FIND OUT FRIDAY TUTORIAL: Heat Embossing

Heat embossing is a stamping technique that has been around for a very long time.  But for each new stampers, it is a fresh new possibility.  And for those of us who have been stamping for a while, it sometimes takes us by surprise when we forget it. 

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TOOLS:

Heat tool

Powder Pal tray and embossing buddy

ink

Versamark ink

Embossing powder

tweezers

Ink up your main image.  It usually works best with two step images to only emboss the detail our outline part of the image.

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Add in any and all images that will be in the background before adding the elements that will be embossed.  Once you have embossed, the raised profile of the image will interfere with any other stamping you might want to do.

Rub the paper and the powder pal tray with an embossing buddy.  This powder filled pouch is used to remove static from your surfaces.  It leaves behind a fine powder that counteracts the charge that can cause embossing powders, glitter or other fine products to stick to the wrong part of your project.  This is technically an optional step, but it will save you a lot of headaches if you use it.

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Ink all of your detail images with Versamark clear watermark ink.  This thick, sticky ink will allow the embossing powder to adhere to your image.  You can also use any of the craft inks for this step.

If you are embossing an image that is colored with clear embossing powder, you can ink your stamp first with Versamark, then with your color before stamping it onto your project.  This allows you to layer on both a colored ink and a sticky medium to attract the powder.  Often I will stamp with versamark and then Summer Sun ink to make the line look more solid when embossing in gold. The same works with basic black and black, going grey and silver.  Whisper white and very vanilla are craft inks (pigment inks) so they work just fine on their own.

If you are working on a fairly small image, go ahead and stamp all of the detail and emboss them at once.  The Versamark will not dry quickly so you have a little time to work.

In this image you may be able to just make out the dim outline of the Versamark on the paper.

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Pour on your embossing powder.  Do not be sparing--you will be collecting what is left over and returning it to the jar so pour it all out if you need to.  Cover the whole image.

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Let the powder sit for just  a little bit to make sure that it sticks to your sticky ink.

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.Curl the paper and pour the excess back into the jar.  Tap the edge of the paper off on the Powder Pal tray to remove any excess.  Use the brush to put any stray powder back in the jar using the convenient pour spout in the tray.  You can also use the brush to very carefully sweep away any stray powder that may have stuck where you don't want it.

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The image should be clearly on the lines you stamped, but it will look fuzzy because right now it is just grains of powder.

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. Hold the image down with a tool like the tweezers from the tool kit.  Make sure that if it is resting on a surface that the surface is heat resistant.  Many a self healing cutting mat has met its demise this way.  One good idea is to wrap an old phone book in foil and use that as a backdrop for your embossing. 

Hold the tool steady and wait for it to heat up.  When you see the powder starting to shimmer and dance, then melt, you have the temperature right.  Slowly move from one section of the image to the next.  It is a good idea to hold you project in good light and turn it to see if everything is uniformly shiny--a hint of powdery finish means you have some more cooking to do. 

Be sure to move the heat tool, though slowly.  Leaving it too long on one spot can boil the powder and or singe the paper.  Also, be SURE to unplug your heat tool any time you set it down for a minute.  You might get called away or distracted.  Pets, children and gravity can turn these things on and for some the results have been disastrous.  I unplug as soon as I'm done each time--a little bit of a hassle, but I know me.  Better a hassle than to forget.

So there it is.  In the next tutorial, I'll show you how to use the Crop-a-Dile.  This amazing tool is new in our line of products and I love it.  It is bringing about the renaissance of the eyelet.  Stay tuned.

Comments

[Tammy]

Thank you for posting the tutorial.

[Joyce]

Thanks for the embossing tips - my embossing powder wasn't always sticking to the versamark!

[Michelle]

Great tutorial!