Embossing Powders, New Ideas!!

​This week for Demo, we played around with Embossing Powders!! 

What is Embossing Powder?? It is a Powdered Resin that melts at 450 degrees. Embossing Powder will stick to wet ink, something sticky (such as double-sided tape), or even paint! You MUST use a heat gun to melt the ink to reach the desired 450 degrees to melt the powder. 

...And before you even ask NO YOU CANNOT USE A HAIR DRYER!! (I tried! It broke my hair dryer!! Why won't this work?? Because a hair dryer will NEVER reach 450 degrees... it would melt your head!!)

Please use a heat gun, we sell them here at the store and they are a wonderful tool to have on hand :-) 


Traditionally, to do Heat Embossing, you'll need:

A Heat Gun
Ink (Pigment Ink works best) 
Embossing Powder 
Stamp

First, stamp your image with Pigment Ink, sprinkle on Embossing Powder (cover the entire image and shake off the excess back into the bottle), and then use a Heat Gun to heat-set the image. 

You can use: 

• Colored Pigment Ink with Clear Powder -- When you stamp an image with Colored Ink and Clear Embossing Powder, you get a raised image in the COLOR OF INK you chose

• Clear ink with Colored Embossing Powder -- When you stamp and image with Clear ink and Colored Embossing Powder, you get a raised image in the COLOR OF POWDER you chose 

Multi-colored Embossing can be REALLY fun!! 

• Stamp your image with Pigment Ink (such as Versamark or Versafine) 
• Sprinkle on one color of Embossing Powder and shake off the excess in ONE DIRECTION off the page so the powder doesn't cover the entire image. Put excess powder back in the bottle
• Now sprinkle on a second color of Embossing Powder, this time covering the entire image. Shake off the excess and put it back in the bottle. 
• NOW heat-set the entire image and watch in awe as the powders melt together to create beautiful tones!! 

Now that we've explained HOW heat-embossing works,  we can show you NEW WAYS to use it!! 

Did you know Embossing Powder sticks to Acrylic Paint?!!? That's right.. you can paint an image.. taking your time to add in details.. and THEN sprinkle on Embossing Powder. The powder will stick to the Acrylic Paint. When you heat-set the powder, the powder will melt in the areas where it stuck to the paint!! 

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Here, I used 3 colors of Embossing Powder to colorize the Octopus (Carnelian, Detail Gold, and Detail Black). After the Octopus was colored, I went back in with Acrylic Paint to create suction cups and used Detail Black Embossing Powder. I heat-set the image again, this time only the Detail Black Embossing Powder on the suction cups melted... the rest of the image retained it's detail

Did you know... Embossing Powder STICKS TO TAPE?!!?!? 

Yes, it does!! You can take a strip of Double-Sided Tape and lay it on your paper... maybe create a grid or plaid.. and then apply your Embossing Powder (I buffed in the powder a little bit into the tape to make sure the powder stayed STUCK to the tape!!) Shake off the excess Embossing Powder into the bottle and heat-set the Embossing Powder that is stuck to the tape. 

IT IS SO COOL!! I love how you can make a quick frame for your sentiment.. and the sentiment can be stamped and embossed in the SAME COLOR!! 

Ok, Ok... now for the good stuff!! 

YOU CAN EMBOSS ON ROCKS!! 

Stamp an image with Versamark ink, apply Embossing Powder, and then Heat Emboss with your heat-gun! **THIS TAKES AWHILE** to heat because the rock has to heat up. 

THE ROCK IS VERY HOT after you melt your Embossing Powder, so please be very careful. I recommend waiting for about 5 minutes before touching the rock so it has plenty of time to cool down. 

You can also HEAT EMBOSS ON TILE!!!!! 

Stamp your image with Pigment-Based ink and then emboss with Detail Clear Embossing Powder 

**THIS TAKES AWHILE TO SET**  because the tile needs to heat up. The tile will be VERY HOT for about 5 minutes. Be careful!! I usually wait for the tile to cool completely before I touch it. 

The leaves will be raised up in the color of ink you chose.. the effect is WONDERFUL and hot glasses will be able to sit on it without harming the embossed image. HOW COOL IS THAT?! 

With this next idea, you can use die-cut letters to cut out a word. Then, take the Super Soft Blending Brushes and brush Versamark, clear ink, over the words and sprinkle on Embossing Powder. The powder will stick to where you applied the ink! Heat-set the image to make the words pop on the paper!! Back your words with a bright-colored paper. 

Do you have a large selection of Embossing Powders? Well, now is a great time to get them out and play!! 

We are FULL of ideas and inspiration around here, so if you need any help, feel free to stop by!

360-647-9663