RePost: Embossed Foam Tutorial

This is a post from the archives: January 23, 2014.

Thanks for your enthusiasm about my Ranger Designer Challenge Project!  So many of you asked for the how-to that I decided to put together this quick step-by-step tutorial.

Supplies:

1. Embossing Folders and a Die Cut Machine (not shown)
2. Distress Paints
3. Metal Tape (from the hardware store -- it's actual metal)
4. Fun Foam (I like the adhesive backed kind)
5. Black Permapaque
6. Scissors
7. Sandpaper

Apply the metal tape to the fun foam.

Slightly overlap the pieces as needed and then trim the excess tape away.

Cut the foam/metal tape into smaller pieces, so they'll fit inside the embossing folders.

Apply Distress Paint, mixing the various colors together.

Allow to dry.  Once the paint has dried, apply a second coat of paint...

...so that none of the metal tape shows.  Allow it to dry.

Once the paint is dry, you're ready to emboss!

Follow the directions for your particular die cut machine on how to emboss.

If you don't let the paint dry all the way, you'll find that the embossing folder peels it off.

Here's what the embossed foam looks like:

Sand the embossed pieces to reveal the metal tape on the raised areas.

Something to consdier when you're placing the foam into the embossing folder is whether you want your design to be embossed (design raised) or debossed (designed pushed in). 

There's no right or wrong, just what you prefer!

Now you're ready to cut up your foam and use it as you wish.  One little detail -- I like to use a black marker to finish off the edges of the foam:

To create the piece I shared yesterday, I simply layered lots and lots of pieces of this embossed foam.

But there are lots of other things you could do with this foam pieces.  For instance, using the pieces I made for today's tutorial, I put together a cute pair of earrings:

What will you make with your embossed foam pieces?

Thanks for stopping by!