Technique: Embossing
What better way to get The Clueless Crafter started than by making business cards? I’ve been feeling a bit sheepish as of late when I mention that I’ve got The Clueless Crafter up and running, but can furnish no proof. Well, today was the day to validate this venture, make it truly official. I must say that apprehension is the word that governs my mood today. Not only because I really find the thought of crafting to be worse than having my teeth pulled, but because starting this blog gig is just plain terrifying. Eh, I sucked it up for the benefit of all. Here is what transpired.
Today’s crafting session, to be shamefully honest, began two months ago when I first visited Lee’s Art supply in NYC. At that point I had decided that making embossed stationery was where it was at. First of all, snail mail is the most effective, expedient mode of communication, is it not?? Having a charming set of handmade stationery, if never to be used, seemed a valid enough reason then to get started. When I waltzed into Lee’s on that rainy day, I charged directly to the “embossing” section ready for some heavy-duty, at-home crafting. To hell! I soon realized I was seriously out of my element. Acrylic stamp mount? ummm. With a grid on it, even better? hmmm. Can the embossing fluid refill for one brand be used on the stamp pad of another (I’m trying to cut cost here)? If so, why does it say for “x” brand only? Do they do that to trick the consumer or will it NOT work?? Come on, I need to know!! This is going to cost a fortune, I thought. Crafting takes a lot of tools, like a heat gun. Yes, I’d need that to actually make my embossed image. Being clever, my mind flew to all the heat sources I already own. The iron? Fancy toaster oven from my wedding registry? Of course, my own darn hair dryer will do the trick if it simply stopped blowing air. The heat gun I found cost $28.95, which for a newcomer to the crafting scene seemed a bit indulgent. And how could I justify dropping that cash when I don’t have any income? I shrugged my shoulders at the gun, hoping that I could patch together an appropriate heat source back home. I left Lee’s with a disturbingly small bag of embossing tools for an equally disturbing cost.
My first attempt at embossing looked like the making of an ill-advised, impatient, and slightly cheap crafter. Until today, I had ditched the whole embossing catastrophe, yet as the weeks have elapsed it has lingered as somewhat of a personal failure. Thanks to a freebie I picked up from my internship, I now had a whole set of lettered stamps for embossing at my disposal. This time around I could try this technique using legitimate tools, and at the handsome price of free.
I begrudgingly began the tedious process of cutting countless 8 x 5.5 cm cardstock rectangles for the business cards, making sure that the stamp that I had painstakingly set up letter-by-letter with my name on it would fit onto the cards. All I kept thinking was how much paper, glue, embossing powder, and time I would waste in order to get ONE card made! Actually, I quite doubted that I would even get one professional looking business card from this exercise, which at the time of this post is the fact. Indeed, my second attempt seems to support that I could not hold down a job as a certified embosser. Seems bleak, I know, but something rather humorous happened today, and I can’t wipe the smile off my face! Why, you may ask? People, you are looking at “Lybia Darry,” Clueless Crafter extraordinaire. Yup, apparently working backwards on an acrylic stamp mount (shhh, I’m using an acrylic magnet that is not transparent, but god knows how expensive anything that has oil in it is!) is not my strength. The only thing that my name suggests is that you can trust me to a) know one of the countries in Africa; b) be knowledgeable in all things dairy; or c) that my name both rhymes with a sexually transmitted disease and sounds a lot like a female body part. What’s in a name?
I’ll be back. This time wielding a (heat) gun… I hope.
Lee’s Art Shop is across the street from the famous Art Students League.
The first attempt at embossing a greeting card, using a metal stencil, embossing glue refill bottle and an iron as my heat source. Would you like to receive this card in your mailbox?
My first handcrafted business card. Screams sophistication and competence.
