As we gear up for a festive Halloween, begin to consider your love of crafting and those creatures that go ‘bump’ in the night. What better way to combine the two than embossing? Embossing can add frightfully delightful visual interest to all of your spooky cards, invitations, party décor, layouts, and altered projects.

Embossing is a technique which creates a raised, three dimensional effect onto your paper. There are two ways to emboss. You may choose to dry emboss with the use of an embossing machine and embossing folders or heat emboss with the use of stamps, ink, embossing powder, and a heating tool. As an artist, I have experimented with each of the aforementioned methods and have found them both to be quick, easy, and fun.

I hope the projects below will inspire you to pull out those ghoulishly grand scrapbooking supplies and create a project of your own that is sure to scare up some fun!

Haunted House Card by Aymee Gandy

Supplies: Paper: Die Cuts With a View, Cardstock: The Paper Studio, Bazzill Basics Paper, Ribbon: Ribbon FX (Hobby Lobby), Bling, Pearls: Queen & Co, Glitter Glue: Ranger Industries, Chalk: Nicole, Adhesive: Helmar, Other: pom pom trim. Tools: Electronic Cutter, Cartridge: Cricut (Provo Craft), Embossing Machine, Embossing Folders: Cuttlebug (Provo Craft).

Design Notes: For this shaped card, I first cut the house out of a Christmas themed Cricut cartridge. I cut out the house at 6 inches and decorated it to resemble a haunted house. I added a bit of embossing to the roof and to the front door. I added dimension to the card through the use of bling, pearls, and ribbon. Last, I made a cardstock card and attached it to the back of the house so the card could stand on its own and display a Halloween message.

Boo by Carol Fretwell

Supplies: Paper: My Mind’s Eye, Cardstock: The Paper Studio, Die Cuts With a View, Ribbon: Offray, Button, Brads: The Paper Studio, Glitter Glue: Ranger Industries, Software: Sure Cuts A Lot (Craft Edge), Font: Double Feature. Tools: Electronic Cutter, Cartridge: Cricut (Provo Craft), Embossing Machine, Embossing Folders: Cuttlebug (Provo Craft).

Design Notes: I created this easel style card for Halloween. I used a combination of Cricut die cuts and embossing with my Cuttlebug. I found the font online and used Sure Cuts A Lot software to cut that out. I used pop dots to pop my cat and witch off the page for added dimension.

Witch Hat by Kerri Yarus

Supplies: Cardstock: The Paper Company, Ribbon: Offray, Ink: Staz-On (Tsukineko), Other: tulle, transparency, stickers, container, material, pins. Tools: Embossing Machine, Embossing Folders: Cuttlebug (Provo Craft).

Design Notes: I altered a small container that originally contained chicken bouillon cubes. I embossed a transparency sheet with my spider web folder so you would still be able to see the candy inside the container. For the hat, I started with a 6 inch circle, cut it in half, and embossed one of the halves with the spider web embossing folder. Then, I rolled that half into a cone. The lid is just some spider web material that I found in a clearance bin and some black tulle. I glued the spider web material to the top of the lid and then tied a piece of black tulle around the lid to create the brim of the hat. I then placed four squares of black tulle over the container filled with candy and twisted the cat on to create an extra fluffy rim. Last, I added a spider sticker to a one inch embossed circle and secured with sewing pins. This was a very quick and easy project that I completed in 20 minutes.