September Technique Tuesday - Heat Embossing

Hi, Caroline here with our first Technique Tuesday. Technique Tuesday will be the first Tuesday of each month. Technique Tuesday will be where anything goes. It could be a tutorial, tips and tricks, organization ideas, a new product we found. Basically it will be anything we wish to share that month with our readers. For this month we decided we would talk about embossing. Why embossing? Well cause Allison calls me the embossing queen.

There are 2 types of embossing. The first is "dry embossing" as I call it. Dry embossing uses texture plates or embossing folders. There are several different brands and types. I prefer the cuttlebug or sizzix embossing folders that can be used in many different types of machines. We won't talk about how many embossing folders Caroline has .... but let's just say that's part of the reason Allison calls me the embossing queen. The second type of embossing is "heat embossing". Wet embossing uses ink and embossing powders which you melt or set with a heat gun.

Since heat embossing requires a bit more technique we will focus on that today. In order to heat emboss you will need the following supplies:

1. Embossing powder
2. Versamark Ink pad (or any wet ink pad (slow drying)), I prefer versamark.
3. Heat gun
4. Stamp(s)
5. Static buddy
6. Cardstock



First cut your cardstock to the size you want. I always make my cardstock slightly larger than I need so that I have an edge to hold when heating the powder. You can always trim the excess off after you've set the powder.

Rub your static buddy on your paper. If you don't have a static buddy you can try rubbing a used dryer sheet on your paper. However, I found that the dryer sheet wasn't working completely and got frustrated and picked up a static buddy from Michael's for a few dollars.



Stamp your ink pad onto your stamp. I find the best way to apply ink to the stamp is to turn the stamp over and dab the ink pad onto the stamp. You can actually see the ink on the stamp then.



Stamp your stamp image on your paper. Make sure to use strong even pressure



Remove your stamp from the paper and you should see a watermark image on your paper



Sprinkle your embossing powder over your stamped image.



Remove the excess embossing powder and return to the container



Heat the embossing powder with your heat gun. Be sure to continue to move the heat gun over the paper or you could burn the paper. You will see the powder change from little grains to one thick coat. If you don't have a heat gun you can use your toaster oven and place a little metal tray on top of the oven and stick your paper on the metal tray. Do not leave the paper unattended as it can burn if your oven gets to hot.

If your paper wrinkles, like the picture below turn your paper over and put a little bit of heat on the back of the paper and it will flatten the image.



Trim your image to fit your project needs and complete your project


You can also use the verasmark pen to do writing on your project or outline an image





To see more of my heat embossing projects your can see them on my blog Caroline's Heat embossing projects

Now it's your turn. We'd love to see what you've done with heat embossing. Use the inlinkz option below and upload your projects.

Do you want to win some blog candy???? Look what Allison has up for grabs for all of our Paper Craft Weekend Challenge readers.

Cricut markers, flocking powder set, chipboard shapes, stickers, and embellies set

All you have to do to win is leave a comment here and be a follower. If you upload a heat embossing project you will get a second entry to the drawing. Drawing will be held on Monday September 12th.

Hope you've enjoyed our exploration into Heat Embossing.

---Caroline