Technique Tuesday Crafty Collaborations Blog Hop

Happy New Year!  Welcome to my first Crafty Collaborations Technique Tuesday Blog Hop ever and the first Crafty Collaborations Technique Tuesday Blog Hop for 2023!  To follow the hop and see the other amazingly creative project ideas, simply scroll down and click on the names of the other hop participants.

Today's technique:  Heat Embossing.  You either love it or hate it!  Hate is a pretty strong word, however, I have heard from some of my stamping friends that it's not their favorite technique.  It's messy, it's difficult, and/or I just can't get my embossing to look right!  I, too, had turned up my nose to heat embossing in the beginning.  It has a lot to do with preparation, the right tools and the right powder.  I have learned to love it and hopefully, if you "hate" it, I hope you will come away with wanting to retry heat embossing as you hop along today with the talented stamping artists participating in the Crafty Collaborations Technique Tuesday Blog Hop today! 

I was so excited to try my hand at two of the newest stamp sets launching on Thursday, 1/5/23, with the new 2022 January - April Mini Catalog.  The 1st stamp set is called Hand-Drawn Spots.  It's a full size cling background stamp measuring approximately 4 5/8" x 5 3/4" (11.8cm x 14.6cm).  It's a perfect background stamp of various sized, edgy spots.  The 2nd stamp set is called Nested Friends.  A favorite pick of mine because it has that vintage appeal that I so enjoy crafting with. 

I went to my vintage favorites of Petal Pink, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Rose Gold and Gold Embossing for my vintage version of a Thinking of You card.  These colors are soft and even though I didn't stay with a total vintage vibe - the colors work with the edginess of the background!  I used my Stamparatus to keep my paper and stamp in place so that I could apply Versamark ink in various places on the stamp and then restamped it so I could Gold emboss over the Petal Pink dots. 

Mindy Backes demonstrated this technique at OnStage 2022 in Dallas, TX in November.  I so enjoyed the simplicity of this technique and the amazing richness of the background by adding the Gold embossing.  I apologize as the photo just doesn't do this justice for you to enjoy the gold shine.  Trust me!  Try this and all of those dark spots will glimmer gold for you! 

My tips for heat embossing include:  

• Protect your work surface.  I always have a piece of grid paper on my work surface.  I use a paper coffee filter to capture my embossing powder.  It just seems easier to clean up my area after I have sprinkled embossing powder and it happens to go everywhere.  I think it just has a mind of it's own and likes to be airborne!  LOL!  I can easily cleanup by tossing out my paper into the recycle bin and then use a baby wipe to wipe down my work surface.  
• Invest in a good set of embossing tools.  Always use an Embossing Buddy (small fabric bag filled with powder) by swiping the area to emboss.  This removes the static from the cardstock or paper medium you will be stamping on.  It's especially dry in Colorado, so my cardstock always has a good amount of static that needs to be tamed!  
• Make sure your Versamark Ink Pad is nice and sticky!  This is what will hold your embossing powder for a nice finish.  You can purchase Versamark Ink Refill from my online store if your Versamark pad needs a little sticky boost! 
• Apply at least two layers of embossing powder.  I find sometimes that my image or sentiment looks a little light.  Once I reapply the powder for a second time, it usually comes out nice and strong.  
• Let your Heat Tool heat up.  This will help to melt the embossing powder a little quicker and less likely to burn it if you hold it in one place to long!  
• Use a tweezer to hold onto the paper so you don't burn your fingers.  The Heat Tool can get very, very hot and nothing more frustrating than dropping your half embossed piece because you burnt your fingers!  Not only are you regretting using your heat tool due to pain caused by burns, but you might damage the image/sentiment by accidently removing the unheated embossing powder before you are done melting it.  Don't ask me how I know this one - LOL!!!
• Move your Heat tool around the embossing area until the powder melts.  Don't hang out too long on the melted area as embossing powder does burn.  
• Replace embossing powder after a couple of years.  If you live in a humid environment, you may find that your powder just doesn't work as well as it did when you first used it.  I have some powder that I have had for a number of years and I find it takes a longer amount of time for it to melt than my newer powder.  Some experts will tell you that powders don't get old, but my experience is that something happens to them the older they set in my stash. 

Instructions to make this card:  

• Cut Basic White at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" (14.9cm x 21cm).  Score at 4 1/4" (10.5cm). 
• Cut Soft Suede polka dot DSP at 5 1/4" x 4" (9cm x 13.4cm).  Adhere to card front.  
• Cut Basic White at 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" (14.9cm x 10.5cm).  Using a Stamparatus, stamp Hand-Drawn Dots with Petal Pink.  Don't remove paper or stamp!  Using a Sponge Dauber, randomly apply Versamark Ink across stamped piece.  Apply Gold embossing powder and melt embossing powder with Heat Tool.  Adhere to card front. 
• Cut Basic White at 3" x 3 1/2" (7.6cm x 9.0cm).  Stamp nest image with Soft Suede.  Die cut with coordinating die.  Adhere to card front with dimensionals.  
• Cut Rose Gold glitter paper at 3 3/4" x 3" (9.5cm x 7.6cm).  Cut Adhesive Sheet a smidge smaller and adhere to back of glitter paper.  Die cut the nest top outline and 2 of the leaf segments.  Remove adhesive backing from the nest outline and adhere to the top of the nest.  Remove adhesive backing from 3 leaf clusters and adhere to around the nest top.   
• Cut Basic White at 4 1/4" x 1 1/4" (10.5cm x 3.2cm).  Using a Blending Brush, blend Crumb Cake ink over the entire piece.  Wipe the entire piece with an Embossing Buddy.   
• Stamp the "Always thinking of you" sentiment with Versamark Ink.  Apply Gold embossing powder and melt with Heat Tool.  Die cut with long narrow label from the Ginkgo Branch dies.  Adhere to the card front with dimensionals.  
• Cut 12" (30.5cm) of Gold Trim.  Remove the inner core and unwind all the gold filaments.  Apply Stampin' Seal + inside the hole of the nest.  Wrap one gold filament and adhere to the hole.  Wrap another gold filament and adhere to the hole. 
• Stamp the small dots image with Crumb Cake.  Die cut 3 eggs. Adhere to the hole with dimensionals.  
• Wipe the middle of the inside card with an Embossing Buddy.  Stamp the "Best Friends make the good times better and the hard times easier" sentiment with Versamark Ink.  Apply Gold embossing powder and melt with Heat Tool.  Stamp the small dots twice over the sentiment with Crumb Cake stamped off once.  Stamp the bird with Crumb Cake.  Mask the bird and stamp the branch with Crumb Cake over the lower portion of the bird.  Remove mask.   

Thank you so much for hopping by!  Please leave a comment as I would love to hear how you use color combinations to create inspiration!

Now I invite you to visit the blogs of my fellow talented Crafty Collaborations' demonstrators participating in today's Technique Tuesday Blog Hop!