Heat embossing, cardmaking, and one layout to share

Hello crafty friends~

Recently I've decided to get back into the heat embossing habit.  See, the results are fantastic.  The work to get there, not so much.  This is only because sometimes you get powder everywhere, kind of like glitter.  Fun results, annoying to have glitter that won't come off of your face for two weeks, and somehow it appears in every nook and cranny of your crafty space, sometimes carrying over into the rest of your house. 

But I digress... :)

Heat embossing is fun.  Heat embossing is cool. 

Heat embossing is EASY!  First, let me show you a card I made a month ago. 

For you newbies, you need an embossing gun.  It resembles a blow drier but it gets MUCH hotter. Don't ever let your fingers get in front of the hot air because you will get burns from it.  Ask me how I know!  :)  Anyhow, you need an embossing gun, a VersaMark ink pad, and some embossing powder.  For my card I used clear embossing powder because I'm going to do a reverse or resist embossing technique. 

 

I stamped my image with the clear VersaMark ink. Why VersaMark?  Because it takes longer to dry and allows you time to dump the embossing powder on your stamped image.  I know you can't see the stamped image, but just so you get an idea. 

 

 

You can kind of see the stamped image here- this is after the powder is added.

 

This is after the image has been embossed, i.e. I used the embossing gun to basically heat up the powder on the stamped image.  This gives a raised, textured look. 

Next, I got some ink and a sponge and inked around the image.  This is reverse/resist embossing.  Traditional embossing is where you used a colored embossing powder and the image pops right off your page.  I have an example of this later on in this post with another project. 

I used a water pen to add some water around my image, making the paper easier to tear. 

Here is my finished image. 

I used the same technique with my sentiment.

From the same stamp set, I stamped a background onto my cardstock. 

Then I added my first image to a piece of cardstock, and a little bit of hand stitching too so it doesn't seem like it's just floating around.

Voila - my finished card.  I stamped on the inside of the card too, just a simple saddle brown ink "thanks for being my friend" sentiment.

 

Heat embossing isn't the only thing to do with such a pretty stamp.  You can also used the CTMH alcohol markers (or any other brand) to color in your stamped image.  On this card, I did a different kind of embossing, dry embossing with the use of a "folder", using an Anna Griffin Cuttlebug folder.  This gives that background cardstock a texture and it has nothing to do with guns.  LOL 

I made this LO yesterday.  First, have you ever paid attention to gift cards at stores?  Some have pretty groovy images that I like to add to my pages.  And they're free.  I know, they're supposed to be used to put money on them and gift them, but they are GIFT cards.  Can't that mean it's a free gift for me, to be added to my scrapbook?  :)  Here's one I saw at Wal-Mart yesterday and I was inspired to scrap this picture of my kiddo.  (Disclaimer:  I don't know if these gift cards are acid free, so keep them away from your pictures on the LO.)

All you have to do is cover up the logo.  :)  And if you have a Slick Writer pen (I love the American Crafts brand), you can write on the gift card too.  It's a great journaling accent. 

 

So, onto the embossing.  This bike was stamped with the same VersaMark ink, as were some of the circles.  I then added blue embossing powder and heated it up.  Like, I said, it has a raised texture now and it's shiny.  I like shiny.  :)

I did the same on the opposite corner of my page. 

 

 

My finished page:

 

(click on it to enlarge)

 

 

The chipboard accents below the picture are Making Memories and they're at least a few years old.  Gotta use up that stash!  The little banner flags I believe are also the MM brand.  Stamps are an older CTMH set, and the embossing powder is, too.  That's how easy it is to get a simple piece of patterned paper to match your project with pretty cool, instant accents... that you didn't have to buy because you already have a lot of stamp sets in your stash and now hopefully you have an embossing gun and powders, too!  :D

 

I have another example of heat embossing. For this one, I used a CTMH background stamp (and this one is available for purchase HERE, called In The Background).

 

Above you can see where I stamped with VersaMark and the embossing powder is already added; below is when the embossing powder got heated up with my handy dandy embossing gun. 

 

Next, I used three different inks and a sponge to give my image some color and make it POP! I used CTMH's Sky, Crystal Blue, and Pacifica.  Those are available for purchase HERE. 

 

 

Don't be afraid to cut up your sponge.  It's easier to use in small pieces, and I believe it wastes less ink.  I started with my lightest of the three colors I chose. 

 

I did make pencil marks, dividing my image into thirds.  The colors are going to overlap into each other but I wanted to be certain that I got enough of each color for it to look right. 

 

This is with all three colors now added.  There's a gradual lightening up of the blue. 

 

 

 

Pretty, right?  

 

 

Next, I trimmed the stamped & embossed piece, added it to my card base, added some twine, added a CTMH dimensional accent (which is also inked to match, and some of those are available for purchase HERE, called Irresistibles), and added a "friend" stamp to some white cardstock to mount on the irresistible piece.  See the stamp on the left and how pretty it looks with reverse embossing on the card?  I just love that look. 

 

 

The finished card: 

 

Of note, I saw this card on another person's blog, minus the twine and sentiment.  The stamp and colors for the card came from that inspiration.  I don't remember where I saw it; I wish I had written it down so I could give the appropriate credit.  But just so you know, this isn't a completely original idea.  ;)

 

Add some bling and now it's really done.

 

 

Well, almost done.  Stamp on the inside!!!  Left side is my card, right side is the stamp I used. 

 

 

Want one more project?  OK, OK, here's another card I made earlier this week.  :)  This is going to be the sentiment on the front of my card, and this comes from another card I saw on someone else's blog.  I look at other CTMH consultants' blogs for ideas with stamp sets I already own and then I get to work using them and copying those wonderful ideas.  This is called using what you have and getting your money's worth!  ;)

 

Anyway, I stamped the sentiment with VersaMark and used CTMH silver embossing powder. The following photo is before it was heat embossed. 

 

 

 

And now it's heat embossed.  You can see on the "possibility" part where it raised and shiny. 

 

 

Next, I used some red ink to color the area around my image. 

 

 

And then I used a simple punch to get a circle out of there. 

 

 

You can't even tell that I originally used white paper.  Is that not cool?  :)

 

 

The background for this card came from four different stamp sets - all in my stash, waiting to be used. 

 
 

I used black and gray inks for this, and it's somewhat haphazard placement for the stamps.  Just make it look cool.  This part is hard for me because I love to stamp and I can (and usually do) go overboard...  I was able to restrain myself for this one, LOL.  I left some space off to the left because that's where my embossed image/sentiment is going to go. 

 

 

Just like this. 

 

And here we are.  Another finished card.  Well, actually 8 finished cards.  I usually do an assembly line production of each card so I have a few on hand to send individually or give a group of as gifts. 

 

 

 

CTMH embossing powders and heating gun are available HERE.

 

And that's all I have.  I hope you've enjoyed reading up on heat embossing and enjoyed looking at different possibilities.  Any questions, leave that in the comments below.  Ideas, constructive criticism, any comment at all is always welcome.  Thanks for stopping by and until next time!