I am so excited about the dies that I designed for Diemond Dies because it’s a long-time goal of mine to contribute to the crafty community in a unique way as well as to help support no-kill animal shelters (part of the proceeds of all the dies I design will be donated to no kill shelters – YAY!). And in particular I thought the Cozy Ugly Sweater Cover Plate Die<\/a><\/span> would be particularly well suited for an embossing technique!<\/p>\n

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The card design started with the entire background being embossed with the\u00a0Cozy Ugly Sweater Cover Plate Die<\/a><\/span>\u00a0on plain white card stock. To emboss with a wafer thin die, I use my Sizzix Big Shot with the Extended Multipurpose Platform<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(a Multipurpose Platform<\/a><\/span> can also be bought separately if your die cutting machine didn’t come with it) with the following “sandwich”:<\/p>\n

<\/a>1: I lift up the top flap of the multipurpose platform so the #2 flap is off the platform.
\n2: I lay down one Spellbinders Cutting Plate<\/a><\/span> (these work the same and are often cheaper than the Sizzix brand)
\n3: I lay down my die, cutting surface facing up
\n4: I top the die with card stock I want embossed
\n5: I lay down a Sizzix Silicone Embossing Mat<\/a><\/span> (this feels rubbery)
\n6: Lastly I top the whole assembly with a Sizzix Impressions Pad<\/a><\/span> (this seems a little thicker and less hard than a standard cutting plate<\/p>\n

This seemed like the perfect background for the cute and cozy little foxes from the new-to-me Neat & Tangled “Merry Kisses” stamp set!\u00a0I colored up the foxes with the following Copic colors:
\nMale Fox: YR21, YR14, E13 and E15 with W0 and W1 for the grey parts and R30 for the ears and blush
\nFemale Fox: Y00, YR21, YR14 and E13\u00a0with W0 and W1 for the grey parts and R30 for the ears and blush
\nDark blue of scarf: B34, B37 and B39
\nMedium blue of scarf: B12, B14 and B16
\nYellow of scarf: Y00 and Y13
\nI fussy cut out the foxes with my favorite Fiskars Spring Loaded Scissors<\/a><\/span> and inked the edges with a Momento Tuxedo Black Marker<\/a><\/span> for a nice, finished look.<\/p>\n

To add a warm glow around the fox couple, I used finger daubers<\/a><\/span> and Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Squeezed Lemonade and Scattered Straw on the embossed background. For a bit of shimmer, I also coated the area with some Clear Wink of Stella<\/a><\/span>. I stamped out the “Warmest Wishes” sentiment from the stamp set with VersaMark Ink<\/a><\/span> on black card stock and used Ranger Super Fine Detail White Embossing Powder<\/a><\/span>. I simply hand cut it into a flag for the foxes to sit on. I popped up both the sentiment and the foxes with double sided foam adhesive squares to add a little extra dimension.<\/p>\n

The following is a process video of the embossing sandwich and the Copic coloring:<\/p>\n