How do you emboss drawings already on greeting cards, without using stamps?

Do you mean "emboss" as in using embossing powders?... or "emboss" as in embossing a depressed area by drawing on a paper with a "ball stylus" or something similar?





If you're thinking of using embossing powders, you can go over the area you want to add the powder to with a special "embossing pen"... for larger areas you'll need the felt one which has a larger nib than the ball-point type.





Or other things will take awhile to dry too, so they can be used for adhering embossing powder... here are a few:





...ordinary ball point pens


...some colored "painting pens" (they have brushlike nibs) that have "slow-drying" inks


...glycerin from the drug store (apply with any implement you like)





(after applying, pour on the embossing powder, tap off excess, then heat over a lightbulb or with an embossing heat gun till the powder melts)





If you meant the other kind of embossing, I'd guess you'd just trace a metal ball-point stylus around any areas you wanted to emboss (indent) while the card is on something soft like a newspaper section or sheet of craft foam, etc..


If you want those areas to be indented *outward* toward you rather than inward, do the tracing from the back side of the card. (there are various ways to get the pattern on the back side, but the simplest might be to trace the lines lightly with a thin ball stylus from the front, then turn card over and use those lines to emboss properly on a soft surface... or use a piece of carbon or sewing transfer paper upside down).








HTH,





Diane B.