Personalised Embossed Wallets

Just before Christmas, I invested in an embossing stamp tool on eBay [search metal stamping kit and you’ll find a range that average around £8 - £13].  I love stamp projects and have used them in stationery and food crafts [not at the same time, don't worry].

For presents last year, I personalised some card wallets picked up in the sales for gift cards and it was much simpler and less scary than I thought it would be. 

What I Used:

Metal Punch Stamp Kit

Fabric Card Wallet

Practice makes perfect and I was not going to take any risks with this DIY, so I used cardboard and scrap pvc/leatherette fabric to really practice placement and technique.

The tool is spring-loaded, so with a quick push, the stamp is snapped in to the fabric with an obvious click, punching and embossing the fabric.  This took me a while to figure out – I’d just been pushing the stamp with as much weight as I could – and you can see the difference in the impressions left below - firstly on the card:

..and then on the fabric

see the change in the word [ignore the wonky 'T'!]:

Once I got the hang of how the tool actually worked [*rolls eyes*], I started to practice the placement of letters and spacing between them.  I’m excellent and well versed in stamping words that can have a space that almost creates two separate ones - sometimes, this is a lovely by-product of handmade items and adds much more charm to a project, however; I practiced to minimise the variance in spacing between letters.  As the stamps were diamond-shaped, there wasn’t really a special technique to this that I could find – practice and judging by eye, then making a very light impression to double check before embossing worked best for me.  Once I’d practiced all I could, it was time to emboss the wallet.

The wallet is made from pvc fabric, so I knew that this would mean after the stamp was punched, the fabric would have a bit of ‘spring’ and mould back in to place around the embossed letter.  [A fabric such as leather will leave an impression less likely to change after stamped].

To help with my alignment, I placed a paper tab to give me a clear [but removable] straight guide line to follow:

I also used the diamond shape of the stamp to help me ensure the letter would be pressed in a straight line, lining up the bottom point with the paper tab edge:

Choosing my position, making a light impression to check I was happy, I stamped the initials:

Once complete, I ‘fixed’ the impressions further with a quick run with the iron [under a tea towel to protect the fabric].  I then added the initials to the back as well [I felt like I was on a bit of a roll....]

I’m really pleased with the outcome and will be a bit braver with what I emboss in the future – whether full names or quotes and I’d like to try embossing with colour next – if it happens, I’ll share the results on here!

see you next time x 

Notes:

• The stamps I purchased were a little ‘straight off the machine in to the packaging’ – so needed a little clean and thorough dry before use.  It may be worth doing this to your stamps to minimise them marking your fabric – once adhered, it can be difficult to remove and create a ‘smudge’ effect around the embossing.

• The letters are formed closely to the edges of the stamp – meaning some letters stand out more than others [I found the A in particular wasn’t as defined as others]

• The letters do not stand away from the stamp, so once punched; the outline of the stamp may also be visible [you can see this is a few of the photos].  I did find that after a few minutes, this outline disappeared and any debris from the spring easily wiped away [mainly thanks to the finish of the fabric].