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I hope I am putting this question in the right section, sorry if I am not (I am a newbie).
I want to try embossing and thought I would try with dry embossing first. A few questions. How hard is it? Do you need to buy a table light? Any tips for a newbie? While I am at it, is a heat embosser pretty easy to use?
I am going to put in an order next week with my SU demonstrator -- cant wait to try out embossing! Maybe I will just order all the embossing materials to take advantage of Sale-A-Bration!!
Just from my experience, there are a lot more advantages to heat embossing than dry. Dry embossing requires a light box, brass stencil, stylus, etc. The light box also takes up room. I have all of these things, but rarely pull them out to use them. Brass stencils can also be fairly expensive, IMO. Also, this doesn't require any stamping. Heat embossing, on the other hand, is pretty quick. Just stamp your image using Versamark, sprinkle some embossing powder, and heat set with a heat gun. I leave my heat gun on my desk, so I don't have to drag anything out, unlike with the light box.
Neither of them are difficult. Suggestion: when heat embossing, invest in the embossing buddy, to help keep your image crisp. If you like the look of dry embossing, the embossing folders offer GREAT design and are MUCH quicker than doing it with a light box (light table).
I'd be more than happy to answer any other questions you may have and I hope this helps (HTH)!!
An embossing folder is a piece of plastic that is a folder and has one side raised and one side sunk in in some sort of pattern. When you put your paper in and run it through some sort of die cut machine i.e. cuttlebug, big shot, wizard, it comes out with the wonderful and perfect dry imbossed image. I used to dry emboss with a stylus but I don't anymore.
You need a manual die-cutting machine for the embossing folders. A cuttlebug, sizzix big shot or big kick, the quickutz revolution, the spellbinders wizard are the more common ones.
I do not have a light table, but can still dry emboss. You just have to be able to line up the pattern where you want it. So you don't have to have a light table to emboss. If you can afford it, I would invest in a die cutting machine (big shot, cuttlebug, wizard, etc.) and embossing folders for dry embossing. They are so much easier to use.
If you are going to be heat embossing, don't buy all the colored embossing powders. You can stamp in Versamark first, then any color dye ink, use clear embossing powder, heat, and it will look like you used colored embossing powder!
HTH!
My LSS has a cuttlebug in their classroom, so I buy the embossing folders I want, and then go use their machine. I have a membership there so it's free for me to use. I picked up the embossing folders for $3 at Joann's online.
I, for one, will go on record to say I LOVE dry embossing! I use it all the time, and have as many brass stencils as I do stamps! I find them very versatile.
You can try dry embossing without a light box to see if you like it. Tape a stencil and paper to a window, and emboss with that light. You will need light color and weight paper to do this. I have a light box that really works well (LightTracer) if you decide you like the embossed effect.
I have also tried the embossing folders in my Wizard, and they work very well. They are particularly good with darker or heavier papers that are more difficult to emboss by hand. But I keep going back to the brass!
My very favorite source is BrassWorks Embossing. Sharalynn is the best - lots of helpful hints, and with all the brands she carries, there is definitely something for every taste.
I totally agree with DeborahMegan that heat embossing would be a better place to start if you will be making cards. With the advent of the Cuttlebug there are alot more options with dry embossing.
I do not have a light table, but can still dry emboss. You just have to be able to line up the pattern where you want it. So you don't have to have a light table to emboss. If you can afford it, I would invest in a die cutting machine (big shot, cuttlebug, wizard, etc.) and embossing folders for dry embossing. They are so much easier to use.
If you are going to be heat embossing, don't buy all the colored embossing powders. You can stamp in Versamark first, then any color dye ink, use clear embossing powder, heat, and it will look like you used colored embossing powder!
HTH!
Wow - I can't tell you how happy I am to enjoy all the ideas and information I find in these forums!!! Thanks for the tip on using versamark with the ink then emboss... I'm going to try that today for sure! If I can pull myself away from here
If you are going to be heat embossing, don't buy all the colored embossing powders. You can stamp in Versamark first, then any color dye ink, use clear embossing powder, heat, and it will look like you used colored embossing powder!
HTH!
I have a question - do you stamp the image with Versamark, then stamp the image again on top with the dye ink, or do you ink your stamp with Versamark, then dye ink, then stamp? I'm just trying to figure out how I'd get the stamp in the place twice but maybe it will work if I buy one of those stamp placer things. I have a LOT of dye ink but not much pigment ink. I do use my Versamark for much of my embossing with my colored powders but I dont always have the exact color I want.
Load your stamp with VersaMark and then load it with dye ink and then stamp on the paper. (This is also a good trick for clear stamps that don't get good ink coverage from dye inks.)
Once you have stamped your image, sprinkle with clear embossing powder and heat set it.
HTH!
__________________ Melanie "Today I will be happier than a bird with a french fry."
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CUTTLEBUG EMBOSSING-----WHEN YOU EMBOSS A SIZZIX SMALL DIE THAT HAS JUST ONE FLAT DIE( MEANING IT DOES NOT OPEN) DO YOU NEED A SPECIAL EMBOSSING PAD FOR IT?? THIS IS EMBOSSING WITH THE CUTTLEBUG.
CUTTLEBUG EMBOSSING-----WHEN YOU EMBOSS A SIZZIX SMALL DIE THAT HAS JUST ONE FLAT DIE( MEANING IT DOES NOT OPEN) DO YOU NEED A SPECIAL EMBOSSING PAD FOR IT?? THIS IS EMBOSSING WITH THE CUTTLEBUG.
No the ones with one side and a flat die - those are die cuts. The cut out the image, they don't emboss it. You don't need a special embossing pad, just the correct sandwich in your cuttlebug for using the Sizzix dies (I do not know what it is, because I own a BIGkick and not a Cuttlebug.
If you are talking about the larger, flat, plastic one piece Texturz Plates, then you need the embossing pad for that. It is used to press the paper into all the little grooves to get the texture. But these are texture plates and just meant to give the paper a patterned texture - you will not get as deep of an emboss with it as you would the Cuttlebug folders or the Sizzix Textured Impressions folders.
I spent a small fortune on dry embossing product from SU before the price went down (even at cost it was a lot of cashola) & I never ever ever use it all. (I've tried both stylus tools they sell & the wax paper trick... I consider myself a patient crafter but I get very frustrated with it.) #1 problem: I find the light in the light table is not bright enough with many many of the SU colours and they don't sell replacement bulbs.
Having poo-poo-ed it, I must say that the designs of the brass templates are lovely & you can make original pieces that are different from everyone else's. I use my light table all the time for template drawing and tracing good copies of my own doodles for scanning and printing as digital images.
If I had it to do over? I would go to a local art supply store to check light tables out in person (you can save A LOT), and take a dark piece of cardstock with you to see if the light is bright enough. Then I'd buy the beautiful brass templates to try out.
There is always the irreplaceable Cuttlebug. It's WAY faster and easier on the wrists and you can do a million things with it.
A cheap trick with heat embossing. Buy coloured pigment (Craft) inks and clear embossing powder. It can save you a lot.
Load your stamp with VersaMark and then load it with dye ink and then stamp on the paper. (This is also a good trick for clear stamps that don't get good ink coverage from dye inks.)
Once you have stamped your image, sprinkle with clear embossing powder and heat set it.
HTH!
Does it have to be a special Ink that you use? Can you use the SU regular ink?
__________________ ************************************************************** Deborah "Imagination is more important than knowledge" ~ Albert Einstein
__________________ ************************************************************** Deborah "Imagination is more important than knowledge" ~ Albert Einstein
[QUOTE=DanStamper;13021748]I, for one, will go on record to say I LOVE dry embossing! I use it all the time, and have as many brass stencils as I do stamps! I find them very versatile.[QUOTE]
DITTO! I love my brass stencils and find dollar for dollar I get more usage from them than I do from my stamps. If I am only making one or two cards, I do them with waxed paper and my stylus. If I am making several at a time, I run them through my Wizard, especially if I am using dark colored or heavy cardstock.
Dan, thanks for the website. Dreamweaver's and Stencil Collection are my two favorite brands and they carry both.
if you have a glass table top you can do dry embossing with that..put a flashlight under the table..and the stencil on the table and the paper and you can emboss to your hearts content. I used to own a lightbox, but now I own a BIG KICK and do Dry Embossing with my stencils and that machine!
I bought a light table but discovered my beloved SU paper was too thick to see through, other than white! I had originally said "Are they crazy??" when I saw the price of the Empressor embossing stylus (I think around $10) comsidering that you can get a plain one for $2, but I bought it and LOVE IT! I can emboss easily even on thick paper that I can't see through! A friend just used it to selectively emboss just a small section of her card using a texture plate that wouild normally go through the Big Shot machine but she just wanted a small section done. If you use a coupon and buy at Mike's it is cheaper, and oh so worth it! No light table needed, and less likely to tear your paper, too, as the cheaper ones can do if you bear down too hard.
Embossing Question from a Newbie
