I wanted to create a card with white embossing and Distress Ink wash background, and I couldn't decide whether to emboss first or lay the wash down first, so I thought I'd try both methods side by side to see which was more effective.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJ9zvxXk-UBycwlZ53DP5T8C8isXNil5e9E9t05xzB1mu0d1IV8wzn2jpbOIGYoNvy7YOJlL90brQbN4fvVVEdBA5IibQxeBdR74er3gcfV1wMbP2-YdzAuW_9AAyaOLhyphenhyphen6NHuiANsWDE/s1600/IMG_1014.jpg)
I stamped and white-embossed my images on one card panel using the Artsy Border Maker set by Shery, and on a separate card panel laid down a colour wash:
You can see that on the pre-stamped panel that had the colour added later (on the left), the white embossing is vibrant and better defined than on the pre-washed panel (on the right). I think it's because the layer of colour wash had changed the panel's absorbent properties slightly, allowing the Versamark ink to soak in more easily, and therefore hold less embossing powder. So the moral of the story for me is to emboss before colour washing.
Incidentally, I used Shari Carroll's Distress Ink recipe cards (available as downloads) for my colour palette. I find them really useful, because quite often I reach for the same Distress Ink colours and ignore some of the others, so these cards push me to use colour combinations I wouldn't normally think of. I printed out my recipe cards, mounted them onto black card and put them on an O ring for easy reference.
I stamped a couple of images from The Bee's Knees WorldBirthdayCakes onto spare card, coloured them with the same palette, then added them to the panels, which I'd trimmed and mounted onto white card. Here's a closer look at each card. The first one is using the pre-stamped panel:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNR_0gyJXv1jmkayhc67f8j47cddzRSLM7xgERglFTay01cGIKcO72W3llepVnHaJi6g6IBXVqti5O8P9qnb_wQzVz3XXfUlul5rJgnNg2dyfAaqdo3bOD-Y8ckWSP1V2-g1fmnbM-Bh72/s1600/IMG_1007.jpg)
This second one is using the pre-washed panel:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxBYF9OCQNNSk6Y61JkOLbiJnJbAPbyp1HscIpQwP13PGBdxjHBBO7x1sp9yAFbnsfyzH9MuBT-LDNS7z-SA05x-tL0wXxYLTdxqUo-udmAZFaMzkw-skFO8Fq51-V3W4nfAA5d4c-6eDA/s400/IMG_1006.jpg)
Stamps Shirley used in today's project:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN_eoYTwV3c4iN2sqIoCFcZBPGR5oU1scJ39AWqPc6y-R2tGRu8y6jkRyCciiclBetioxz9S1QdiMiIMhNuI5AQFDEelu2a5oJaHZbL0i5PEBm4oW6__HdkJK6yCBVxgU-W4efYPZv5VWk/s200/ArtsyBorderMaker.png)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7lAvMM5LR58upntdwnMVHuhpn-YqivEO-fUfLjtKNPXxWWQNrJ1zSFQ7YBYWBNeS122FpShdz4ifr_R1ayCNpSh9iwiJEOTJdHquRZf8DeKYp6r0klC7-PSmLRuMJ9BYjVPUdjPcQ_6N/s200/WorldBirthdayCakes.jpg)
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Thanks for sharing your experiment and your lovely cards with us. Thanks also for pointing me to Shari's recipe cards. I somehow missed that post on the SSS blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks for testing this and sharing your results. I love the colours you used, that background is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteWho would have thought that the towers look so fabulous in pastels?!
ReplyDeleteI just love the pastel background you created! Great job on you Spotlight project!
ReplyDeleteI just love the pastel background you created! Great job on you Spotlight project!
ReplyDeleteWow, very impressive pastel background!
ReplyDeleteFun to play around and experiment. Thanks for doing that for us. LOL
ReplyDeletewow this is so beautiful to look at and Thank you so much for doing a comparison...very striking!!
ReplyDeleteCheers
Dr Sonia
Great way to figure out what works best - love the soft colour palette and the fabulous use of the border stamps in creating these cards Shirley.
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Maxine
Lovely bg ! I was always confused if to add color or emboss first Thank you for doing the comparison now I know What to do first !
ReplyDeleteGreat tip. Thanks for sharing with all
ReplyDeleteLove the white embossing with the DI wash..Both cards look beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the comparison results...so helpful!
Love the colour combination you have used on this card. Thanks for sharing your experiment with us.
ReplyDeleteThat was so good of you to explain the differences, such a great tip, thank you very much. Loved the colours and stamps you've used and such gorgeous cards, thanks x
ReplyDeleteLove these cards, fabulous backgrounds! Thank you for highlighting the differences and for the link to the ink recipe cards too, brilliant! xxx
ReplyDeleteI've sometimes wondered if it makes a difference, so thanks for doing a real science experiment to find out for sure. Your mix of colors is lovely.
ReplyDeleteLove this! The colors you used are so pretty ... I don't often use pastels, this makes me want to give it a try... so pretty... did I say pretty? I'm also loving the white embossing and am never sure which order..lol....
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insight into pre-washed embossing panels and embossed panels which are then color washed!
ReplyDeleteLovely! Jo x
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful idea!! Thanks so much for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteLove the cards and new stamps... a "Leaning Tower of Pisa" cake, how cool! And what a fab tip about mounting the color palettes and putting them on a ring. Thanks for the great post, Shirley! :-)
ReplyDeleteBeauuuutiful! Love the way you created the background, pretty soft colors.
ReplyDelete