Thermal embossing tips from Kat

Preparing the paper -

Lightly dust cards with Fullers Earth or "anti-static powder", which absorbs oil on the card from our fingers. Even the cleanest hands are oily! With the oil residue gone the powder will stick to the pigment ink and not the oily finger prints. The Fullers Earth crates a slippery surface, of sorts, letting the embossing powder slide off the card and back into the container. There are several products on the market that range from soft cloth bags of powder to bottles of loose powder. The bags keep your fingers dry because you handle it as it is dragged across the paper.

Inking up the stamp -

For me, the best ink is a pigment ink ... the stickier the better. A slow drying, sticky ink will grip the embossing powder. Embossing ink is soft and spreads during heating. Using a pigment ink in a coordinating color to the embossing powder camouflages any pits that might develop when the powder is heated. Apply the ink on the surface of the rubber or polymer stamp. If ink is being applied directly from the pad, gently pat it onto the stamp using about as much pressure as used patting a baby's bottom. Pressing the stamp onto or into the pad pushes ink onto the slopes of the rubber. This excess ink creates heavier lines when the rubber is pressed onto the paper. The heavier lines grip more embossing powder resulting in blotchier, less detailed and defined images. Another method of applying ink to the surface only is applying the ink with a brayer. Load up the brayer with ink by rolling it across the ink pad until a uniform film is on the brayer. Roll the brayer over the rubber stamp. Roll it north to south, then east to west. A thin film of ink will be layered onto the stamp. Each time the stamp is inked, whether patting or rolling, ink will slide onto the slopes of the stamp, therefore, was your stamp when you notice you are losing details. For some, that means every five impressions, for others it might be 10 impressions, some might get 15 impressions!

Putting the rubber to the paper -

Apply even, uniform pressure on the stamp. Avoid excessive pressure as this pushes the ink on the slopes onto the paper. For the same reason, avoid rocking the stamp. Rocking the stamp can also create shadow images. Working on a padded surface may enhance your stamping experience because a good image is obtained with less pressure. Call this tip ergonomic, if you will: less pressure is easier back, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers. The image need not be color saturated. It's the embossing powder that is rich and dense with color, even white has a richness. You need only enough ink to grip the powder. With practice you will soon be getting two impressions from one inking!

Powdering down -

If you are embossing a volume of images, work with your embossing powder in a soup bowl or sandwich container. Scoop up a small amount of embossing powder with a spoon then sprinkle it over you stamped image. Tilt your card letting the powder slide across the image. Tap the card over the bowl of embossing powder, then heat can be applied to the card to melt the powder. A magical work surface is a coffee filter. Embossing powder will NOT stick to filter paper, thus your work surface cleans up in a snap. You can powder down several cards before heating them. Try powdering two, then heat those. If you find the powder is sticking quite well, try powdering three, then four, etc. You will find that different papers and inks have varying drying times. Humidity and the amount of anti-static powder used will affect drying speed. Once the ink is dried the powder may have a blowing away tendency if you heat it from the top.

Warm up your heat tool before applying it to the paper and powder. It's rather like heating up an oven before baking the cake. Heating up the paper while the heat tool gets to the melting point can cause excessive paper curling. Direct the heat in a slow, steady sweep across your embossing powder. Quick, rapid back and forth movements causes the powder to heat up and begin melting then cool before it has melted thoroughly. This results in uneven embossing, with un-melted areas, pits and cracks.. Heat from the bottom side and you can more easily see the embossing powder melt, but you can also scorch the bottom of your paper because you have your heat tool too close to the paper. Heat from the top and you can blow away powder from a too-dry inked image.

Thick and thin of it all -

For fine details a fine grained embossing powder is necessary. For rich, dimensional lines, apply a coarse grained embossing powder first, then dust with a fine grained powder, The fine grain fills in and around the coarse powder like sand under a bold. You lines will be thick and luscious. Metallic embossing powder can often be too shiny for detailed images. The high shine obscures the details. Cut the metallic embossing powder with a little matte clear embossing powder and your detail will be more evident, yet the image will be metallic! If an embossing powder is quite the right color, mix in another embossing powder and tweak it a little. Sprinkle a pinch of metallic embossing powder on your paper then melt it for a spattery, feathery gilt look.