How to Scrapbook Using Embossing Paste

Materials Needed:

Paper
Stencil (brass, plastic, or the negative shape of used chipboard or die cut)
Embossing Paste
Craft palette knife (or butter knife)
Painters tape

Optional Material:
Glitter
Paint, Acrylic or Watercolor
Ink pad

Whether you have been scrapbooking for years, or you are a beginner to the growing trend of scrapbooking, you will enjoy adding dimension to your scrapbook designs with embossing paste. Embossing paste is a versatile medium that will add texture, dimension, and depth to the pages you create.

Embossing paste is a thick craft medium that can be spread with a knife over a stencil, used chipboard, or die cut negative. Embossing paste comes in a variety of colors and finishes. Dreamweaver Stencils is a popular creator of embossing paste. You can find original, translucent, and glossy paste, and paste that comes in colors like silver, gold, copper, green, red, orange and black. If you choose to purchase the original paste that is colorless, you can add color to it by mixing in acrylic paint or watercolor paint of your choice.

Traditionally, embossing paste is used with brass stencils. However, purchasing a variety of brass stencils can become an expensive hobby. A cheaper alternative is to use the negative shapes from used chipboard or a die cut. Chipboard is a pressed fiber thick paper. It is usually made from recycled paper and is used for the backing of notepads and stacks of business forms. Scrapbooking manufacturers are now making chipboard shapes, such as frames, letters and numbers. You can use the chipboard negative three or four times before it becomes too soggy from absorbing the water in the paste. If you are using brass stencils for your project, just be sure to have a bucket of water on hand to clean the stencil after every use because the paste dries quickly making it harder to clean.