1- To begin you will need to tape down the edges of your stencil to the piece of paper or card you are going to use for your card making. You will need to work as quickly as possible because once the embossing paste is applied it will soon begin to dry.



2- Use a palette knife to apply the paste to the

stencil.

Smooth it over the stencil just as you would apply icing to a cake taking care not to lift the pallet knife off until all areas have been covered. Then scrape off the excess paste by holding the palette knife at a slight angle pulling it down across the surface of the stencil.

3- Any excess paste should be immediately placed back into the pot and the lid closed tightly to avoid it drying out.

4-Wash the stencil in warm soapy water as soon as you can to avoid the paste drying on the stencil as this can be a real pain to remove later on.

5- You can add glitter to your image at this point if you wish which will give the image a sparkly look.

6- Once you have carefully removed the stencil leave the image to dry for twenty to forty minutes.

Embossing paste can be used on a variety of stencils and will always make your card making ideas stand out. The stencils themselves can also be used as a template for normal embossing, heat embossing and also to draw around.

When attaching your finished image to your card always ensure that the image is totally dry. If you smudge the paste it is impossible to remove the mistake at a later point. Never try to dry the embossing paste with a heat gun as this can cause the embossing paste to over heat and crack.

You may find the drying time varies depending on the humidity of where you are. Some images will require over half an hour to dry while others will take even longer. To test the image is dry lightly touch it with the tip of your finger being careful not to smudge it.

The best thing you can do with embossing paste is to experiment. Add color using chalks after your image has dried. Add glitter when wet and try different colors of pastes. Most importantly the color will change depending on what color card or paper you are using.

Although this method is a little bit on the messy side it is fun and a great way of creating 3D images to your card making ideas. The technique can also be used for scrapbooking and even decorating items around your home.