Hi, it’s Alison here and I’m going to be telling you a little bit about heating embossing and the fabulous Wow! powders that Mama Makes sell.
What are embossing powders?
Embossing powders are fast-melting powders often used in heat embossing. The powder is sprinkled on a stamped design and melted using a heat gun to create a raised pattern. The best ones in my opinion are from Wow!
Types of embossing powders.
Embossing powders are divided into different grades and different finishes.
Grades:
Super fine – used for detailed designs,
Regular – all purpose,
Ultra thick – large granules, ideal for special techniques
Finish:
Transparent – these are affected by the colour underneath
Opaque – these are not affected by the colour underneath
Specialty – glitter, holographic, matt, gloss flock, metallic and more
Why heat embossing?
Heat embossing adds a magic touch to your makes. It lets you add textured elements to your card stock or paper, using stamps or free hand-drawn elements. You can also get different effects from the three types of embossing powders available. These are glitter, flock or coloured powders, which includes a range of metallics.
What do you need to heat emboss?
To be able to heat emboss you need an embossing powder, an ink pad, a stamp or stencil, an acrylic block or stamping platform, and a substrate (paper, card, mdf, etc). I would also suggest an anti static bag so that stray powder does not stick where you don’t want it.
What inks can you use to heat emboss?
To heat emboss, you can use any pigment ink, but I prefer an embossing ink pad. There are several of these on the market, but the one I recommend is the WOW! one.
WOW! also make an embossing ink refill and freestyle tool and a mixed media embossing brush, which are very useful tools when heat embossing.
How to heat emboss.
Swipe your piece of card with an anti static bag.
Create a wet image by using pigment ink or an embossing ink pad and a stamp or stencil.
Work quickly as the ink must stay sticky was the powder is applied.
Sprinkle your chosen powder over the entire stamped or stencilled image. It will stick to the wet ink.
Remove the excess powder by tapping the card and allowing it to fall onto a spare piece of paper. You can use this piece of paper to create a funnel to return the excess powder to the pot.
Any stray traces of powder can be brushed off carefully.
Heat the powder with a heat tool, being careful to apply the heat evenly across the image. This can be done from above or below the piece. Move the heat tool slowly, moving on as you see the powder melt. Do not wave the heat gun about, the way you would if you were drying a background. As this will blow the powder away.
Allow the melted powder to cool before touching or doing anything to the image, as it takes a while to solidify.
Ways to use embossing powders.
Use it as an outline for a stamped image.
Use it to add depth or sparkle or a metallic look to a background.
Use it on coloured card to give outline images or to give a raised effect in the background.
Use it on sentiment to make them stand out.
If you have an embossing ink pen you can add detail to background papers.
Use clear embossing powder to create an enamelled look on dark card.
You can use clear embossing powder to give an engraved look on mirror card.
You can use embossing powder on die cut sentiment to give them a glossy finish.
You can use more than one colour embossing powder to give an ombre look.
You can use clear embossing onto coloured card stock to give a resist technique, by embossing your background stamp or stencil and then swiping ink over the entire image and buffing it clean with a cloth.
