more embossing powder play...

a few days ago, 

I took some time to just play...

for me...

not to do a step by step blog post, 

but to just relax & P L A Y...

this is still my hobby!

I wanted time to P L A Y 

with these guys...

I had so much fun that I wanted to share the finished piece with my blog friends...

I had an assemblage clock that I took out several times over the last few months...

but the inspiration was hiding & I decided to save the clock for the perfect idea...

I'm so glad I did...

here's what I created...

a faux graniteware home decor piece...

this clock is so easy to alter because it's designed to be disassembled...

with the pieces apart & working in sections,

I tapped cornflower blue archival ink over the metal clock, sprinkled on 

the cornflower blue embossing powder 

& heated it to melt the powder...

***remember***

heated metal is H O T, so take your time...

after the embossing powder cooled, I used my unmounted spatter stamp with snow cap white pigment ink to add the dots & make it look more authentic...

after drying the snow cap, I tapped on some potting soil archival ink with the blending tool...

I kept it mainly on the edges where you would expect normal wear to occur...

potting soil is the best color 

over ALL 6 of the embossing powders...

I also added some mushroom alcohol ink to the edges of the glass to make the glass look more vintage...

 you'll also see that I distressed the metal between the bells...

I painted it with glue n seal...

the matte finish & sprinkled on just a few bits of the vintage photo distress embossing powder...

I didn't heat it...the glue n seal keeps it in place & it looks & feels like rust...

it's not easy to photograph with the glass, but I hope you can see the "grass"...

since this is our home...

see the 490?...

I wanted it to look real...

I opened 4 or 5 of the woodlands wreaths, misted them with peeled paint distress spray stain & hot glued them in place in front of the house...

since they are flexible, it was easy to fit the curve of the clock...

tada...

GRASS!

I used my embossing powders on the letterpress...

and on the art parts residence...

on the art parts word ENJOY...

and on the little art parts flowers you'll see in the first & last photos...

here's a better look at the grass...

all assembled, it looks like this...

think about these ideas...

this clock can be created in any color theme & would make an awesome holiday gift...

it could be a Christmas theme,

with a mini tree in front of the house...

or an everyday theme like this one...

I think it's the perfect gift for a new home owner...

just add their house number...

if they have a long house number, the number could be added to the glass with remnant rubs...

you could also use this as an anniversary gift & include the date of the wedding...

and use a heart or their photo as the focal point...

or customize it with letterpress name or initials for a wedding gift...

gotta run...

I'm off to Orlando for The Collin's event...

this is a great event, where we teach, do make & takes & get lots of time to visit with store owners...

see you next week...

have a great weekend...

I hope you're ready to

grab an assemblage clock...

and...

make art!

wendy

embossing powder faux graniteware technique...

welcome friends!

first, from the bottom of my heart...

a gigantic 

THANK YOU 

for all the sweet blog comments, 

Ranger blog comments, 

emails & you-tube video comments...

WOW!

your excitement for my new embossing powders has me even more exited, if that's possible...

I DREAM of these guys...

I have so much to share about using them in unique unexpected ways...

stay tuned!

when looking for things to alter with embossing powders, the first thing to consider is that it must be able to

"take the heat"...

since embossing powders need to be heated to melt them...

so far I've altered large & small metal home decor pieces, glass, clearly for art, art parts, wood, metal & resin embellishments with these powders...

and for sure, you can use them on cards, tags, art journals, scrapbook pages & cards...

anything that is heat stable is embossable...

this project seemed appropriate to share today, since it's a heart...

this is something I dug out of my stash...

it's a heavy metal piece, 

it has a good shape & it needed some love...

it's large...about 8 inches tall...

 below is the finished piece...

here are the steps to add the faux graniteware technique to glass, metal & art parts...

tap over the surface to add archival ink...

the ink is what will hold the powders on the surface & allow them to be melted & stay strongly adhered to the surface...

depending what the shape of the item is, sometimes I use the blending tool...

sometimes I'll swipe the archival pad directly on the surface & then spread it around with the blending tool...

speaking of heat embossing, 

I have chosen to use 

the ZAP embossing tool from American Crafts,  for major embossing projects...

I bought the Milwaukee & the ZAP...

both work just fine...

I looked at several options & chose this one mainly because the tip is NOT metal & it seems a bit safer for me to use in classes, where table space is at a premium...

that means the tables are FULL of art supplies...

I don't want to worry about someone accidentally touching the hot metal tip...

price also played a part too, 

since I needed to buy 25...

when embossing on heavy metal, it takes a bit to warm up the metal, so that the powders will melt...

this embossing tool works great...

be patient with heavy metal...

it takes a bit longer than you think it will...

ok...back to the steps...

apply the archival ink to the surface, 

then sprinkle on 

the embossing powder (red geranium)...

sometimes I wipe a bit away from the edges, to create a chipped off effect...

then heat to emboss...

***DO NOT put the wiped away powder back in the container***

it may cause clumping, because it came in contact with the ink (moisture)...

you're wasting just a few granules...

***REMEMBER***

heated metal is HOT...

be patient & allow it to cool before proceeding...

once the piece has cooled, I like to add

potting soil archival ink 

to the edges with the blending tool...

this adds to the authentic vintage look...

and it works well with every color...

if you want to tone down the color of any of the powders, use potting soil over the whole surface...

instead of just on the edges...

the potting soil gives us 6 more embossing powder color options...

they can be bright or toned down vintage...

you can stop here & you have an enameled metal heart...

or continue with the faux graniteware technique...

next comes the white dots...

ink the unmounted spatter stamp 

(it's from LCS001 if you have that set & it's also available now as 

a single background stamp (wvbg017)...

 with the snow cap white pigment pad & stamp randomly over the surface, then give it a quick dry with the Ranger heat tool...

heat it just enough to dry the white ink...

it only takes a few seconds...

the art parts leaves were inked with fern green archival, sprinkled with fern green embossing powder & heated to emboss...

when cooled,

I added potting soil to define/shade the leaf edges, then stamped over them with the lots of leaves background, using watering can archival ink...

to alter the idea-ology birdcage, I tapped on watering can archival ink, sprinkled it with watering can embossing powder, heated it, 

LET IT COOL...

then added the tiny white ink dots, again with the spatter stamp & snow cap white pigment ink...

the red Blossom Bucket heart was altered the same as the large heart...

now for the clearly for art (CFA) tattered flower...

this is a bit different & it's important

 NOT TO OVERHEAT the CFA with the embossing tool...

here's what works...

I used the tattered florals die 

with CFA blackout...

the blackout is great for the vintage look I'm going for...

add archival ink to the die cut flowers with the blending tool, then sprinkle with the embossing powder...

I used cornflower blue embossing powder...

I like to randomly wipe some of the powder from the flower edges...

that reveals the black & the flowers are already distressed...

simple & M A G I C!

next, I like to heat the powder a bit with the Ranger heat-it tool & when the powders start to melt, then give them a quick blast with 

the HOT ZAP embossing tool...

staying about 5 inches away...

heat just enough to melt the powder...

then S T O P!

if you overheat the CFA with the HOT embossing tool, the flowers will distort & shrink...

just be careful...

and it works fine...

after the powder is melted & the flowers have cooled, I go back to the Ranger heat-it tool & soften the CFA, just enough so that I can shape it...

the flower center is the large custom fastener...

I swiped it on the archival pad, dipped it into the embossing powder, then heated it to melt...

when that cooled, I pressed it onto an inked polka dot stamp & gave it a quick dry...

I like to use a hemostat to hold small pieces...

it saves the fingers from being burned...

it's a very handy tool to use 

with heat embossing...

and it works especially well with small metal embellishments that get HOT quickly...

tweezers work too, but the hemostat is longer & keeps you further away from the heat...

with everything glued on...

here's my altered faux graniteware heart...

here's a closer look at the CFA flower...

you can see the black on the petal edges...

and  the adorable birdcage...

oops...forgot to say that I did the technique on the back of the birdcage with cornflower blue embossing powder, so that the red Blossom Bucket heart would show up better...

simple, since the back is removable...

here's a few tips & hints...

aka...

embossing powders 101...

my embossing powders are opaque when melted...

so, if you are using fern green embossing powder, but only have the leaf green ink pad,

 it doesn't matter...

the powders melt & the color isn't seen...

when working on dark surfaces like CFA blackout or dark metal...again...

use any archival ink color...it won't show...

if you're working on paper or art parts, I use the coordinating ink...

are you wondering why I used archival inks to adhere the embossing powders instead of an embossing pad?

here's the scoop...

the embossing pads are sort of oily & if you add  too much, they will chip from metal & glass...

by using archival ink on the surface, the embossing powder is firmly attached & won't chip off...

I've tried all sorts of things...

the archival inks work best...

especially on metal, painted wood & glass...

so what if you have a tiny metal surface and the blending tool is too large to add the archival ink?

use the emboss-it pens...

it's embossing fluid in a convenient pen form...

or if you have the perfect medium pens, they will work great too...

wherever you add the emboss-it fluid, the embossing powders will stick...

here's an example...

the adornment on the left is right from the package...

the one on the right has been changed with the embossing powders, using the emboss-it pen...

do one embossing powder color at a time...

allow it to cool...

then add the next color...

can you see all the fun options we have?

remember...

embossing powders are not just for embossing a sentiment!

think home decor!

if you have any embossing questions...

please ask away...

now...

it's time to announce the winner 

of a set of all 6 of my embossing powders, compliments of Ranger...

congrats to...

 Anita Houston said...

Yay yay yay you!!! I am so digging these Wendy, and your samples are out of this creative world!!! LOVE them all, but those bottles and Letterpress words have me SWOONING!!! I love how your mind thinks!!! You blow me away! MEGA HUGE CONGRATS!!!!

September 13, 2014 at 10:59 AM

 

please email me with your shipping info & we'll get them off to you...

are YOU sad that YOU didn't win?

be watching my FACEBOOK PAGE...

I *think* I have an extra set of my embossing powders to share there...

I'm planning a FLASH GIVEAWAY!

be watching...

it will be THIS WEEK...

one more thing before I go...

I've had multiple emails asking where the powders can be purchased in the UK, in Alaska, in Kentucky etc...

we don't get a list of stores that have them in stock..

plus, it would be impossible to know their in stock inventory...

so...

ask your local store to order them for you...

if I was a store owner, I'd be happy to order whatever my customer needed...

and I'm sure that's common...

or...

I did an internet search & found these 

BUNDLES of all 6 embossing powders at sale pricing...

check

HERE

and 

HERE

that's it for today...

I hear LOTS of kits calling me...

honestly, I'd rather...

make art!

wendy

let's talk about leaves...

specifically...

LOTS OF LEAVES...

one of my new background stamps...

it's a giant background stamp...

right from the package it looks like this with 9 vertical rows of leaves...

when I designed this stamp, I had big plans to make it into 3 different stamps...

here's what I did...

I used tim's tonic scissors to chop off a horizontal row of 5 leaves, from the bottom of the stamp...

the scissors are awesome & made it easy to cut the rubber...

next I cut off one vertical row & then cut that strip into 2 pieces of different lengths...

it's on the small gridblock on the left...

on the right you'll see the remaining background stamp...

this leaf border is very handy & I know I'll be using it lots...

it's just the right size...

here's how I used it on a small #5 manila tag...

with my most fav ever lace...

these 2 pieces are fun too...

use them individually or together, offset like this...

to create a hanging vine...

or as at the start of a flower garden...

I'm still left with a large background that is 3 ¾ inches square...

now it has 8 vertical rows instead of 9...

it's perfect for stamping, then punching out a large circle for a card...

the large background is still a great size for adding leaves

 to my art parts leaves & stem...

and again...to add leaves to my art parts leaves on this art journal page...

love the flower...it's the zinnia SiSi, but I only used the flower...

it's inked with carnation red archival...

keep in mind that if you're squeamish about chopping apart the stamp, you can use it the same ways, by masking off areas & inking only small parts of this stamp...

post-its & painters tape are both great...

I will say that I'm very happy that I cut mine apart...

it's super convenient & a time saver for me...

and now I have a 3 for 1 "leaves trio"...

it worked as planned!

***breaking news***

stamps NEED ink & I wanted to make sure you know about the RANGER products sale at Simon Says...

ALL Ranger products are included...YIPPEE!

my yummy archival inks...

and archival reinkers...

distress...like my fav iced spruce marker...

super fine detail embossing powder...

craft spinners...you know they can be stacked...right?

heat tools...

replacement pads for the blending tool...

it's a good time to stock up on essentials like #8 tags and manila cardstock to create your own art journal pages & cards...

don't forget the new storage tins for the cute mini distress pads...

the code to enter at checkout is...

RANGERSALE

the sale is good 'til Sunday at 11:59pm EST...

NEWS FLASH...

the sale is extend thru today MONDAY AUG 11th!

it's a great time to stock up on supplies to...

make art!

wendy

ps...so tell me...are you brave? are you going to cut up the leaves background stamp? or another of your background stamps?