the inkblog

What is more versatile than embossing powder? I could just about write a book about all the things you can do with it! Here’s a favorite little technique I love: making a “wax” seal with embossing powder! Here’s a card I recently made:

Copyright Stampin’ Up! 1990-2007

And here’s how this is done:

First, you’ll need to gather a VersaMark ink pad or marker, embossing powder (either something metallic or colored), a stamp and a heat gun. Once you’ve gathered your supplies, there are two ways in which you can create a wax seal:

1. Create a circle of ink on your cardstock. You can do this either by drawing a circle with a VersaMarker or stamping a circle with VersaMark ink (or, if all else fails, you could use the pad of your finger to dab some ink onto your cardstock). Next, sprinkle on some embossing powder and use your gun to melt it. Apply some more VersaMark ink (either with your marker, stamp or finger) and add another layer of embossing powder. Heat and repeat a few more times until you’ve created several layers, built up to about an 1/8″ thickness.

2. Forget the stamping and the VersaMark–pour a small pile of embossing powder on your cardstock, and then carefully melt it with your heat gun from underneath! Be careful as to how you are aiming your heat gun so that it won’t blow powder everywhere. Start with the gun further away from the cardstock (if you’re too close the force of all the air might shake it around!). As it begins to melt, you can bring the gun closer to the back of the cardstock to speed up the melting process.

Now, for the stamping:

Prepare the stamp you will be making the impression with by inking it up with VersaMark. This will keep the stamp from sticking to the warm, tacky glaze when you create the seal. Re-heat your pool of embossing powder until you see that it’s molten (it will wiggle and move around as the hot air is blown onto it). Once it reaches this state, quickly turn off your heat gun, set your cardstock down and press your stamp into the warm “wax.” Leave your stamp in the embossing powder for 3-5 seconds as it cools and sets. Then remove your stamp and you will see something like this:

That’s all there is to it! Very easy and a lot of fun to play around with. Plus, if you mess up, all you need to do is re-heat and re-stamp again! I hope you enjoy using this technique. If you upload a card, feel free to share a link. I’d love to see it.

Happy stamping!