AECP - Impressive Heat Embossing

My latest Altenew Educators Certification Program (AECP) class was on heat embossing.  There were a few techniques which I believe are pretty standard - i.e. use a static free tool - corn starch etc to keep the embossing powder from sticking to places you DON'T want it to be, heat your embossing tool first to make sure it is good and hot (this can help keep your paper from warping) and keep the heat gun moving.  But there were several others that I found intriguing and I will showcase a couple of those techniques here in this blog post.

The first technique was to use a layered stamp set - in this case I decided to use Altenew's Mushroom Garden layered stencil set.  I had several Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powders in my stash - two that had NEVER been opened (GASP - I am sure I am not the only one who purchased something in several colors and then proceeded to not use them).  Back to the Distress Embossing Powders.  They are designed 

provide a weather look - not necessarily the shiny or glossy look that some other embossing powders provide.  I think the weathered look is perfect for mushrooms - don't you?  I took each stencil and used a domed ink blending foam tool to apply Versamark - a clear embossing ink to the cardstock panel.  For each step in the stencil I used a different color of embossing powder - occasionally using two powders per stencil - i.e. the long skinny mushroom stems I chose Mahogany but the leaves are on the same stencil and I used Weathered Wood.  The final stencil was the detail stencil - dots on the mushrooms, highlights on the mushrooms and veining through the leaves - I chose copper embossing powder - this is the only metallic shiny embossing powder that I used.  For each stencil after applying the Versamark ink I covered the panel with embossing powder - gently tapping the panel to remove excess powder and heat embossing until the powder is melted and set.  Then I moved to the next panel and the next stencil - lather, rinse, repeat.  I think this card turned  out rather rustic but I like it.   

In this close up you can see the weathered or rough look to the embossed images except for the copper.

One hint I have for embossing that wasn't covered is to heat the image from both the front and the back - I find this really helps to cut down on the warping from the heat gun.

For my next card I tried several techniques for the first time.  I just received the Mini Delight Monthly set - Delicate Butterfly, so I decided this would be perfect to try out a few
things. 

The first things I did was to work on the butterfly.  I put my cardstock in a stamp positioner and stamped the layer that would be the most color in Puffy Heart pink and then the same layer in Versamark.  I had a clear sparkly embossing powder that I used for this layer.  For the second layer of shading I used Altenew Rose Gold embossing powder.  For the final layer, the detail layer, I again used Versamark clear embossing ink and then used Black embossing powder.  So this technique involves layering each embossing powder over another color.  I then die cut the butterfly out and set it aside.  I ink blended Puffy Heart and Be Grapeful onto a white panel of cardstock.  Then I took a little bottle of water and sprayed water into my hand and then flicked the water onto the panel.  This caused a reaction to the ink which adds visual interest to the panel.  I then repeated the process but this time I covered the water droplets with the Clear Sparkly Embossing powder and then did it again and added Rose Gold embossing powder.  I had never heard of this technique before and it definitely adds a neat effect to the panel.  The final process was to stamp the flower image in Versamark and use black embossing powder.  Then I took my ink and smooshed it onto my glass mat and used a water brush to watercolor the flower.  The embossing ink acts as a reservoir for the watercolor and contains the ink.  It helps to keep the ink in place instead of bleeding out of the lines.

The final step was to die cut several more of the floral image and then stacking them to make the floral image sturdier and give a little more depth to the card.  For the butterfly, instead of mounting this on foam tape I used my fingers to turn the edges up to add a little movement to the butterfly.

This was a fun class to step up my embossing game.

 This card also uses the November Inspiration Challenge for the colors and so I will be linking it up too.