Cozy Cards with One Embossing Folder

I hope you are all ready to cozy up with a hot drink and yummy snack for today's blog post and YouTube video, where it's all about just one embossing folder! I am of course talking about the gorgeous Cozy Sweater 3D Embossing Folder.

Hi Altenew fans and friends! Erica here, and I'm so excited to show you what I've made with this beautiful embossing folder. 

Unfortunately, at the time of writing this post, it's actually all sold out, my apologies about the timing for those of you who do not have it. Make sure to sign up for back in stock notifications with the 'notify me' button. Hopefully though, this means that LOTS of you have this gorgeous embossing folder in your stashes and are looking for inspiration.

Ok, first things first, we are going to run the embossing folder through our diecutting machine. I may, or may not, have done multiple panels, because why not? I had a few ideas I wanted to play with so it just made sense to emboss more than one piece, for more playtime. 

A couple of things that I will mention is that it's super important to check your sandwich for 3D embossing folders, it's usually different than just embossing cardstock. Do not force through your sandwich, if your machine is making you work really hard, it's not right. Don't break your die-cutting machine! 

Something I have noticed with my die-cutting machine, it's a very, very old Platinum 6 one, is that for 3D embossing folders, I get a MUCH deeper embossing pattern if I add a thin shim to my sandwich. My machine is old, and it seems to roll unevenly, so I am not overly worried about breaking mine, It's already on its last legs, so I use a sheet of printer paper folded in half, and it works a treat. It only adds just enough extra layer to really get that embossing pattern into the card stock! 

Just look at that Tremendous Texture!! Ah, see what I did there? A little bit of a play on words as that's what my main blogging series is called. Now this looks good enough as it is, doesn't it? And white is a great backdrop for holiday cards, absolutely, but we are going to add some pops of colour. I find that when you ink blend over an embossed panel, it helps the pattern stand out even more, and what better colour to use than my favourite: Blue! 

I used Fresh Dye Ink in Starlight for this, but there are so many amazing shades of blue to choose from in the Altenew Fresh Dye Ink stock. Starlight is one of my absolute favourites though, and it's the darkest shade from the Deep Blue Seas bundle. Which is a really gorgeous blue bundle. 

Please note that the mini ink cubes have been discontinued but I wanted you to see the colours. 

My second panel was done with Starlight again, and also Pinkalicious for a fun look. I used the big blending tools to make the blending seamless and to cover a bigger area quickly. 

I will admit that in the photo it looks a bit blotchy, but it was freshly done and it will look much smoother and better once it's dry. 

When it came time to finish the cards off with sentiments I seem to have lost almost all sense of documenting the process. All the embossing and ink blending elements, sure. All the finishing touches... well, not so much, apparently. I will share some close ups of the cards, of course, and explain what I used. 

This sentiment is from the Sleigh Ride Greetings Complete Bundle, and it's heat embossed with gold. It's also stacked with 2 more diecut pieces. 

I also die-cut some letters from the Bold Alphabet Die Set, from Glitter Cardstock in Moonstone and Citrine. 

While I was on a roll, I also hot foiled some sentiments from the Wrapped With Love Press Plate set, using Silver Satin Hot Foil. 

These turned out so fab! I will mention that I again used some extra card stock for my hot foil shim when I ran this through my diecutting machine, due to it rolling so unevenly. 

I actually made three cards in total with the Cozy Sweater 3D embossing folder, I really adore it. My first card, which I show right at the start of the YouTube video, I made off camera, but the other two, from embossing stage to finishing touches, are all covered. 

After finishing the ink blending of the embossed panel, I trimmed it down a little so that I'd get that lovely border around it once it was adhered to a card base. I have used Instant Dimension Foam Tape to do that part, because who doesn't love layers?? 

The sentiment is made up of 'cozy' spelled out in Moonstone Glitter Cardstock and 'hugs' from the Timeless Sentiments Die Set. The white frame, the blue ink blended embossed background and the moonstone glitter card stock all work so well for a wintery card, don't you think? 

The second blue card is done with a much more intense ombré while ink blending over the embossed pattern, but I love how it turned out. On this one I splattered some silver water colour from the 14 pan watercolor set, for an extra frosty look.

Sentiment wise, it's all going on! I have used the Bold Alpha diecut set again, and paired it up with one of those hot foiled sentiments from the Wrapped With Love set AND a silver heat embossed sentiment from Sleigh Ride Greetings.

It might be a touch much, but I think it works. Admittedly, I am definitely not known for doing clean and simple cards, so there is that, LOL. 

Finally, the last card, the blue and pink one. After seeing how fabulous it looked with the silver splattered on the blue card, this one got some gold added before moving on to the sentiment phase. 

This one has a big bold 'hugs' added in the middle. This is cut out with the Bold Alpha diecuts and the Citrine Glitter Cardstock. These are stacked with two more layers for some height and stability. When adding diecuts on embossed backgrounds, I do find that stacking them stop them from sagging and buckling. 

For this one, to keep things cohesive, the sentiment from Sleigh Ride Greetings, was heat embossed with gold. This is also stacked with a couple of extra diecuts for stability and extra texture. 

Can we take a second and admire the SHIMMER of the glitter card stock?? I mean, whoa, right? 

With that I am all done for today, but remember that you can mix and match your colours on the embossed backgrounds to fit occasions and recipients. You don't have to go with the colours I have used, this is just for inspiration and to show a few ways to use this gorgeous 3D embossing folder. Fingers crossed it comes back into stock very soon, but as I said, make sure to sign up for back into stock notifications via the 'notify me' button if you have your heart set on this one (and I can not blame you in the slightest if you do) 

Don't forget there is a YouTube video over on the Altenew YouTube channel you can check out too! 

With big cozy hugs and lots of creativity,
your embossing folder obsessed gal Erica 

Oh, and before we say goodbye, don't forget to check out Altenew's Cardmaking Glossary for all things crafty terms and techniques. It'll help you get a refresh on some terms and maybe even learn something new. Check it out HERE!