Heat Embossing

I am a BIG TIME stamper, LOVE it! It's one of my favorite things to do. There are tons of tons of techniques related to stamps, it's a lot more than just putting the stamp into ink and then stamping on paper (though you can do that too, of course). My all-time favorite stamping technique is heat embossing. This card I made a couple of months ago, so I don't have a tutorial for it, but it needs to be on my blog because I'm in love with it :)



Heat embossing requires the following:
stamp
Versamark or craft ink (pigment ink, or another sticky slow drying non-water based ink)
Embossing powder
Heat gun
Embossing buddy
Tidy tray
(the last two are optional but will make your life a lot easier)
First, you rub the embossing buddy over your paper and also over your Tidy Tray. This will keep the embossing powder from sticking to the parts of the paper you don't want it on, and also allows the powder to come out of the Tidy Tray and back into the jar when you're done. Powders and glitter have a lot of static, so they cling.

Then, stamp your image onto the paper with Versamark ink. Right after, put your paper over the Tidy Tray and carefully pour the embossing powder over the stamped image, covering it completely. Tilt the paper in every direction to make sure it coats the image.

Tip the paper upside down and pour off the excess powder into the Tidy Tray. Flick the back of the paper with your finger to knock off any straggling powder.

Lastly- lay the paper flat on the table and heat the powder with a heat gun. Don't use a hairdryer. Heat guns don't "blow" so they keep the powder on the image and they also don't burn you like a hairdryer would at this close of range. Heat guns do get VERY hot, though, so don't aim it near your fingers, and use tweezers to hold your project if you wish to keep from burning yourself.

As the image heats up, you'll see the powder melt. That's when you say "ooooh, aaaaaaah"
The most dramatic changes happen with metallic powders like the one above. It starts out looking like charcoal powder and melts like mercury. It's beautiful! Allow to dry, and create your project!

Patterned paper, embossing powder, cardstock and ribbon: Stampin' Up!