help with heat embossing issues
 

I am not new to stamping but somewhat new to heat embossing. In playing around the other night, a few things happened that I wanted to ask about. :?

Can you 'overheat' embossing powder? I did one card and I thought the powder was setting then when I took the heat gun away it looked like the powder melted into the paper...it wasn't raised. It was SU cardstock and Ranger embossing powder so I don't think it was a quality issue. Maybe I'm holding the heatgun too close? Thoughts?

Also, sometimes the paper would start to buckle a bit as I was heating the powder. I think it eventually straightened out for the most part after it cooled. Does this happen normally or am I holding the gun too close?

THANKS!

You absolutely can overheat paper and embossing powder. You want to make sure it is all melted, but if you keep heating it, the reaction is just as you describe. It starts to look chalky.

One thing I've noticed with people new to embossing is that they tend to wiggle the heat gun back & forth. This way, you can end up overheating the paper and having to continually go back over the embossing powder.

Actually, you should turn on your heat gun, let it heat for about 10 to 20 seconds, then start in one corner of the image. Just as soon as it turns glossy, slowly move the heat gun across the image, watching the powder melt as you go, then move back in the opposite direction, etc., until you've finished the whole thing. Then turn off the heat gun and examine the image under a light. If you've missed a spot (it will look dull), you can still go back and reheat that spot. The key is as soon as it is glossy, MOVE ON. Once the powder starts melting, the process goes very quickly for the whole image.

By the way, if you are doing several images in a row, you only have to preheat the heat gun one time.

Any paper will buckle if you hold the heat on it long enough, and some papers are more susceptible than others. Try the instructions above and see if that helps.

One thing I've found is that SU velllum card stock (not vellum paper) holds up really well. One year I was making 80 Christmas cards with an embossed vellum overlay. I thought I'd save some money and bought some cheap vellum at a craft store. It's weight was about midway between the SU vellum paper and vellum cardstock. When I heat emobssed it, the paper warped badly and formed white "bubbles" in it.

Good luck. With just a little practice, you'll be an expert! :lol: