Embossed Moroccans

Happy day after my birthday! LOL Yes, it was my birthday yesterday and I thought I was being so slick and not mentioning it.  The joke was on me when you guys saw the birthday card for me on Julia Watts blog!  I have to admit that I always read the comments on the blog first thing so I was so surprised to see all the birthday wishes.  I couldn't figure it out at first.  You should have seen me scratching my head, walking in circles, muttering, how did they know?  But I loved it!  I think it's the kid in me that still loves that special feeling you get on your birthday!  I hear the Queen even threw a big party for me!  Shame I couldn't make it, oh well, there's always next year! LOL

For today's card, I am hoping to remind you not to forget that you can emboss with your dies without having to cut anything and still make a nice card!  I think we all tend to just use our dies to cut stuff, but if you need a really quick card, this is it!  I stamped my sentiment on my card first.  Next I laid out my dies around my sentiment and taped them face down to the card.  I like the way they look when they are going off the edge of the card so this was deliberate.  If you don't, then just move them so they are entirely within the piece of card you are using.  If you notice, I used the same Moroccan Motif for both of the embossed areas.  To do this you will need to do have of your card, then move it and do the other half, but don't put your mat over the first one or your embossing will be made flat when you put it back through the machine.  I hope that makes sense.  I did, however, ink the die while it was still in place each time using Dusty Concord distress ink to help highlight the embossed areas and help them pop a bit.  Using the feather stamp from the Design Element stamp set, I added a few to the areas that were left unembossed to add interest to the background.  I added a swirl of black rhinestones across the page for a bit more interest after all it is a flat card without a bow so I didn't want you to be bored!  It cried out for some piercing around the edge so, of course, it had to be added, but that finished it off nicely I think.  There are a few close ups I've added, but I hope you will give it a try when you need a quickie next time.  Thanks again for your lovely wishes yesterday!  All for now, Sue x