Question: Embossing

Definitions Dry embossing and embossing (heat)

I do very little dry embossing. I do a fair sharing of heat embossing. I really like the look of the crystals melting and the shining final product. Hope this helps, Lynne

Thank you for the great link, it pretty much says it all.

Dry embossing is when you use a template and a stylus to stretch the paper... I tried it but I couldn't make it work without tearing! There's a definite knack to it...

Wet embossing (or heat embossing) is when you stamp an image onto the paper and coat it with embossing powder and shake off the excess. Then you heat it with a special heat gun or hold it over a toaster and the powder melts and makes a raised image.

The shapeboss is for dry embossing... ~Karen aka Kajikit Crafts, cats, and chocolate - the three essentials of life

*remove 'nospam' to reply

I don't care for the Shapeboss. I find it easier using a brass stencil on top of a lightbox.

I love the Shapeboss. I bought it several years ago but until a couple months ago it just collected dust. I made the decision to start using the stuff I had and so it got dusted off and used. I used it on several layouts with the template that came with it then went out and got some more templates. If you'd like to see the layouts I used it on, they are on my site in Jessica's wedding scrapbook.

I don't know if this will help much but a tip when dry embossing is rub over the area you are going to be embossing first with your finger (where you will be using the stylus). There are oils in your fingers that will make the stylus run across your paper easier and help prevent the tearing. It really works!

Hi, I use the brass stencils and my light box,too.I also like to do the heat embossing. It is really neat and such a great look. I am not as proficient as I would like to be....but enjoy practicing! Embossing looks really good on cards. I have brass templates of Christmas and Thanksgiving that I like the way they look.

Hugs, Sabrina in Kentucky

a good friend is a life long treasure

The ShapeBoss is okay, but the brass stencils have a lot more variety and are cheaper, and generally work better. You can use them with daubers and embossing ink, or with am embossing tool and lightbox. (Shop around for these -- I only paid $14 for mine.) The only advantage the ShapeBoss has is that you can emboss on dark cardstock that won't work on a lightbox. But.....you can use a brass stencil and dark cardstock a couple of different ways: 1 - put a mousepad under it and g-e-n-t-l-y rub it with a wooden embosser until you see an impression you can deepen with the embossing tool. 2. If you lightly dampen the cardstock, you can actually just run it with your finger. Let it dry thoroughly before using because the water weakens the cardstock a lot.

I rub a little wax paper on the cardstock or paper surface, and I also run the tip of the embossing tool over the wax paper to make it slide more easily.

Embossing powder is great fun! I set all my vellum-based inkjet printing with clear or black embossing powder. If you use clear, you can print in any colors you like and it shows through, raised and shiny, AND it doesn't smear! When you use your heat gun, heat your paper from underneath or a lot of the powder might blow away. Learned that the hard way!

Have fun!

Barb >Hi, I use the brass stencils and my light box,too.I also like to do the

You are all so helpful, thanks so much! Think I might try dry embossing to start, but heat embossing sounds really cool too! Thanks again, Melissa