I made this Corner Fold Get Well Card using embossing pens in my Cricut. Corner Fold Cards are easy to make. I have another one for a new baby here. But I had never used embossing pens ever! My coloring class was using them and I thought about using them in my Cricut! I wasn’t sure it would work, but it did!
I will talk more about embossing pens in a minute. The card sorta fits in an A2 envelope, but I made this custom envelope for it to go in.
You will need:
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- Heavy 2 sided cardstock for the base
- Various Cardstock scraps
- Embossing Pen
- Embossing Powder
- Heat Tool (you cannot use a hair dryer)
- Glue
- Download File
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Paper Selection for the Get Well Card
The base card for this corner fold card does have to be two sided paper and fairly heavy (100 lb. wt. at least). You could use pattern for the base card if you have two sided patterned paper. The purple or blues could be patterned as long as the embossing powder shows up on the paper you use for the dark blue piece.
Embossing Pens Techniques and Tips
As I said before I had never used embossing pens before. Those of you that know me, know that I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler. That is why I own a Cricut. But after another co0oring lesson introduced me to them I thought I would try using embossing pens in my Cricut. See how to use any pen in your Cricut here. Embossing inks work by staying damp and sprinkling a special melting powder in that wet ink, then heating the powder until it melts together and then hardens. BTW you can use it for more than just letters. You can draw pictures too.
I was worried that the Cricut would dry or smear the ink and the powder wouldn’t stick but it worked great! The Get Well Card letters are done with a “bullet” size pen, which seemed sorta thick. I was curious about other sizes so I bought a pack of different size pens and tried “Happy Birthday” in each size. Here are the results:
You can see the size of pen I used by clicking on the images above (it is written on the right end). It convinced me that you can do any size and thickness of writing.
What Else You Need To Emboss With Embossing Pens
Just a word or two about embossing powders and the heat tool. Embossing powders come in just as many colors as cardstock. I used blue on the card and gold on the Happy Birthdays. The pen itself has no color. All the color comes from the powder. I found a variety pack and put a link to it above. That should give you a good variety.
You cannot use a hair dryer as the heat tool. Sorry, it just doesn’t get hot enough. (And don’t us a heat tool to dry your hair. OUCH) I have a couple that I bought at a garage sale, but if you aren’t that lucky, they aren’t really that expensive. When you use them the paper will curl, but it flattens out. Don’t worry. You can see the changes in the powder as it melts. Keep going until all the writing changes to the shiny color.
Cutting the Get Well Card
The Cricut will do all the writing. I used an embossing pen, but you can use any type pen you want. In fact, you can use any pen in your Cricut. See the trick here. I used an Access font called Be Happy in writing mode on the card.
If you are using the SVG file be sure to follow the directions in the instruction doc in the zip files so that the project ends up the right size and all the parts work.
Both download files have the envelope and liner included. If you don’t want the envelope just hide those parts and they will not cut.
Embossing with Embossing Pens
This is really easy to do. But first we need to finish the embossing process in a timely manner. While there is no rush, you need to do this before the embossing ink dries. Try not to let it sit too long.
First, you need a large piece of blank paper (any paper will do). Crease it down the middle, open it, and lay it flat with a valley fold. Lay the pieces one at a time that need embossing on that sheet. Sprinkle embossing powder over the wet ink generously. Make sure everything is well coated. Next, carefully hold the piece by the edges and tap off all the powder on to the blank sheet below and set the piece with writing aside. You can save the extra embossing powder by using a funnel or re-folding the paper and pouring the powder back in the original container.
Next, with the heat tool, heat the powder that is stuck on until it turns shiny. You should hold it about an inch or two from the paper and move it around. As I said before, don’t worry if the paper curls as it dries, it will flatten before it’s done. Make sure the whole piece has turned shiny. When it is done, set it aside and move on to the next piece, repeating the whole process.
Assembling the Get Well Card
Start by re-creasing the fold lines. Then assemble the geometric borders. They are assembled, back to front, dark blue, purple, light blue. The diagonal folds work together to make the fold over piece.
Glue the “Heard You Were Sick” overlay to the front in the corner formed below the fold over piece. Next fold the corner over and glue the flowers to it. Lastly, glue one of the shorter geometric borders to the right side of the folded over corner. The front is now done.
For those of you that don’t know, I use Art Glitter glue almost exclusively. Click the link to order it from Amazon. With the metal tip attached, this is the best glue out there. The only drawback is that if it gets too cold, It freezes and doesn’t work right. So the company doesn’t ship anywhere under 40 degrees. Order enough in the Fall to last through the Winter.
Next, open the corner fold card leaving the corner folded over. On the bottom half, glue the other embossed piece in the upper right corner just below the crease. And finally glue a short overlay to the left inside of the card and the long border at the bottom. The pictures above can show you where everything goes.
And your Get Well Corner Fold Card made with embossing pens is done! And you made your own envelope (if you wanted to).