top of page
Writer's pictureRick Adkins

Faux Patina Background: with WOW Embossing Powders

Updated: Apr 14

Hello and welcome back to the blog; it's Rick back with you again this today to share with you my latest Craftsman's Corner with Rick projects for WOW Embossing Powders. Today I am going to share with you a fun technique with you about creating the look of a patinated metal with the Faux Patina Background Technique using your WOW Embossing Powders.


Faux Patina Background Blog Banner

Faux Patina Background with WOW Embossing Powders:

To create the Faux Patina Background with WOW Embossing Powder you will need a few things. You will need the Wow - Trio Dappled Effects: Fruit & Nut Marion Emberson Embossing Powders, a metallic embossing powder of your choosing. I went with the WOW Polished Silver - Super Fine Embossing Powder. But I think that the WOW! Metallic Copper Embossing Powder would look fabulous also. You will also need your WOW! Clear Ultra Slow Drying Embossing Pad, WOW! Dual Speed Heat Tool, WOW! Superior Smooth White Cardstock - A4 or A5 Cardstock, and embossing folder of your choosing, and some regular ink (this can be distress ink, dye ink, or archival ink). You will also need a stamp set for your focal image. This can be anything that you want from gnomes, flowers, and more. And that you can color the stamped images however you would like. This background is great for a multitude of focal images.


(Wondering what I used in this video/project? Everything is linked to multiple sources in the thumbnails at the end of this post, or in the text below. Compensated affiliate links used when possible).


Faux Embossing Technique Step by Step:

The first thing you are going to do is cut your paper slightly larger than you want your focal panel to be. I cut mine to 4" x 4" (10 cm x 10 cm) because I knew I wanted to make three 4 1/4" (10.5 cm) square cards.


Storytime Gnome Faux Patina Gnome Card by Rick Adkins

The next step is your cardstock (which you don't want to use a super heavy weight cardstock). Which is why the WOW! Superior Smooth White Cardstock - A4 or A5 Cardstock is perfect for this technique it's only 250 gsm, so it's a good weight for what we are going to do. Once you have you cardstock cut down and ready to go (I suggest cutting a few pieces of these because you are going to want to play with this technique and not all of them will look the same). You are then going to completely cover the cardstock with your WOW! Clear Ultra Slow Drying Embossing Pad. You want to cover the cardstock as much as possible with the embossing ink. 


After you have covered your cardstock you are going to start adding the embossing powders. I like to start with each color from the Wow - Trio Dappled Effects: Fruit & Nuts Embossing Powders. I pour one color at a time onto sections of the cardstock and dump it off on my scrap paper and funnel each color back into their respective jars. You don't want to cover the entire cardstock, but just sections of it. (DO NOT HEAT SET!)


Storytime Gnome Faux Patina Thanks Card by Rick Adkins

After you've added the Dappled Effects Embossing Powders then you are going to cover the rest of the cardstock with your chosen Metallic Embossing Powder. Like I said above in the supplies you will need I picked the WOW Polished Silver - Super Fine Embossing Powder, but I think that it would have been fabulous with the Metallic Copper Embossing Powder as well. Now you can heat set the panel.


Set the panel aside to cool. Once the panel has cooled completely you are going to repeat steps 3 & 4. You can do this has many times as you would like. I just did the two passes of the embossing powders and let them cool completely after heat setting all three of my panels.


Storytime Gnome Faux Patina Birthday Card by Rick Adkins

Once the panels are completely cooled you are going to place them in your chosen embossing folder. For my cards today I chose to use the Checkered Scallops Embossing Folder (from Spellbinders) which is the embossing folder for the March 2024 Embossing Folder of the Month Club. You can get this folder in your club kit if you sign up before March 27, 2024. And run them through your embossing machine with your normal embossing sandwich with the addition of a few cardstock shims, or a few cardstock shims and a metal adapter plate. (For my machine I had to use a cardstock shim, metal shim, and my 3D embossing plate. But everyone's machine is different and you will have to experiment to see what works best for you.) You just want to add a little more pressure to the machine to make the embossing crack around the edges of the embossing.


Once you have dry embossed your panel take it out of your embossing machine (repeat the dry embossing if you are doing more than one panel) and at this point you are going to take your chosen colored ink pads (either archival or dye ink) and brush the pad along the embossing. For all of my cards I used the following ink pads for this step Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Ranger's Coffee Archival Ink Pad, and Memento Rich Cocoa Ink Pad. Let it sit a little while.


Faux Patina Background Close Up View

If you use dye ink first you can spritz with a little water to move the ink around more and let it really soak into the cardstock.


Then take a piece of paper towel and remove the excess ink. Just buff off the excess. The ink will have soaked in around the cracked heat embossing and ink the paper as well as stick to the heat embossing to help create an aged look and add to the patinated effect. 


At this point you can let the panel dry completely and then add them to your card bases and add your focal images to the card. While my panels dried at this stage I colored my stamped images and cut them out. For my focal images I used the stamp set and coordinating dies from the March 2024 Clear Stamps & Die of the Month Club. This month's club kit features the Storytime Gnomes Clear Stamp Set and Coordinating Dies. I stamped my little gnomes for my cards in  Memento Rich Cocoa Ink and colored them with my Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend Brush Markers. Along with doing my sentiments for my cards. All I had to do to finish off the card was to add them to their card bases and mat layers.


Storytime Gnome Faux Patina Cards by Rick Adkins

And there you have it. That's how I created the Faux Patina Backgrounds with WOW Embossing Powders for the cards in this week's Craftsman's Corner with Rick. Super easy and probably way to much fun but it was really worth it. I love how the cards turned out and it's a unique look to your card that gives the look of patinated metal with ease.


Pin Me:

Follow me on Pinterest and save this image to your favorite card making board!


Faux Patina Background Pin

Materials Used:

Here you will find the list of supplies that I used to create today's card. All supplies are linked to supply sources below. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.

Happy Stampin'

Rick Adkins














Rick Adkins


Comments


bottom of page