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Embossing
Written by Denyse Duhaime
The first time I ever saw a demo board with some stamping on it I was awestruck. It was in a quilt store and I was there to purchase quilting supplies and my eyes kept going back to the examples of the four or five cards that they had on this board. What was this craft? I had to know how it was done. The cards were all embossed. After my first demo I knew I was hooked. I think that for a lot of us, this is the one technique that really catches our interest. The method is very simple. If you are new to stamping though, you might like to know how this is done.
You will need a
few supplies.
·
Rubber stamp of your
choice
·
Embossing pad ( I prefer
a tinted colored pad as you can see where you have stamped)
·
Any color embossing
powder of you choice
·
Cardstock
·
Small soft brush
·
Paper (I use a cheap copy
paper)
·
Stamp cleaner
·
Used dryer sheet or
“pounce bag”
·
Heat gun or other heat
source
Now that you have all your supplies together you are ready to create an awesome card. One that will wow your non-stamping friends. I use a clean piece of copy paper under me when I work. This is used to collect the embossing powder. Before you stamp on the card you can take a used bounce dryer sheet or a pounce bag and rub it across the cardstock on the side that you are going to stamp on. This is helpful, as it will not allow the embossing powder to stick to areas other than those that you have stamped. Sometimes these powders like to stick to places where you have moisture like a fingerprint. Personally, I do not use either of these items, but many seasoned stampers use them every time they emboss. So that is an option that is up to you.
Take the clean stamp and tap it with the stamping pad several times until you can see that the stamp image is covered with the embossing ink. I find that the best way to do this is to hold the stamp in one hand and to bring the stamp pad to the stamp. This way you see what you might have missed if you were to just stamp into the pad.
Then stamp the stamp onto the card stock. You can do this anywhere that you wish on the card stock to create an image that is pleasing to you. If you were to be stamping a saying with the image you need to do some planning to leave room for that saying. You will see on the cardstock only a lightly tinted outline of the stamp you are using.
Next you will take the embossing powder of your choice and pour it over the cardstock that you just stamped. Don’t be afraid that you are putting too much on to the image. Remember, you are doing this all over the clean piece of copy paper that is under you. Then you will take the card and knock off the excess powder. I do this by turning the card and slightly tapping it on the side of the card. Do not throw away the extra powder. It is going to go back into your jar to save for many more projects. Next I take a small soft brush and brush away any particles of embossing powder that are not on the design. If you had used the used dryer sheet you may not have any of these to brush away.
Next I set my card aside and pour the powder back into it’s jar. I do this by making a little funnel with the copy paper I used as a work service.
Now it is time for the magic. You will need a source of heat. If you do not heat up the card at this point, the embossing powder will just dry on the card and fall right off. Many people think that the embossing ink is glue. It is not. It is ink that is specially formulated to work with heat to create the embossed effect. Most of us use a heat gun that was created for embossing, but you can also use other sources of heat. With the heat gun you just heat up the area that has the embossing powder on it, until you see that it has melted and also risen. Be careful not to heat it too much so that you do not make a melted mess. You also want to be careful to heat around the whole card and not place the heat gun too close to the card. Do not scorch the card. If this is happening, you are too close. Also please use care with a heat gun as they get very hot and your card could catch on fire if you got too hot. This is especially true if you are not using a heat gun that is specially made for crafts. Some people use guns that get very, very hot and you need to use care. I don’t recommend doing this with a small child. If you wanted to emboss with them let them do the other steps and you do the heating of the card. Other things can be used for a source of heat, but this is the one that is commonly used.
Your card is now finished. You can color in the open areas if you used a neutral color. You can do this with any of the markers.
The card that I have included in the sample of how to emboss is one that is done with several different embossing powders. They are called candy colors, like the red is called candy red. I did all of the same colors at the same time and then stamped again and did a different color.
Embossing can be so much fun and can add a real nice dimension to your stamped cards. Have fun! Experiment; try mixing your colors to create new colors. Add glitters or buy some of the embossing powders that have glitter in them. There are so many color choices of embossing powders now the possibilities are endless.
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