Embossing Powder Techniques are so magical. Do you remember the first time you inked and stamped with Versamark ink, sprinkled embossing powder and watched it melt, slowly revealing a gorgeous shiny stamped image? But what if you want just a touch of shimmer, not a whole image? Learn two ways to add embossing powder exactly where you want it, rather than an entire stamped image in this tutorial. Let’s get started!
Embossing Powder Technique — Ballpoint Pen
I stamped the large ‘happy birthday’ image from the Fabulous Sayings stamp set in Secret Sea ink by inking one word at a time and stacking the images to fit on my smallest piece of Basic White cardstock. Then I stamped the floral image from Delicate Wishes and colored it in with Stampin’ Blends. I zapped the colored images with a heat tool for 5-6 seconds to make sure it was dry.
Next, using a black ballpoint pen, I went over the center of the flower and the sprig of ‘wheat’ with the tip of a black, juicy ballpoint pen. (Note that ink color and pen brand don’t matter!) Working quickly, I poured copper embossing powder over the image, tapped off any excess and heat set.
The result is highlights of copper embossing powder, perfect for mimicking the copper foil on the designer series patterned paper used on the front of the card.
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Technique Two — Borderline
To add a shiny border of embossing powder, I stamped ‘HOORAY’ in Secret Sea on a scrap of Basic White and die cut it with the 1⅝” circle from the Spotlight on Nature die set. Then, holding the circle in the middle with my fingertips, I rolled the edges of the circle directly on a Versamark ink pad. Next I sprinkled copper embossing over the circle and used a dry paintbrush to remove any excess powder in the middle where my fingers had been. And then heat set.
Tada! A pretty ring of copper adds just the right amount of shine to bring a little more attention to the greeting without overwhelming the delicate leafy edge.
Here’s the full card so you can see how these little touches pull the design together with the copper foil on the Delicate Dreams patterned paper.
Flip the hinged front up to reveal a second layer.
And the third reveal of the inside of the card where you can write a personal message.
I could have used the ballpoint pen again with the wheat stalks on the inside liner as well. It would pull the shimmer through even further.
So what do you think of these Embossing Powder Techniques? The ballpoint pen is my favorite. There’s something in the ink that reacts the same way with embossing powder as Versamark does. Give it a try the next time you want some glimmer on your project.
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