Embossing Nightmare

[susancamille]

I Am Experiencing A Problem That I Doubt I Am Alone In Having And Wondering If Anyone Has Any Suggestions. Embossing With Colored Powders. I Have Tried Everything, Some Suggestions I've Tried Twice, I Have Issues With Fly-Away Embossing Powder, Colored Powder. I Have Pre-Heated My Gun, Used A Static Bag, Turned My Gun On Over The Image, Juicy Ink, Everthing. I Have Used Numerous Kinds Of Ink, Cardstock, And Embossing Powders. I Have Been "Doing" The Card Thing For About A Year, I Really Like The Way Embossed Images Look On A Card. I Would Hate To Have To Strickly Emboss With Colored Ink And Clear Powder. Any And All Suggestions Would Most Assuredly Be Appreciated.....

[jeanstamping2]

When I emboss. I use Versa-mark water mark ink. I pour the embossing powder over the inked image, dump off what I am not using and then hit it with the Heat gun.

Look at this link. Maybe they will help you.



How to use Versamark Ink (Beginners) - YouTube

[susancamille]

I've Tried Versa Mark, Distress Inks Embossing Ink, The Ink That Comes With Perfect Pearls, Clear And Black, Liquid Embossing Ink, Two Kinds, Big And Bossy (I Think That's What It's Called) Like I Wrote, I Have Tried Everthing. But, Thank You For Your Time, I'll Watch The Video, Maybe I Missed Somthing...

[bound4london]

I'm not sure what might be causing your problem because it sounds like you are doing things right. This is what I do. Swipe the paper with your embossing buddy. Stamp with versa mark ink. Pour coloured embossing powder over versa mark stamp image. Pour excess powder off onto a tray, scrap paper, etc. If you notice stray bits of powder wipe those off with a paintbrush, cotton swab, etc. Then heat the embossing powder with your heat gun. I sometimes heat it from below.

Hope you're able to solve your problem. It's so frustrating when I can't get things to work right.

[bound4london]

Another thought to help...don't put your gun too close to your powder. Keep it perhaps 8-10 inches away from the powder you want to emboss. That might help too. Good luck!!

[binkiemonstermom]

What exactly is the issue you are having? Does the image just not look good? Or is the powder not sticking? Maybe if we knew where it was falling apart for you so to speak we could help more.
I love embossing as well! I am sure with practice and a little bit of tweaking you will be embossing everything that sits still!!!

[cobby]

If I read your post correctly, you are having issues with the colored embossing powders "flying off" the stamped image is that right? If this happens when you pour the powder on and then dump/tap off the extra...then all I can think to suggest is use a very small dry paintbrush and check over your paper carefully, gently brushing away any stray powder before heating.

Or is this happening when you hit it with the heat gun, in other words; everything looks great, then you turn the heat gun on it and "Poof" powder flies off the stamped image and lands elsewhere; melting before you can get rid of it?
If so, then do as someone else suggested and try holding the heat gun farther away...OR if you are using the heating gun Stampin' Up sells it might just be too powerful. I've had mine for years and not had enough of a problem to notice but the SU heat gun does blow pretty strongly. I've been considering buying this one: http://rangerink.com/?product=heat-it™-craft-tool as I've seen Tim Holtz use it in many tutorials and he has mentioned that it doesn't blow too hard so as not to blow the powder away off the stamped image and onto other parts of your paper.

I hope this helps!

[gregzgurl]

This is probably a ridiculous thing to even mention, but is it for sure a heat gun that you're using, and not a blow dryer? I'm only asking because I've seen others get confused, not to try to be insulting... You could also try heating the embossed image from underneath, so there's no air flow onto the powder. "Back in the day" before heat guns were widely available, we used to hold the paper over a light bulb or toaster to melt the embossing powder - no blowing at all - so you could try that if you got desperate.

[muscrat]

I also let the heat gun warm up before aiming it at my project. It works quicker if you let it warm up.

[Cathy H]

I have an entirely different approach to this. Yes, sometimes I use colored embossing powder - but I find that tiny flecks of EP show so what I usually do is use colored ink and clear EP. The advantages are that if you miss a tiny place it won't be obvious, and if you get little flecks of EP on your image they won't be obvious either. I usually do this with pigment ink however I understand it is possible to use with dye ink - just ink up your stamp first with Versamark. Good luck!

[La Fonz]

You can heat from the underside & the embossing powder will melt. When all the powder seems to be melted, you can then pass your heat gun over the top to be sure all EP is completely melted.

In an emergency when I didn't have my heat gun, I used a preheated iron (no steam). I held the iron, face plate side up, passed the underside of the cardstock right over the face plate surface. The EP seemed to melt even quicker than it does when I use my heat gun.

Either way will keep your EP from blowing off.

Just curious, what brand of colored embossing powder are you using?

[susancamille]

WOW!! Thank You ALL For Your Suggestions, Some I Had Not Tried So Mabey There Is Still Hope For Me And My Issue... One I Will Try For Sure Is To Heat From Futher Away, I Was Basically Right On Top Of The Image With My Gun. I Use The Gun Marvy, It Works Great, The Powder Is Sticking To The Ink Just Fine, Powders I Use Are Varied: Judikins, Ranger Detail, Stampendous Pearl Luster, Zing Metals, Recollections From Micheals, And Tsukineko. Same With The Inks, My New Favorite Is The Black Onyx Versa Fine, I Also Will Use American Crafts Pigment, Color Box, Distress Inks, And Studio G From Walmart. I Have Pretty Much Covered The Embossing Field As Far As The Products I Have, Truth Be Told I Get 99% Of My Supplies At, Thrift Stores... So, You All Have Given Me Some New Ideas To Try, As To What The Actual Issue Is, Colored EP Flying All Over The Paper When I Go To Heat The Image. I Do The Paint Brush And Tapping Before Heating. Problem Inlies When I Turn On The Gun, Poof... EP Flying.. THANK YOU ALL So Much, I'm Kinda New To This..

[Rachelrose]

Does sound like you are maybe holding the heat tool too close. Versamark is very sticky stuff, but even that might let loose the powder with a very direct blast. I have a Marvy myself and it works just fine. I would estimate I hold it about 4 -6 inches away, and I usually keep it moving a bit so I don't overheat any one spot. It should be no different than using clear powder, really.

And Sue - all I can say it I'm glad I wasn't stamping back in the day, and holding my CS over a toaster! ;-)

[Bahb]

I've had the misfortune of discovering two of the most popular heat tools have recently been "improved" by lowering the wattage. In fact, I just shipped one back today because the wattage was so low I couldn't get Judikins embossing powder on Staz-on ink to melt at all. Yes, Stazon is a dye ink, my old heat tool had no problem because I worked fast. I also heat emboss VersaFine(a dye ink) all the time.

The other heat tool brand is now two heats, the first of which is such low wattage, it's useless. The wattage of the main heat has been lowered by 50 watts and just really slows down the heat-embossing process.

So if your heat tool is old, protect it so you won't have to have a low-wattage one that eats crafting time

Why are wattages printed on the boxes of hair dryers but not on crafter's heat tools, I wonder. If it's less than 350 watts, I would know enough not to buy it.

Bahb

Bahb

[stamphappy1650]

One thing to consider is that embossing powder (EP) has a shelf life - they don't last forever. Be sure to shake your EP before using as the particles will settle so you want to make sure it's mixed well.

As for the shelf life, if you are buying at thrift stores the EP may no longer be good. I had a problem a few years back and after some research I found that I only had problems with old EP. I bought a new jar and it embossed perfectly.

Just a thought - may not be your issue, but see if a new jar works better.

[muscrat]

I also love the Versafine Onyx Black ink!! Such a crisp clear image and you have time to emboss if you want. It does take a little longer to dry, but I love the image I get. Almost all my other inks are SU, have a few Tim Holtz distress inks and Memento Tuxedo Black for stamping images to color.

[susancamille]

I Want To Thank You ALL For Your Input On My "Embossing Nightmare". I Took All Your Suggestions And The One That Helped Me The Most Was To Raise My Heat Gun A Little Higher From The Image. This Seemed To Keep The Powder More To Where It Belonged, On The Image. I Also Tried Using My Brayer To Apply The Versa Mark, Thinking This Would Give The Image A Little More Consistency. It's Nice To Know That People Like Myself, That Have Just Found This Craft, Have Somewhere To Go To Ask What Others Might Deem "A Stupid Question". I Can Only Speak For Myself, I Really Appriciate That You Take The Time To Help Answer These (At Times Very Flustrating) Questions. So, THANK YOU!!

[Rachelrose]

There are no stupid question here! I am new to this myself, and no matter what problem or question I have had, the community here at SC has been helpful and encouraging!

[stampinovice]

When I use the colored powders (or any) I always keep different sized paint brushes nearby. I use a used dryer sheet or stamping buddy, stamp, shake on EP, flick from the back side of image, and then carefully use a soft brush and brush away the leftover particles then heat it. I have several small brushes that I use just for this purpose. Works like a charm!

[gr8cards]

I have done embossed images for several years. Just yesterday, I needed to make a sympathy card in a hurry. Wouldn't you know, I had to toss 2 images before I got the third one right......so don't feel badly. It's not an exact science!

[susancamille]

I Was Doing Some Embossing Today, It Was 50-50 Across The Board.... I'll NEVER Give Up On Getting The Odds A Tad Better For The Positive. The Weather Here Today (MPLS MN) Was DREARY At Best, Rainy And Cold, I Do Believe That Would Have Somthing To Do With The 50% That Did Not Turn Out So Well, Or, I'll Keep Telling Myself That..

Thanks For All The Input, I'm Always Willing To Learn Somthing New.

[Monique70]

I have experienced a few problems before as well with embossing but this thread really helped me as well so thanks for posting your question.

[JillG]

I have found a brand of embossing powder that appears to have tinsel / sparkly stuff in it. I find when I use it, it won't stick well to the card stock. It blows off no matter what I do with it.

I'd suggest you'd try a different brand. It may be the brand or contents of the embossing powder. All my other embossing powders work great.

[sisterlala55]

Is it possible your ink pad is a little dry? Maybe re-inking it would give it enough "stick" to hold the embossing powder better.

[Debbie Koch]

Have you tried heat embossing from the underside of the paper?

[jan1637]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stamphappy1650

One thing to consider is that embossing powder (EP) has a shelf life - they don't last forever. Be sure to shake your EP before using as the particles will settle so you want to make sure it's mixed well.

As for the shelf life, if you are buying at thrift stores the EP may no longer be good. I had a problem a few years back and after some research I found that I only had problems with old EP. I bought a new jar and it embossed perfectly.

Just a thought - may not be your issue, but see if a new jar works better.

Thanks for this information. I did not know this.

[Rachelrose]

I live in Florida - Land of Constant High Humidity - and it has never affected my embossing. I doubt that's your problem.

Maybe you might want to find someone to help you in person so that you can figure out what is going wrong. This must be very frustrating for you! And probably easily fixed!

Have you tried looking up to see if there is an SU demo near you? You live in a city, there must be someone nearby who wouldn't mind letting you come over and showing you how to use embossing powder so that it works 100% of the time.

If you go on the SU website, there is a demonstrator locator feature. Look at the very top of the page over to the right, you'll see "find a demonstrator." Click on that, type in your address and see if anyone comes up who is near you. Many demos have websites, so you can email and ask them if you don't want to call. You can sweeten the deal by buying some SU embossing powder from them, which comes in colors and is excellent, I use it all the time. That and Stampendous Detail.

Just something to think about.

[sandybb36]

I use the heat gun on the underside of the cardstock.

[Carolyn Ann]

Hi there Susan, If you are embossing with embossing powders you either need to use an embossing ink which is Versa Mark or the like and also Pigment Inks which are also called Craft Ink. Only the new Stampin Up Dye Ink pads will emboss and they have only been out since the new Catalogue 2012 so any old Stampin Up pad will not allow you to emboss as the ink will not hold the embossing powder. If there is any other way I can help please let me know.
love Carolyn

[lemonbalm]

I was thinking along the same line as Carolyn. You might be using the wrong ink. If you are using a regular dye ink, the EP will stick at first but as soon as you hold the heat gun over it, the powder will fly off. You have to use a pigment or embossing ink or a versamark ink, inks that stay moist long enough for you to melt the powder with your heat gun.

[craftdesigns]

Quote:

Originally Posted by susancamille

I Am Experiencing A Problem That I Doubt I Am Alone In Having And Wondering If Anyone Has Any Suggestions. Embossing With Colored Powders. I Have Tried Everything, Some Suggestions I've Tried Twice, I Have Issues With Fly-Away Embossing Powder, Colored Powder. I Have Pre-Heated My Gun, Used A Static Bag, Turned My Gun On Over The Image, Juicy Ink, Everthing. I Have Used Numerous Kinds Of Ink, Cardstock, And Embossing Powders. I Have Been "Doing" The Card Thing For About A Year, I Really Like The Way Embossed Images Look On A Card. I Would Hate To Have To Strickly Emboss With Colored Ink And Clear Powder. Any And All Suggestions Would Most Assuredly Be Appreciated.....

Scroll down to the tips. PaperFriendly: Worthy of Mention: Embossing Powder Candy Store

These work...I've been embossing this way for years (and years and years).

As to the shelf life of EP...the only ones affected are the metallics (they will dull over time). I've got EP that is older than dirt, and it still melts beautifully. Keep those powders in closed zip locks to ensure they stay dry. If you store your paper in unopened files, heat both sides of the paper with the gun PRIOR to stamping (that'll dry out the paper). I place those little packets that come in vitamin bottles and shoe boxes with my papers and EP. Super-hot guns (paint strippers) cause far more problems than they solve... non the least is the paper catching fire!

[susancamille]

I Just Want To Thank All Of You WONDERFUL People Who Took The Time To Help A Complete Stranger With Probably To Some, A Silly Question. "It Does My Heart Good" To Know That A Simple Craft Could Bring So Many Different People Together.
As To My "Embossing Nitemare" I Tried All Of Your Suggestions, Most Worked, What Really Turned It Around Was, I Went To A Garage Sale, They Had A NEW Still In The Box Heat Gun.. It Works Like A Charm, It Blows Less Air. No Brand Name, But For $6....

Many Thanks To You All....
Happy Holiday's

[Carolyn Ann]

Its a pleasure Susan I am so pleased you have solved the problem. May I ask what sort of heat gun you used before? If you do not want to answer that is ok.
love Carolyn

[JoyceL]

What I do is use my thumb and third finger to more than gently tap off the excess ep and use the thinnest artist soft bristle brush to get rid of any excess ep that stays outside of the image or sentiment. When u on the heat gun, let it warm up first. Make sure the heat gun is very hot before applying heat to ep.

[Rachelrose]

Susan - so glad you figured out the glitch! I just bought myself some new colored embossing powders and can't wait to play with them! Have fun embossing!