ix  victoria.hargreaves@btinternet.com - Make sure you lift your stencil off bottom to top to reduce risk of smudging. When its still wet you can decorate with ultra fine glitters & use hairspray to seal. Glitter can also be applied when dry using glue, or my fav stickles :)

Barbara L Vola barbarav@JUNO.COM
Embossing paste is this paste that is made by Dreamweaver (who has the most awesome brass stencils!) as well as others. You mask off your brass stencil on a piece of paper (I usually use post-it notes to mask) so that the paste doesn't get on your cardstock. Then you slather the paste (there are two types - regular and translucent) and scrape it off level with the stencil (being VERY careful not to get lines through the paste. You immediately remove your stencil and wash it off (the paste will etch the stencils if left on). You allow the paste to dry for about an hour (I usually let mine sit overnight). After the paste is dry, you replace your stencil on the image and then color the image with your medium of choice. So far, I like chalks applied with a stipple brush the best. I have also used markers (it's hard to get even application of color with markers) and metallic rub ons. With the chalks and the stipple brush, you can get better color gradiations than with anything else I have tried. The translucent paste is a little different. With them, you put the stencil on your paper and color through the stencil onto the paper (again, use your favorite medium - chalks, markers, whatever). After the image has been colored, you slather on the translucent paste. Again, scrape it off level with the stencil, remove the stencil, wash it, and let the translucent paste dry. You should be able to see the image you colored through the translucent. I'm not a big fan of the translucent yet, maybe I need to experiment with it a bit more.
What the embossing paste does is give you a raised image. Quite pretty.

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For information on related topics see:
Tips & Techniques: Debossing, Dry Embossing, Water Embossing