EMBOSSING QUESTION- Machine VS Heat Gun

Sorry to OP for butting in with my questions, but could one of you accomplished machine embossers tell me if it is very hard to emboss only part of the page? I've seen a couple of beautiful examples here and it may be evident when I get my machine, but I'm looking for any coaching I can get! Hopefully your advice will help someone else too.

• Brandilynn Said:

thanks!

trying spraying the paper with a little water before embossing with the folders and rolling pin just a little

• Brandilynn Said:

I have to ask how you use a rolling pin? I've tried, and it really didn't work for me.

I have embossing templates, heavy rolling pin, and plumber's gasket (rubber sheet).

yup these are two very different things, and like them both. I do more dry embossing with a machine (actually I dont use a machine I use a rolling pin) and for wet embossing I use a hair straightener;). Save the $ for things I dont already have that I can use to get the same effect

I do both the 'wet' and 'dry' embossing - so far dry embossing with only a brass template and stylis. But my Sweety just ordered the Big Kick for me, so I can hardly wait to get it and start to play! Amarilys - your invitations are gorgeous! How do you emboss only part of the paper using a machine?

I was going to say the same thing as Amy.

The techniques (and results) are VERY different. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

It depends on what look you want. I recently did some heat embossing using a swirl stamp on white paper and pearl white powder. It was beautiful, and very wedding-like.

• Smashley Said:

If you use metallic, pearl or shimmer paper you can get a pretty embossed image too, they generally dry emboss really well.

It depends on the look you are going for. I did all my post-wedding thank you cards with heat embossing. I invited a friend over and we did it assembly-line style. Only took a couple hours, really. But that was just stamping and embossing the words "Thank You" on the front of cards. Just keep in mind that any dry embossing you do will have a matte finish because it just imprints an image into the paper. If you're going for raised print or a glossy finish on the image, you will most likely have to stamp and heat emboss.

Just curious, but do you know how different these embossing techniques are? I think many newbies see the word "embossing" and think that they may be just different ways of achieving the same look, but the shared word is a bit confusing I think.
If you are aware of the differences, please feel free to disregard my post, I definitely don't mean to be patronizing!

In my papercrafting I do a lot of heat and machine embossing. I love the looks! Here is a card that has machine embossing on it, both a dot pattern and decorative pattern.
New Home Congrats! By Here Kitty
As you can see, it adds a lot of nice texture and there are many things you can do to the machine embossed images - paint/ink/chalk over them, sand them, and even heat emboss OVER the machine embossing.

You can make very elegant wedding cards/invites/etc with machine embossing and it is pretty easy and quick. Here is a white on white card to give you an example of a bridal type card.
Shimmery Cream on cream By Here Kitty

Heat embossing takes more time and there are more opportunities to "mess" things up IMO. It's a fantastic technique, but I wouldn't want to do a large batch of cards where I had to heat emboss more than just a single image or sentiment.
The poinsettia on this card was heat embossed and colored in a bit.
Poinsettia Season's Greetings By Here Kitty

I personally use the heat gun. BUT for your purpose where you will be doing many multiples I would spring for the machine.

I would use machine embossing for wedding invitations. Like previous posters mentioned, the cost may be a little bit more, but garage sales are great places to find things. I went to a scrapbooking garage sale this past spring and found embossing powders for $1 and stamp pads for cheap too!

I guess I have never gotten the hang of the heat gun with embossing. I keep pulling it out and trying it again, but still do not like the results. Probably just me, but if you could try one of each out before you go out and buy one it might help you decide.

first of all, congrats! I got married last year and asked a similar question. I bought the cuttlebug (it has more embossing folders) but ended up not having enough time to make my invites so I ended up buying pre made ones.

I made two invites recently for my design team and I thought that I'd share with you. Remember to keep it simple though. You will be making quite a few and it can get expensive and might take too long to complete if you make them too ornate.

Invitation 1
Wedding Invitation 01 closed By Amarilys

Wedding Invitation 01 open By Amarilys

Invitation 2
Wedding Invitation 02 closed By Amarilys

Wedding Invitation 02 open By Amarilys

Keep in mind whichever one you do not get first , you may find in the upcoming Summer Garage sales! I have found so many great items at G-sales- got my Sizzix for $10 plus some dies for $1 at a G-sale! And I have gotten heat embossing guns for $1 too...they thought it was a hairdryer! I explained what it was and asked if they were still selling it for $1 and they were like- "a what?, Um we don't do stuff like that! You can take it" Yes there are actually people who are not scrappers out there! Just ask to plug it in to test before you buy, to be sure it heats

I would say that if you are planning on using them for wedding ivitations then I would recomment a machine. It may be a little more expensive, but it would be easier, especially for multiple items and it is well worth it. I have both, but I do use both for different things. I did baby invites for my sister-in-law and was planning on heat embossing the inside, but it was just too unpredictable...probably because I am still a beginner.

Both options have their pros and cons.

Machine embossing
The initial cost of one of the machines plus the dies/embossing folders can be very expensive but there is practically no learning curve. Just put your paper and die in the machine. Using this option gives you embossing over your entire sheet of paper.

Heat embossing
This option is a lot cheaper to start because you only need a heat tool, embossing powder of your choice, stamp, and ink. But this option has a learning curve to get precise images and will only emboss the one image based on where you stamp it on your page.

Hi everyone,
im new to scrapbooking and i am very interested in embossing. I am wondering which is better to get started on- a machine (like the sizzix or something like that) or a heat gun? Also what would be easier and cheaper in the long run? I am planning to use this technique both for scrapbooking and esp. making my wedding invitations.

Any advice please

Thank you!
cynthia