Heat Embossing,,,,

OK, some of you enablers, who shall remain NAMELESS (coughMichellecough) have inspired me to try heat embossing,,,,,

but, I'm a total newbie,,,,,,what do i need? ROUGHLY how much does it cost? How do I do it?

I know I need some kind of heat gun,,,,,what about protecting my surface? Any tips??? tricks? techniques you want to share??

you really don't need much extra form you you most likely already have in your stash.

*definitely a heat tool
*embossing powder in any color you want. since you're just starting out with it, you might just want to stick with either clear or black.
*any stamp
*a very wet ink pad

if you use a colored ink and clear embossing powder, then the ink color will show through. if you use a clear embossing ink and a colored embossing powder, then the powder color will show through.

Once you have everything, the best thing is just to play and have fun.

Oh Holly - welcome to the DARK side!! I love stamping and I love heat embossing.

One of the things I've learned over the years is in some cases quality of product makes a difference in results. I find that true in stamping/embossing. Get a "good" brand of the basics and they will last forever. Cheaper brands of ink and embossing powders don't give me the same excellent results.

Its so easy - don't be intimidated which some folks have said they are at first.

couple of suggestions. Do you have a versamark pad? I find that the best pad for putting my image on my cardstock pre-embossing. I don't recommend you start w/the kind that has the dazzle in it for your first pad. (tip - versamark makes a nice watercolor type image on cardstock so you can stamp your image on say a blue paper and a darker shade of the same blue will show the stamped image. In this case you won't need to go any further - I digress just to show you the versatility of the versamark pad)

so step 1. stamp your image onto your project. You can use the mentioned versamark pad or any pigment ink. Pigment ink takes longer to dry and therefore holds the embossing powder well.

step 2. I use a coffee filter to put under my project or if its a large project a piece of scrap paper. pour the embossing powder over the stamped image.

step 3. tap off the excess powder onto the filter/scrap paper. set project down and pour excess back into the powder jar.

step 4. turn on the heat tool and watch the powder "melt" that is how you will know that you are done. I don't put the heat tool too close and kind of move it around a bit so that it doesn't get too hot in one area.

Here is a tip I've found - I bought cheap embossing powder at M's and/or J's and HL and it sort of bubbles. the better quality ones don't. I haven't tried the zing here as its new but knowing american crafts makes good quality I bet its great.

Somepeople rub an antistatic bag over the project first to prevent stray embossing powder but they dont' have one here to show you. I don't use it. I just give a good flick of my fingers on the back of the paper before I heat and the stray comes off - occasionally I'll use a clean paint brush to get off any tiny bits of embossing powder elsewhere on the page.

Ok - so I wrote a novel which may be WAY more than you wanted to know about embossing but I am in bed this am with a cold and bored..

Let us see your project when you try it!

Andrea

I love heat embossing; makes cards look so pretty. Go into youtube and type in "heat embossing" and several videos will pop up to choose from. You'll learn something. My craft room is next to a bathroom and that is where I set up my embossing station when doing it. I do tend to get some of the powder around.

I hold small items with a wooden clothes pin so as not to burn myself. I bought my heat tool and collection tray at J's with 50% off coupon. I prefer the heat tool that has the little metal stand on it. I use the Versamark clear watermark stamp pad most of the time with colored powder. It's 'juicy' enough for heat embossing. You don't need a tray; can just put excess on a piece of paper and fold to pour powder back into bottle.

It's fun and doesn't take long to master.

sounds like versamark is the best,,,,,I don't mind spending a little more money for a better quality,,,,,,,,that has always made more sense to me,,,,,

so, what's a good quality embossing powder?? I see alot of Tim Holtz,,,,,is he good???

also, one of the things I am interested in doing is heat embossing chipboard letters,,,,

I am assuming I can ink the chipboard letters and then cover them with the embossing powder??

sorry to sound so ignorant,,,,,,,,but um,,,I AM ignorant!!!!!!!

Well I don't know about heat embossing cause i havn't done it, but I know that the rest of the tim holtz stuff is awesome so im assuming that it is pretty good stuff.

• CommaHolly Said:

I haven't tried that but don't see why you couldn't. Getting ink on the sides of the letters could be a problem as would holding the letters while applying heat. Let us know how that goes when try it. I prefer to just put Diamond glaze on my painted chipboard.

Holly - you can do multiple layers of embossing. That may not be necessary but for bigger projects I have found it helps. While the embossing powder is still hot pour on a bit more and then reheat as many times as you need to get the coverage that you want. You can also re apply the versamark and then repowder and heat. Make sense?

Andrea

I do believe that's what the little enablers, er scrapbookers were talking about, Andrea

Good morning, Holly. For the technique I've been talking about on the other thread, and I think that's what Michelle uses for her letters, is UTEE...Ultra Thick Embossing something...I used just regular clear, it wasn't ultra thick and it didn't do as well. I am just getting into this area so I'm not sure which is the best. I bought a smaller jar of the UTEE to try and I've been happy with it.

Well Holly if you REALLY want me to be an enabler then I have to tell you that you can get great results by using colored pigment ink and clear embossing powder...but then you would have to buy all the colors of the pigment ink (like I did w/the SU! craft ink spots) so you could always have what you NEEDED.

but we wouldn't want me to enable would we?

HMMMMMMM I think I need some UTEE,,,now where do I find that???

LOL, Andrea,,,,,like you've never enabled before,,,,,eyeroll,,,,

You can get UTEE anywhere, I am sure your local J's or M's has it. YOu can also find here at sb.com...just about anywhere. It can be expensive so get a coupon if going to a local store.

Andrea...thanks for all the great advice, this is something I am starting to venture into also and you really helped!!! Would staz-on ink also be good for heat embossing?

When you get reallllllyyyy into it Holly, try using the Marvy Uchida Puffy Velvet Pen Sets (fabric markers) when coloring in your stamping! I was just playing around with a set the other day that I had fogotten was in my stash, and the puffed up "velvet-y" polka dots were so cute! Not to mention, fun to make and add as something extra for stamping and cards or LOs!

NOT ANOTHER TECHNIQUE...UGH! Now, there are two types of fabric pens I want to buy??? When will it ever end???

OMG STEPH, THAT'S WHAT I WAS THINKING!!!!!!! DOES IT EVER END?????????

Another great embossing tool is the embossing pen - Ranger has a 2 piece set of them that are great - esp for detailing, corners etc. you can draw with them, write you name it! Also for the heat gun, I got mine for $10 w/coupon at J's, it was made by Darice works very well! Have fun, once you start, like anything else in this hobby you can't stop

i loooove heat embossing and frequently i cover an entire piece of chipboard and emboss it... im embossing crazy... you'll find it can get addictive,

as far as brands go, tim holtz is good but i wouldnt start there because they arent typical embossing powders, they have distress crystals in them which means that some parts wont stick and its random. also it doesnt give that smooth shiny feel it gives a really cool old weathered, welldistressed look....which is good for some projects but if i were you id start with clear embossing powder its the most versatile. as far as brands for colored, i do really love the zing ones by AC.

my current fav thing to do is using it as a resist- ill start out with whatever color paper i want( white and kraft are my fav) and stamp on something with versamark and heat emboss it. once its cooled a bit, it onlytakes like 30 seconds, i use distress inks and blending tool to cover the project im working on with whatever color, and the embossed section resists the image,
i wait for the distress ink to compleltey dry, walk away or have 2 projects going at once so i can switch in and out then ill stamp something elsewith versmark emboss and repeat. and choose another color for blending on, i usuallydo this in a few layersand itgives an amazing look... ill post a tag ive done later so you can see.

also i wanted to mention that the first few times you do it can be,, well not scary buti was def nervous as what to expect. and a new gun smokes no matter what the first time. it says so on the package. and my first few times i also underembossed the things.

anyhow... another really fun technique with metallic embossing powder.....

small scrap of paper cover entire piece with versamark, then metallic powder, emboss it and let it cool and repeat the steps so you build 4 layers up.... then take a stamp, ink it up with versamark and push down,,, do this right after you embossed the last layer, you want it to be warm still.. anyhow once you removed thestamp, your image looks like its etcheed into metal.. super cool then cut out around the part you want and put it on your project!

You might want to use craft tweezers (not plucking tweezers) to hold your item when you heat emboss it.

all excellent advice ladies, thankyou,,,,

I am confused about one thing though,,,,

why can't you just leave your ietem on the table to emboss it? why do you have to HOLD it with anything??

The heat tool gets HOT and I've warped my CM cutting mat with it. You don't want to scorch your table/fingers either (not to mention the air blows the object around a bit). I use a clipboard covered with aluminum foil and clip my project on and emboss on that. I've also heard of people having a small metal cookie sheet just for embossing stuff in too.

Oh yeah, don't ever try to heat emboss PLASTIC slide mounts. Don't ask me how I know this.

I have the Stampin Up embossing buddy (the anti-static pouch). I really love it and can totally tell the difference when I forget to use it. I get stray powder sticking to everything.

You can cover a clipboard with foil, which does two things; reflects the heat back onto the project, and you can clip your paper under the clip to hold it.

thankyou,,,,,

oy, it sounds so confusing,,,,

• Snix Said:

I can't find these pens at M's or J's- has anyone seen them there?

• CommaHolly Said:

It's not really. Once you get the supplies together and are working with them, everything will make more sense.

i have one of the ranger craft sheets that i use for my embossed image and if its really small and blows around i adhere it down to mat with temp adhesive,or even a glue dot since they can easily pulled off that mat

oh cool idea, Christal, thankyou!!!!!!!

I use a chopstick or skewer to hold mine in place and I heat it over a ceramic tile (or the floor which is tile) so I don't get burned.

The heat tool is also really cool for doing shrink plastic (shrinky dinks)- I know- I'm enabling again- but if ya got the heat tool why not use it to it's full advantage???

• seaexplore Said:

I got mine at J's. They were over by the plain T-shirts, not in the scrappy stuff. I had to ask though, and they pointed them out to me.

• seaexplore Said:

I wouldn't have even thought of using it with shrinky dinks! Sweet! Where do you buy the shrink plastic? I've never tried it.

Hey Holly, take a look at this video,maybe this will help you a bit more.Also you can search for more videos at you tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDCwq2MTfsY&a mp;feature=...

I've been really starting to use my embossing more and I need those puffy velvet markers now ugh more things to my list LOL.

I too love my static free little baggie thingy i can tell a difference when i dont use mine too

Ya know as dumb as this sounds I had NO IDEA that the versamark will work for embossing too. thats awesome

I've tried a bunch of different things and I can tell you that VersaMark has to be the best ink I've ever used for heat embossing. I also really like the AC Zing powders. On chipboard, I use a very thin layer of liquid glue before adding embossing powder. I also stick a long pin in the side so I make sure I cover the entire piece. My craft mat keeps me from scorching my table.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLhH6d3rNEo

Stampin' Up has the embossing powders and inks that work really well also. I just made a card using the heat embossing technique. We also used a bleach pen. It was very cool.

Ok... so this is a great thread and I'm going to mark it a favorite. I've got the tools, just haven't used them yet and this is inspiring me to do so. Maybe today! Anyway, does Zing or Stampin' Up sell a set of embossing powders? Thanks!

I've got it marked as a fav so I can read it again, my head is spinning,,,,,,,,I'm so confusedddddddddddddddddd , lol,,,,,,

thanks for the video Nury,,,,,I'm such a visual learner

It always helps when you are able to see it actually done. Or at least I think so!

• Cindy M Said:

I don't know about Zing...but Stampin' Up doesn't sell sets of powders...just individual jars.

One way of doing different colors without a lot of powders is getting a set of pigment ink cubes and using clear powder. That way you not only have ink to use on paper and chipboard by itself, you can also emboss with it and have a lot of colors with just one jar of powder.

• scraprabbit Said:

I ordered them from the sizzix site but I've seen them at M's and they carry them here!

i love the new ZING powders. very crisp. especially the white.
the ranger distress inks work well with embossing powders, as do the stayz on ink pads. different effects. i've covered many a chipboard with embossing powders- easy-squeezy. you'll love heat embossing holly.

Well I'm very new to embossing (new to almost everything, lol) but I've been doign it for about a month now and watched a ton of youtube videos on it. Here are some things that haven't been said yet:

- I use a swiffer cloth instead of a antistatic baggie (the baggie was over 10 at M's and I thougth, there's GOT to be a cheaper way!). I have noticed a huge difference- no more stray powder sticking to the page!

-I bought a heat tool from the gift-wrapping section of M's it was marketted as a shrink wrap tool, about $5 cheaper and the guy at the store told me it did exactly the same thing.

-I use repositionable dot runner to tack my light objects (i.e., small die cut letters) to the pan I use for heating in so they don't blow around and I can still get all the surfaces (I use craft tweezers as well sometimes)

-I found a Youtube video by "apieceofcraft" that demos her chipboard letter embossing method. She uses puffy paint and utee to make a thick black shiny coating and she makes it so it's kind of bumpy (but not bubbly) which I think gives it a really funky look. I tried it on my nenna mini album cover (in my gallery) but I overcooked it and it got mostly smooth and now the bumpy parts look accidental. It was my first try so maybe it takes soem practice.

-I LOVE utee... it seems like you can replicate the look of the thick shiny black letter stickers (maybe thickers which I've never seen in person as they don't carry them in my LSS) using cheap/ugly chipboard letters.

You've got some good tips there!!

I've been thinking of trying a dryer sheet to antistatic. Gotta try it!! Even without it, I love the embossed look.