar bins at Target.  If you’re making note cards, you can go with a monogram design or just a fun single design on the front like a flower or a leaf.  Here, I made thank you notes with a thank you stamp and a leaf stamp to go with my rustic fall wedding theme.  The embossing powder I used is copper to give a nice shine to my design.

Step 1: Lay out your tools and cover your work area with newspaper.  I like to use a small piece of paper on top of the newspaper so I can dump the leftover embossing powder back in the container.

Step 2: Figure out where you want to place your design on the card.  If you’re not sure, you can try out a few different ways.  That’s the fun of this – everyone’s card can be different!

Step 3: Press your stamp onto the embossing pad and stamp the card stock.  Sprinkle the embossing powder on top of the card stock and be sure to cover the design area.  Then slide the loose powder off the card and tap the back of the card lightly.

Step 4: You may have a few powder stragglers still on your card.  That’s what the fine paint brush is for.  Very carefully, brush off any excess powder from the card.  Any bits that are left on in odd places will get stuck there.

Step 5: Once you’re happy with the design and your powder is where it should be, take your heat embossing tool, turn it on and hold it about 2 inches above your design.  Swirl the tool in slow circular motions over each section of the design until the embossing powder is melted evenly.  This should take about 20 seconds for a small design.

That’s it!  Just let it dry for a few hours and you’re ready to use it.

Check out more from my Frugal Bride series!

Linking up with:
Mad Skills Tutorial Link Party @ Mad In Crafts
Sweet Sharing Monday @ Say Not Sweet Anne
Craft-O-Maniac Monday Link Party @ Craft-O-Maniac
Monday Funday @ Lines Across