Hi my name is Alice Boll, a happily married mother of two with over 14 years of scrapbooking experience and I LOVE to scrapbook! In this tutorial video I’m going to share with you my top 3 tips for “How to Know When Embossing is Complete”.
Tip #1. Allow the tool to heat up before applying it to your project. Be careful, it is VERY HOT!
Tip #2. Don’t hold the tool in one place for too long, paper can scorch and it WILL! Keep moving it around. Hold the tool approximately 3 inches above your project or as directed in your manufacturer’s directions.
Tip #3. Check to see that all of the powder has melted, if it hasn’t just re-heat it!
I hope these 3 tips will help you to feel confident about heat embossing on your projects.
If you have questions about this tutorial I will respond to comments left below. 🙂
Do you get frustrated by scrapbooking sometimes? Has it become a chore? Just one more “thing” on your never-ending list of things to do?
It’s time to put some FUN back into scrapbooking! In February I’m participating in LOAD213: ScrapHAPPIER, a scrapbooking course designed to get you out of your scrapbooking rut.
This class is being led by Lain Ehmann, one of my favourite scrapbooking gurus. She’s also brought in Gretchen Rubin, best selling author of The Happiness Project. I can’t wait to hear her secrets to living a happier life.
So… join me! That’s right… you can take part in this exciting event too!
If you sign up BEFORE January 7th… you can get $10 off! Use the code FUN to get this amazing discount. (I didn’t have this code, but I signed up, ’cause it’s going to be AWESOME, and TOTALLY worth it!) If you are a scrapbooker, you owe it to yourself to check it out. (Consider it the Christmas present you really wanted!)
28 days to a more joyful creative life… YES PLEASE! I’ll be there and I hope you’ll join me.
I’m so excited to share my first video tutorial with you. In this video I will walk you through the basics of embossing with stamps, AKA heat embossing.
In this tutorial video you will learn how to Emboss Using Stamps, also known as Heat Embossing. Heat embossing is an awesome technique that allows you to add a thin layer of plastic on your project.
Tools Required:
Embossing Powder
Heat Tool
Stamps
Ink
Embossing Powder:
Embossing powder is a collector’s dream, so BE careful! 🙂 You don’t need every single colour and type that is available! You want versatile ones to get started. (After that you can go a little bit crazy!)
Versatile colours:
Clear detail
White
Black
Silver
Gold
That’s all you ‘need’ to get started!
Heat Tool:
Heat tools are designed for embossing. They heat to the right temperature and they do not blow too much air, so they don’t blow the powder off of your project. If you try to use your hair dryer it will blow the powder off of your page and you are not going to be very happy with the result. Get the right tool, save yourself some time, and they are not very expensive! ***NOTE: They do get VERY HOT, so be careful!
Stamps:
Both acrylic and rubber stamps work well for embossing. Most designs will be fine. Watch out for extremely detailed stamps. You will need a very fine embossing powder and you may still be dissatisfied with the results. Generally most stamps are fine!
Ink:
You need a ‘sticky’ ink. What does that mean? You need an ink that stays wet long enough to hold the powder for embossing. Versamark works very well, as do craft/pigment inks.
Other Handy Tools:
Paintbrush: to brush off extra embossing powder that sticks where you don’t want it
Tool: to hold down a small piece of paper you are embossing (I use a paper piercer)
Embossing Buddy/Magic: chalk bag to coat your project to prevent embossing powder from sticking to any fingerprints or other unwanted areas of your paper.
(If you don’t have an embossing buddy/magic you can rub a USED dryer sheet over the paper to reduce static cling)
Stamp your image with sticky ink, such as Versamark, or pigment ink
Versamark will make the paper have watermarked or wet look
Generously pour embossing powder over the stamped image
Tap off excess powder onto a sheet of paper so it can be reclaimed
Begin to heat emboss, moving the heat tool around to avoid scorching
You are finished embossing when all of the powder is melted completely!
Ideas for Using Embossing:
Titles
Custom Backgrounds
Add shine to page embellishments
Add texture to cards
You can emboss on vellum paper
Create custom embellishments
Make a border
Mix embossing powders (colours and textures) to create a custom look
Emboss on an album (TEST a hidden area first, and be EXTRA cautious!)
Look for more embossing techniques under the TUTORIALS tab at the top of the page.
Have you tried heat embossing before? Did it feel like ‘magic’ the first time you saw it? Are you inspired to give embossing a try? If you have questions or would like to share a story about embossing, please leave it in the comments!
On Facebook the other day a friend shared a cool idea they had found online… or more likely that had been shared by someone else 😉
Take an empty jar and fill it with notes about the good things that happen throughout the year. On New Year’s Eve you open it up and read about the awesome stuff that happened that year.
Brilliant! I love several things about this:
The whole family can participate
There is no ‘set amount’ that needs to be completed
Whatever ends up in the jar will be a happy memory
You can create the jar any time… not just New Year (birthday, anniversary, etc.)
and… it is practically DESIGNED for a scrapbooker!
How easy will it be to make a “Highlights of 2013” layout when you have all of the details in one handy little jar? SUPER EASY! All of the journaling is done for you!
Of course I had to make ‘the scrapbooker version’ of the jar… I couldn’t just use a plain old spaghetti jar, right?
Here’s the steps to create a Happy Moments jar:
Find a jar. I used a gigantic pickle jar.
Peel off the label and wash it well.
Decorate the lid. I heat embossed a fun saying on it (Live Out LOUD!) and used some glitter glue.
Wrap and glue some paper around the jar for the label. I used Liquid Glass from Close To My Heart as an adhesive.
Add sticker letters.
Wrap and glue ribbon around the label and the top of the jar.
Create a mini envelope to hold the strips of paper to write on.
Tie the envelope to the side of the jar with some ribbon.
Add your first happy moment to the jar!
Heat embossing for the lid and envelope
View of the lid
Do you have any tricks to capture the little moments for your scrapbook? How do you involve your family members? Post your suggestions in the comments!
Wow! Where has the year gone? 2012 was wonderfully busy!
To commemorate this amazing year I wanted to create a layout that would capture some of the highlights.Here are my Top 10 Photos of 2012.
You can choose to feature a variety of types of Top 10 photo lists:
Best People Photos
Place we went
Most exciting moments
Best Nature photos
Best memories
Do a top 12 and choose one for each month
I chose to highlight some of my favourite family photos from the year.
There are several ways to incorporate multiple photos onto a layout. Some of the tricks I used are:
Make the photos smaller (They don’t have to be too tiny! Most of these photos are 4×3)
Line photos up in rows (See the bottom row of my layout)
The row of photos don’t have to be straight! (Oh my!) See how the bottom row of photos are slightly askew… it makes it feel less structured and more playful.
Lets look at some of the details that accent this layout.
I used two different styles of stickers for the title. The contrast between the two styles (shiny and canvas) adds a lot of character.
The sticker for the numbers were white letters. I coloured them with Sharpie markers to create the custom blue-green colour.
The camera is a stamped image. It is popped up using foam tape. The camera lens was stamped again so it could be popped up more. Liquid glass was applied to the lens to make it shiny. To keep the camera from ‘floating’ on the page I mounted it on top of an ink splat stamped image.
The tape measure ribbon was custom coloured by spraying yellow ink onto it. Then I sprayed a few areas with some teal blue ink.
Each of the photos is ‘tagged’ with a small tag. The numbers are added using rub-ons. I will share a few details about these soon!
Page Elements:
Paper: BoBunny – Flower Child
Number Stickers: Thickers – Chit Chat (white)
Tags: Die Cuts with a View – Metallic Accents
Measuring Tape Ribbon: misc. bulk
Stamp sets: Picture Perfect and Instant Memories- Close to My Heart
Letter stickers: Canvas Alphabet – Close to My Heart
Hemp twine: Black – Close to My Heart
Liquid Glass: Close to My Heart
Foam tape, black ink, adhesive – Close to My Heart
(If you are in Canada and would like Close to My Heart products you can shop online HERE.)
What is your favourite element? Have you ever created a Top 10 Layout? What techniques did you use to scrapbook multiple photos? I’d love to hear your comments!
Do you want to DO more scrapbooking? Our supportive community finds ways to support each other on our scrappy adventures and actually DO MORE SCRAPBOOKING! Check us out at ScrapHappy.org
Scrapbook YOU!
A class to help you finally create a scrapbook about YOU!
Scrapbook Christmas… in January!
Want to scrapbook your Christmas? December is too busy! Use this challenge to get it done in January.
Our Spring Sale Has Started
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In this short tutorial video I share my top 3 tips for “How to Know When Embossing is Complete”. For more embossing instructions watch How to Emboss with Stamps (Heat Embossing Tutorial) Video.
