Starting New Year Off Playing With Heat Embossing

First off I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. May it be a rocking craft year for you.

 I gave up making resolutions instead I now make intentions. For some reason I don't feel so bad if I don't keep an intention. And intentions can change if the need arises. So my intentions this year is to create a craft room for myself so that I won't have crafting supplies scattered everywhere in two rooms and don't know where things are. My other intention is to try new techniques and to stretch my creative muscles. There is no better way than to make a thank you card using some new techniques while at the same time using a photo for inspiration.

The card base was distressed by rubbing it with sandpaper.The border was actually an A2 full size but I trimmed it down. It was embossed using Sizzix scallops and lines embossing folder. I heat embossed it with two different embossing powders. Raspberry pearl by Recollections and a lilac glitter one. I used  liquid embossing liquid with a dauber. If I were to do the same thing again with this folder I would use an embossing pen which would give a crisper look.But for this card I like the shabby look.

 I was playing with several different fonts so I don't remember which one I ended up using to cut out Thanks. I will have to look through my list as I like this font and it cuts out nicely.

The flower is a flower from the Studio library. I just deleted some of the lines as I wanted a more solid flower. I really had fun texturing it using embossing powder. I first heat embossed using a white. Then I used a dauber embossing liquid and randomly daubed on it and sprinkled on Recollections Eggplant Pearl and heat embossed again. Then I took the Hot Boss Embossing tool with the rake accessory. I dragged it through the embossed surface at different angles. You could probably get the same type of effect dragging a  comb through an embossed surface while heating with your embossing gun. Although I heat embossed the lilac glitter in the center of the bottom flower it doesn't really show through the cut out of the top flower. I thought the white and purple would give me a lighter purple but it didn't Still I like the effect that resulted. I will be making more flower embellishments this  way.

 The leaves are another Studio file that was free. I inked them using a paper towel with Stazon Cactus ink. The paper towel gives a little different texture effect than a cotton ball. I thought of going over them with a different green to come closer to the green in the photo but decided to leave them as they were.

Here is my inspiration photo.

As you can see I tried to use the colors from the photo My green is a different green though.Also the flower turned out a darker purple. I also layered the flower instead of the half circle near the top right hand of the photo. I would have loved to use more flowers layered but since this card is being mailed I was concerned about it being bumpy. You will notice on the left hand side there is a straight narrow line. Which gave me the idea to use the border. The leaves sort of echo the wavy green line on the left. I was going to have the word thanks be vertical to echo the vertical lines but I ended up liking the letters better horizontally.

This card is being entered in the Silhouette Plus card challenge for January. If you have a Silhouette feel free to join us for this challenge.

I can't wait to play with the Hot Boss Embossing tool again. Mrs. Claus at the North Pole knew I would have fun with it. If you like to add texture perhaps you can find one somewhere. They appear to be discontinued and I don't know of a similar tool. A wood burning tool kit would have some of the accessories that the Hot Boss comes with.

My frugal tip is to play with supplies you already have and see what you can come up with. I am going to be seeing what I can come up with using my ceramic tools with heat embossing since I no longer create ceramic pieces.

What are your intentions for the New Year? Also if you have any frugal tips to share I would love to hear them.

Thanks for stopping by. Wishing you a year full of Happy Frugal Crafting!