RUBBER STAMPING
&
EMBOSSING

Rubber stamping is a great way to add depth and texture to your scrapbook pages, greeting cards, recipe cards, fabric, walls, you name it!  Rubber stamps can be purchased at most craft stores such as Michaels and even WalMart!  You can buy them either mounted to wood (which is more sturdy and makes it a little harder to ink the edges of your stamp--(which you don't want to do!) or foam mounted (which tends to be cheaper).  Either way, stamps give dimension to your pages that is hard to beat!

I tend to use my stamps on greeting cards more than my books.  You can buy blank greeting cards and envelopes or you can make your cards from medium to heavy cardstock.  I prefer medium because it is easier to bend into the folded shape without popping back open!  Below you will see some examples of cards that have been stamped.  Hopefully you can tell from the pictures the "3-D" effect that is achieved by stamping an image, cutting it out and layering it with other stamped images on the card or page.  To add even further depth, you can use and item like "Pop-Dots" which are small foam circles with adhesive on either side that you adhere to the back of your cut out stamped image and place on your cardstock.  This raises the image off of the page! This is really cool!!  My friend Stephanie taught me a lot about stamping and I hope to have some of her work on here soon! (If I'm really nice maybe!)

Embossing is a great way to enhance your stamped image.  You use pigment ink pads or an embossing medium (which can also be purchased where ever stamps are sold). You ink your stamp with either and stamp your cardstock (card, page, whatever) and sprinkle a glitter type substance over the stamped image, being sure to cover the entire image.....shake off the excess and heat the image using an embossing gun, which is heated with electricity to "melt" the glitter over the image!  The image puffs up and becomes textured.  It gives you the same effect as most "professional" greeting cards, especially Christmas cards...ya know what I'm talking about right?  Anyway,  these glitters come in so many different colors and textures, everything from sparkly and glittery, to puffy, to smooth and elegant looking! 

Another way to emboss is with a template and stylus.  This is when you have a basic stencil (most of these are brass) and you use a stylus pen to "rub" the image onto the page...this creates a raised effect to the image.  I have not really used this method a lot so that's pretty much all I know on that subject!

So with all that being said...and it was a lot!  Check out some of the stamping and embossing examples below!   Also, there are a couple of friends of mine who are consultants for commercial stamping companies called "D.O.T.S.  Dozens Of Terrific Stamps"  and "Stampin' Up"  Please feel free to e-mail me for more info!!!!  All of my stamped items were created using these products!!!!!  Have fun, the possibilities are limitless!