Taking Claudine Hellmuth's Class

I am fortunate to be able to take another online class, this time by Claudine Hellmuth via www.bigpictureclasses.com .  The class is entitled Composition for Collage.  My first piece for homework for the class is below, entitled Hearts and Flowers.  I used canvas inked with Distress Stains for the background, the woman image is from Claudine Hellmuth and I printed it out on iridescent paper, the flowers are iridescent brads on paper flowers with ribbon stems, and the bottom border is a preprinted paper from my stash.  

Thanks for checking out my blog.  Comments are always welcome and appreciated!

A Wax Paper Resist Embossing Technique

I saw a video on Tim Holtz's website (timholtz.com) where he uses his stamps that coordinate with his embossing folders to create a raised, stamped background image.  I then watched a video at a later point from www.StampTV.com in which a wax resist technique was done.  I liked both techniques and thought of a way to incorporate parts of both into my own wax resist embossing.  So many people are out there trying techniques and making videos and blog posts, I can't claim to be the first one to try this; but, I can honestly say I have not seen it anywhere before.  I taught it to my local stamp club members when I was in charge of leading the class for our meeting and they really seemed to like it.

I used cardstock cut to size to fit in embossing folder, wax paper cut to size to fit in embossing folder, Distress Inks and Tim Holtz ink applicator from Ranger, embossing folder, craft iron, heat-resistant ironing surface/teflon craft sheet (I used a folded towel to protect surface as well). 

My steps for getting the wax onto the cardstock are the ones as shown on StampTV, so please go to YouTube and look at her excellent wax resist video if you want to know how that is done.  Her videos are very well done and there are lots of great things to learn there!

Once I have the two pieces of cardstock with a wax pattern now melted into them, I then used the Tim Holtz Distress inks to color my paper as I like, and I got something like this below.  Please note the background paper is made using a Provo Craft Cuttlebug embossing folder, however, the image is not raised at all because the cardstock did not go through the embossing machine, only the wax paper used to make the pattern did. 

Taking this to the next level, I then used part of the idea from Tim Holtz's video and sent an inked image through the embossing machine so the image is raised.  By taking my cardstock that has been heated so the wax melts and creates a pattern, then inking it with Distress Inks, I could then line up the cardstock with the pattern in the embossing folder so that when I sent it through the machine, it looked something like this...

What is the benefit to this, you may ask?  In my opinion, the wax paper is giving an entirely different texture to the image by creating areas of voids where the ink does not absorb into the paper (resist).  I really like that it gives me an entirely different look from my embossing folders.

I then swiped a darker Distress ink over the surface of my embossed and inked cardstock, just to hit the high points.  This example uses same embossing folder, but colored with different Distress Inks.

And, finally, I tried one where I did not line up the pattern when I embossed it and swiped a black ink over the raised portions.  This one is probably my favorite!

I think it really adds a level of complexity and interest to what already is a very interesting embossing folder pattern. 

Tip:  When using embossing folders with words or numbers, you are going to get a reverse image on your second piece of cardstock as in the below example.  If you notice the numbers on the bottom are backwards on the cardstock on the left.  That can still be something you can use somewhere and isn't necessarily a throw away.