How to Emboss Without a Light Box

Embossing is such elegant work, once only done by professionals and can be very time consuming as well as costly. I, for one, have always wanted to try it, but have never been able to afford the cost of all the expensive tools. For my birthday last year, my aunt bought me an embossing stylus, but unfortunately I never had the opportunity to use it because I didn't know how to do it without light.

Then recently I was watching the Scrapbooking show on the DIY channel and they were showing you how to emboss copper embellishments using only rubber stamps and an embossing stylus.

After watching the show, I was inspired to try it myself, but I didn't have any copper, So I figured I could try it with just cardstock and boy, did I love the outcome! The technique worked without any major effort and only took me a few minutes.

Below I've listed the steps I took to create a really cute embossed embellishment for my scrapbook, as well as the items you will need for the project!

Items Needed:

Cardstock

Mouse pad

Embossing Stylus

Rubber Stamp

Ink (It doesn't matter what color)

Step One ~ Stamp

Stamp as usual on to the back of the cardstock you are planning to use. The ink color you choose doesn't matter because it won't be seen by anyone except you.

Step Two ~ Emboss

Place the cardstock over the mouse pad and gently trace the stamp lines using your embossing stylus. Go over the lines several times and keep flipping your paper over to check the effects. When it is as thick as you would like, you are done!

After you are finished embossing, you can embellish further if you would like by coloring the embossed part with markers or chalk for a lighter effect. Adding glitter to the embossing is a really nice touch as well!

When you are done coloring your embossing, you can add your design to scrapbook pages and cards! Just use the adhesive that you would normally use and paste it where you want it!

Embossing doesn't have to be difficult and it doesn't have to be expensive! You can pick up an embossing stylus for just a few dollars at any craft store! Most of all just remember to have fun with it, try out different stamps and different decorating techniques until you find one you like!