Anyone here emboss?

[piratesmate]

I'm in need of some advice. I've embossed a Mickey head on a journal box for the character swap. I need to mail these this afternoon, but thought they seemed a bit plain. I thought about using some chalk on them to kind of highlight them, but it isn't working out the way I thought. (I saw it done on DIY Scrapbooking & really liked the way it turned out for them.)

If you've ever done this, could you PM me?

 

[Twigs]

I haven't done anything like that. But after thinking about it, maybe you could use ink from a stamp pad, and use a make-up spone to tamp on a little bit of color? I think the ink would adhere better than the chalk. I would do a test one first to be sure it doesn't ruin anything.

 

[piratesmate]

I've about given up. I tried doing that with the ink last night, but it looked worse than the chalk. I tried putting the brass stencil back over the image & chalking through that. Besides being a major pain, that didn't really work either. (It's a really small stencil - 1x1 at the widest parts.) And because it's so tiny, I can't get colored pencils or markers in the gaps.

Because the CS is white, the scan didn't come out too well but if you go to http://www.wdwinfo.com/photopost/data/500/22635CharacterSwap3.JPG I posted the plain & the chalked one. (The chalked one isn't glued or complete - they all get the quilled Mickey.

Thanks for responding!

 

[Twigs]

I can see why it is so hard to chalk the raised areas. I like the plain white one too, you can see the chalked image a little better, but they are both nice. And I love the quilling!

 

[piratesmate]

Thanks. I get a bit obsessed over things. I had a certain image in my mind & just haven't been able to reproduce it. I'll keep working on it when there's no pressure to finish.

DH stopped by on his way to the post office for work & picked them up, so they went out white.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[scrapperjill]

Looked at your link...and I can see where you can see the chalked Mickey a little more...but the plain one is also real nice...and can be seen. I think it would be okay to send them out plain...then if any of the swappers wanted to add a little color they could cusomize it themself. But that's JMO. Being in the CS swap...I don't mind having to add some touches here and there to the swap items. BTW...I love the quilling

 

[scrapcreator]

Deb, I think the plain emboss looks great! Sometimes simpler is better. People will notice it as they are reading our journaling.

Great quilling idea, too.

Jeanne

 

[dreams91]

I'm in need of some advice. I've embossed a Mickey head on a journal box for the character swap. I need to mail these this afternoon, but thought they seemed a bit plain. I thought about using some chalk on them to kind of highlight them, but it isn't working out the way I thought. (I saw it done on DIY Scrapbooking & really liked the way it turned out for them.)

If you've ever done this, could you PM me?

Is that dry embossing? I have don't much dry....that looks nice though. If it is dry embossing, how do you do that?

 

[piratesmate]

The scan didn't come out too well - too much white & it's like it's over-exposed.

I'm tired this evening & my brain is kind of tired. I think it's called dry embossing. It done with a brass stencil under a piece of paper (CS in this case) on a light box. You use an embossing tool (aka burnisher) to press gently in the open areas of the stencil. I bought 2 packs of the Plaid mini stencils a couple months ago & hadn't used them until now. I can't wait to use the others now.

I'd tried when I first got them & was really frustrated. I was trying to use them like a regular stencil rather than an embossing stencil...meaning I was trying to get a pen/pencil in it to draw lines. The gaps are way too narrow for that! I tried embossing before too - without the light box. That was annoying - it was harder to "find" the stencil & didn't look very nice.

I got a small light box at Wal-Mart on clearance for $7. It's smaller than 8.5x11, but I wasn't planning on embossing full 12x12 sheets anyway.

BTW - I've also done heat embossing, which is done with ink, powder & a heating tool. That's pretty easy too - and looks like it was more work than it really was...which is always good in my book!