Stamp Tools
What are the best embossing tools and powders? And do you have to have stamps and specific glue to use them?
I'm an avid scrapbooker and would love to get into embossing, but don't really know how to do it. I was looking at getting the Marvy heat embossing tool, and have read some good reviews on it, but there is a huge range of powder brands and prices, is there any difference between them? Also, I read that you have to have a specific adhesive to apply to the paper to melt the powder onto it. Can someone please explain how this all works? It's an amazing effect when done right!! Thanks!!
THE FOLLOWING IS A MODIFIED VERSION OF A TUTORIAL I WROTE RECENTLY
As is the case with any artistic or creative endeavor, you are only really limited or confined to your imagination- well and, realistically, your wallet- the term "starving artist" is not so far off- creativity is free, but the tools and supplies you need can get really really expensive. But artists are also very creative when it comes to finding cheaper alternatives!
Anyway, you have so many possibilities with embossing & there are so many different products & techniques. Being an avid scrapbooker, you will absolutely benefit greatly by learning to emboss. Once you learn some of the basics, & get to know the properties of the various products, you can really take off experimenting with different tools, products, formats, medium, & techniques.
The downside to such versatility is that a beginner is completely overwhelmed & has no idea where to even start- or what to buy. By the details in your question you seem to be referring to "wet embossing" (as opposed to "dry embossing"). At its most basic, stripped down core, (wet) embossing entails the heat-setting of a "powder" (or some such medium) to some "wet" medium (ink, glue, etc) in order to create an embossed (raised) effect/texture. I would say that, without a doubt, one of, if not the, most necessary beginner purchases would be clear embossing powder. With embossing, the "color" can come from a number of sources- most commonly, that of either (a)the embossing powders, (b)the inks or (c)both. (OR, even [d]neither- use the clear-on-clear technique for another effect).
In the first instance the technique would be to stamp an image onto cardstock using a clear/waterink stamp pad or embossing pad, then sprinkle colored embossing powder, (tap/remove excess) and finally heat set. Option (b) would be the use of colored ink with clear embossing powder. With option (c), you could use both- colored inks with colored embossing powder- to acheive a variety of other effects.
A little pot of colored embossing powder may not be expensive in itself, but one pot is only one single color- if you want a wide range of colors (not to mention the different TYPES of colored embossing powders- glittered, metallic, beaded, distressed, pearled), you can very quickly begin to spend lots of money. If you purchase a clear embossing powder, you can use it with any color of ink you want- and in the mean time you can then begin to collect various colored or fancy powders along the way.
You also need a heat source. The best way to apply even heat is to purchase a heat-setting tool (like the one you mentioned). But, as I mentioned before about "creative alternatives", although highly discouraged, you COULD use a hair dryer on the lowest setting- but as with any "creative alternative" you will sometimes end up sacraficing quality and/or comfort & ease for cost- a blow dryer, uh, "blows", so you need to be careful not to blow the powder away! A heat gun tool is really effective & efficient (as it applies even heat without movement) so you will probably want to eventually, if not right away, invest in one (and they aren't really all that expensive either).
In terms of inks, or a "wet" medium unto which the embossing powder will set/stick, you, again, are presented with a number of options. Most people start with stamping/embossing pads. There are a number of things to keep in mind or consider with inks, depending on what type of ink you use- I suggest you look into that (google).
Keep in mind too- various inks have varying drying times (as do various embossing powders or pigments have various setting times) - you will want to take into account what product(s) or additional, if any, medium you will be using as well- the packages or the bless-ed google will help you with all that.
There are also embossing pigments- which I just mentioned. They can be mixed with embossing powder- clear or colored. I highly reccommend Pearl Ex pigments- they can run expensive but are WELL worth it, if not by the beautiful results acheived, then because of their wonderful versatility. They can be mixed with or dusted on almost anything- going well beyond just embossing- which, again, should appeal to a scrapbooker. Some of the possibilities include: you can mix Pearl Ex with paints, stamp ink, or other inks; with candle wax; with textile paints to use on fabric; with Gum Arabic to produce a watercolor paint; with any clear medium, such as varnish, to use over wood, clay or paper; you can dust it over vellum, shrink plastic or over a polymer clay mold before pressing the clay in- or you can mix it WITH the clay to color it; you can dust it over wood, paper, any other porous surface & then seal it with a spray lacquer; etc etc. Or, obviously, in terms of embossing, you can mix Pearl Ex (or some other embossing pigment) with either clear or colored embossing powder, and then set to finish.
Other techniques/way
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